NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
  • Peg It on GarageMonkey
ALL-STAR: Sprint Pit Crew Challenge A Big Deal
The annual NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge returns on May 19...
Jim Pedley  | http://www.RacinToday.com  |  Posted May 16, 2011   Charlotte, NC
NASCAR's annual Pit Crew Competition won't happen this year. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
ALL-STAR Watch Presented By Lowe's - Let's Build Something Together


Denny Hamlin shares a frustration which bugs the bejeezus out many NASCAR competitors and fans. It’s the frustration of trying to explain to the outside world that racing is very much, a team sport.

Perhaps the ultimate team sport.

On the night of May 19, 2010, that particular frustration eased considerably for Hamlin. It was soundly and and publicly stomped as the Joe Gibbs Racing pit crew members finally got to show the outside world their worth as competitors.

And they got to show just how much of a team they were.

Hamlin’s crew won the annual NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge presented by Craftsman in front of a national television audience and a wildly enthusiastic live audience inside the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, N.C.

Perhaps the most enthusiastic spectator in the building was Hamlin himself, who nervously watched it all go down from outside the cockpit.

"I wanted it so bad for these guys,” Hamlin told reporters that night. “I wanted them to enjoy their success. I always get all the credit when we win, and this night was about them and it showed how steady and good that they are."

The event, held annually in conjunction with the Sprint All-Star Race each May at Charlotte Motor Speedway, returns on May 19. This year’s event will again be broadcast by SPEED.

The format will be much the same as last year.

All teams competing in this year’s All-Star Race are eligible to send their over-the-wall gangs to the Challenge. Also eligible is the winner of last year’s Challenge. If more teams are needed to fill out the field of 24 teams, the positions will go to the teams of car owners ranking highest in the 2011 owner standings that are not otherwise eligible.

Seven-person over-the-wall crews from each of the teams will compete. Six of those seven remain the same from last year; front-tire changer, front-tire carrier, rear-tire changer, rear-tire carrier, gas can man and jack man. New this year will be a second gas can man who will take the place of the catch can man, a position which is no longer relevant in the series.

The new fueling cans and systems, however, will not be used.

The competition is different than a normal pit stop. The crews start at four separate stations. From those stations, the crewmen do their normal duties and then hit a split-timer button. They then have to run to one end of the arena and collectively push their 3,200-pound car across the arena floor to the finish line.

All team members will begin simultaneously at the sound of a starter’s pistol. They will hit a stop button positioned on pit wall as they leave their respective pit box, creating their individual split time.

The format is single-elimination ladder.

Also crowned are top individuals in their specialty areas.

It is all overseen and policed by NASCAR officials.

“The NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge has become extremely popular with our fans and with our teams as it provides an opportunity for the real unsung heroes in our sport to be on center stage and showcase their talents and their outstanding teamwork ,” said Robin Pemberton, vice president of competition at NASCAR. “It’s a great lead-in for the week of activities heading into the All-Star Race, and it promises to deliver another exceptional experience for the fans and for the competitors.”

It can also give competing teams a boost. A very tangible boost.

The NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge presented by Craftsman is Thursday, May 19 at 7 p.m. at Time Warner Cable Arena and will air on SPEED at 8 p.m. EDT that evening.
A victory gives the winning team its choice of pit stalls in the All-Star Race or in the Sprint Showdown qualifying race that precedes it.

Then there is the less-tangible boost. Last year’s participation in the Challenge, and its eventual victory, brought a team that had been at odds at some points over the years, back together as a unit.

"It's like a family," rear-tire carrier Heath Cherry said after last year’s Challenge. "Over the last two years, we've gotten stronger and stronger, more confident and more consistent. We take a lot of pride in what we do. We take pride when we advance Denny's position on pit road.

"We have a good group that works well together and is just a team. We keep that consistency. No one is bigger than the other."

Hamlin and his No. 11 JGR Toyota team finished second in Sprint Cup points last year. They won eight races – a series high – together.

And they won the Pit Crew Challenge. It was a big and important victory, the team will tell you.

“It’s definitely an honor and a reward for our hard work,” Scott Woods, the team's gas man said.

Jim Pedley is a veteran, award-winning sports journalist who has worked at, among other places, the Boston Globe, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Kansas City Star. Pedley can be reached at jpedley@racintoday.com

ALL-STAR Watch Presented By Lowe's - Let's Build Something Together
jim_pedley's avatar

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jim Pedley

RacinToday.com

MORE BY THIS AUTHOR
Advertising | Jobs | Feedback | FAQ | Terms of Use | NEW Privacy Policy | Ad Choices | Site Map
Fox Sports | FUEL TV | FX Network | National Geographic | IGN | AskMen
The Motor Sports Authority, SPEED and associated logos are registered trademarks of Speed Channel Inc.
All Rights Reserved © Speed Channel, Inc. 2013

All external links will open in a new browser window. SPEED.com does not endorse external sites.