March 1st, 2010 
T.C. It’s happened before. And it will happen again. Something goes horribly wrong on pit road, and a guy gets hurt. Nobody wants to see it happen, but we all know it’s a possibility. In the event it does happen though, the teams have realized they need some sort of insurance policy.
For race teams, gone are the days when mechanics would be plucked out of the shop and thrown out onto pit road to service the car during the race. If you read us regularly, you’ve seen me talk about this topic before. Pit crew guys are becoming more specialized then ever before, with many coming from athletic backgrounds. Pit stop times continue to be cut down, and the margin for error grows smaller every year. And as such, many of the bigger teams are starting to invest in backup crew guys for those dreaded “what if” situations.
With the level of competition in the Cup Series what it is these days, it’s vital to an organization’s success that they are prepared for any situation. A team who is fighting for race wins and a championship can’t afford to lose their main guy after the first pit stop, throw some goober in to fill his spot, and then struggle on pit road for the remainder of the race. They need trained, capable guys waiting in the wings to jump in at a moment’s notice and perform.
It really is no different then other team sports. In baseball and basketball, you’ve got bench players; in football, a lengthy depth chart. These backup pit crews serve the same purpose.
In most cases, these crews train just like the first stringers, getting ample practice and gym time. In order for them to be plugged into an existing crew, there really isn’t any other way. The preparation must be the same.
Besides practice and workouts during the week, often times these backup pit crews have their own gigs during the weekend. Their teams will find them deals with Truck teams, NNS teams, or even other Cup teams to keep their race skills sharp.
One documented example we’ve seen of a backup crew this season, is that of Stewart-Haas Racing. The management at SHR put together a third pit crew and loaned them out to the #71 TRG team. The idea being that the team can stay sharp over the wall, but any member can be recalled at any moment to help one of the SHR teams.
Another example of a backup crew was seen last weekend at California. The rear tire changer for Juan Pablo Montoya’s team wasn’t able to go on Sunday, and since EGR doesn’t have their own backup crew guys, they borrowed one from Team Red Bull’s backup crew. If you watched the race, you may have noticed the change.
These backup guys are just another example of how teams continue to find ways to eliminate as many variables as possible. Like I said above, the margin for error grows ever smaller, and no team can afford to be left in the dust.
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Speaking of pit crews, what’s up with Harvick’s Busch team? It seems they’ve got the most media time out of any pit crew cup or Busch for the last 2 weeks, and not good media. He went & spent the money on a permanent team & it seems like they are worse than his leased crew last year. Thoughts?
I’m constantly amazed at what these teams are able to do week after week. I’m also surprised that the broadcasters never even mentioned the fact that the 48 crew pulled off an 11.6 second 4-tire pit stop! Was there something special about that stop that allowed them in/out that fast, was there a timing error on the broadcast or are they just that darned good?
Licker: Who said Harvick’s pit crew was new? I think except for one guy, it’s the same crew he had last season. They pit his NNS car on Saturday, and the Furniture Row Cup car on Sunday. And they get so much media time, because whenever they have problems, he berates them on the radio. Other drivers might say something to their crews about a bad stop, but nobody is as bad as Harvick.
I saw a clip of 48’s last pit, not sure what show. I did notice the gas man helping take the left front tire off. Was watching the front Tire Changer on the right, so not sure if they even put gas in the car. Not sure what the Catch Can Man was doing, maybe helping the rear left tire.
When they pitted the previous times, most of the cars were pitting right near the pit window on having enough gas to finish. If the 48 team put a splash in when the right side was being done (if at all) and the gas men helped with tires on the left, it might have made the difference. Maybe TC knows how much that might save.
I’ll have to say when I saw 48 come out with 4 tires, everyone around him with 2 tires, and that many laps to go, I figured he had it won at that point, barring something strange.
T.C..: I thought I heard (last week) that last year he was fed up with his pit crew & that they were leased from a cup team (Furniture Row?). So this year, he put together his own team & they are KHI employees, not a leased team anymore.
I’ll see if I can dig up anything further.
Question, if he was so unhappy with the way things went last year, why in the world would he bring the same guys back?
T.C.: I couldn’t find anything article-wise. Where I heard it was from the TV broadcast & Harvick’s in car tirades. I may have misunderstood what the broadcasters were saying & what Harvick was yelling about but I thought the pit crew members were now KHI employees & new group of guys that he hired.
I remember him yelling something to the effect that he’s shelling out more dollars for these guys’ salary but is having the same results.
Licker: Yeah I don’t know about what he is paying them, but it’s the same group from last year. I believe only the rear changer is different. They aren’t a bad bunch, but when your owner/driver puts so much pressure on you, it can be very difficult to perform. KHI is notorious for having a lot of turnover, and with your boss berating you publicly on a regular basis, it isn’t hard to see why.
T.C.: I agree 100% & don’t know how KHI maintains a staff. A job there doesn’t seem like it would be much fun. I didn’t mean my comments to sound like this crew was a bunch of chuckle heads. Just trying to figure out what the deal was with the constant berating/”poor” pit stops. I really wasn’t paying that much attention to their times. I WAS paying attention to the “you guys look like a bunch of idiots” type of comments.
Yea, not quite sure how calling the group a bunch of “idiots” is going to help the situation at hand. I remember Tony doing that a couple of years ago to the #20 crew. Maybe it works for some.
Licker/Neon – I was talking to a crew guy of his a 4-5 years ago. They had just finished a race that he ripped them a new one on the radio. Crew guy was not happy. He said..you don’t know how hard it is to not hit the talk button on the radio when KH makes a bonehead move (wrecks, makes a driving mistake and gets passed, etc) and call him an idiot! You ruined our whole day! We are working our a** off in here to get you track position, could you at least not wreck the car?!
His beef is that most crew guys are pretty competitive. They KNOW when they made a mistake. They are beating themselves up already for making a mistake. They do not need him telling you how much you suck.