February 25th, 2010 
T.C. In order to be successful on race day, crew members must all be on the same page. Knowing what to expect for the upcoming 500 miles (or laps… or kilometers) can mean the difference between winning or finishing second. Teams have gotten so big now, and have so many moving parts, that it’s vital for everyone to be as prepared as possible. And the last chance to get everyone together before the race starts, is the closed-to-the-public pre-race meeting.
It happens every weekend. About an hour before the green flag drops, crew members will disappear into team haulers for this all important meeting. In it, crew chiefs will go over a variety of important information for the day, and many will give pep talks.
The information shared during these meetings often includes things like when the first pit stop will be and how far the car can go on gas, what adjustments the pit crew can maybe expect to make during the race, an update of the weekend’s happenings and how the car is running, a minute-by-minute schedule of pre-race activities (generators pushed off pit road, National Anthem, start your engines, etc), any post race tasks that need to be completed, and a variety of other topics.
Just like every good leader (especially in sports) many crew chiefs will also take this time to pump their guys up for the day’s activities. Pit crews will be reminded to be smooth and accurate, and watch each other’s backs. If they were good the week before, the boss will tell you to keep it up. If you weren’t so good the week before, he’ll encourage you to stick to your fundamentals. And behind-the-wall guys will be reminded to be prepared at all times for any situation.
Once the information has been relayed, and nobody has any questions, the team will break and crew members will go about getting changed into firesuits and completing any remaining pre-race jobs. Then, it’s go time.
Farewell Suitcase Jake
We were all saddened today to hear that the sport had lost one of it’s legends. “Suitcase” Jake Elder, who led some of the best drivers in NASCAR’s history, died at the age of 73. He had been in declining health ever since suffering a stroke a few years ago. During his long career, Elder sat atop the pit box for legends like David Pearson, Darrell Waltrip, Benny Parsons, and Fred Lorenzen. He also helped Dale Earnhardt win the 1979 Rookie of the Year. For more on Elder, check out this piece by SPEEDTV.com’s Mike Hembree.
Related posts:
Posted in 
Tags: 
At JGR, does the pre-race speech revolve around “win one for the Gibber”?
Among all the NASCAR themed websites, yours continues to be one of the very, very few must-reads – and one that always demonstrates thinking. Thank you.
T.C.
Reading this gave me an idea for you, and it is not about the movie script again ;)
Have you guys ever considered giving us outsiders a prerace tuneup/tipoff/meeting?
I wouldnt want you to reveal any private strategy stuff, but what can you tell us about specific races or tracks or times etc etc ? I know some readers here are experts, but I am not, and any tips you might give us on the upcoming race would be appreciated.
I know things are usually standard, but on some weekends things are all changed up, like the allstar race, and the twin 125 (or whatever they call them these days ), or on the couple of longer or shorter races..
You are on the spot and know exactly what/when/where/why things are going to occur. You have been doing this for years so I bet you know what to watch for and other fun insider stuff which is track specific.
Examples of what you might say in “the outsiders meeting”
1) This weekend look for things to occur with this team or in this pitbox or on this corner , because _______________
2) Watch the rivalry between these 2 or 3 drivers because _______________
3) Watch for the pit stops at these stalls because ______________ ( Bristol )
4) This is an important race for ___________ becasue ____________ did ___________ and needs __________ ….
things like that …. or other things ,,,things I may not even know about.
For instance in baseball an insider would tell a casual fan about how pitchers must keep the runner glued to first base by trying to pick him off, or the man on first base might try to steal 2nd base ,,, and in particular some guys who steal bases better than others …… so be sure to watch when ___________ is on first base because he has stolen 20 bases so far this saeson without being caught ………. anything like that, but regarding NASCAR. Things which a casual fan may not notice, but we should.
Just an idea to make it all better here.
This would really be helpful on unusal races or start times/days/etc esp on road races or maybe talk about aprox number of pit stops and/or laps between them and 2 vs 4 tire strategies etc etc etc….. basically what we should watch for, to make it more fun.
I always wonder what I dont know. I wonder which things I am so ignorant about that I dont even know what I dont know.
rip jake elder. guess he can now retire that suitcase.