NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
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CUP: Stewart-Haas Racing Gets ‘Army Strong’
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ryan Newman and his crew visited Fort Benning military base...
Jared Turner  |  Posted May 10, 2010   Fort Benning, GA
A group of crew members of the #38 U.S. Army Chevrolet Impala changes a M88 road wheel during Ryan Newman and Stewart-Haas Racing at Fort Benning at on May 5, 2010 in Fort Benning, Georgia. (Photo: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
How fast is the Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) crew of driver Ryan Newman?

Photos-CUP: Stewart-Haas Racing Gets ‘Army Strong’ At Fort Benning

Faster than the U.S. Army.

Well, at least in performing a four-tire pit stop on the U.S. Army-sponsored NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car.

And the boys from SHR even hold their own when changing two wheels on an M88 Army towing machine used in the rescue and recovery of combat vehicles.

Not that anyone at Fort Benning military base on Wednesday really cared who came out on top.

When the SHR crew squared off with representatives of the U.S. Army at the sprawling 182,000-acre military installation in west central Georgia, there were no winners or losers.
Crew members for the #39 U.S. Army Chevrolet Impala perform a pit stop to U.S. Army members during Ryan Newman and Stewart-Haas Racing at Fort Benning on May 5, 2010 in Fort Benning, Georgia. (Photo: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

An attempt was made, however, to showcase the synergies between the Army’s training methods and the training that SHR crew members undergo in preparation for 38 Sprint Cup race weekends, counting the series’ two annual exhibition events.

Much like Army personnel, the crew guys at Stewart-Haas (along with some other Cup teams) undergo rigorous training in extreme heat and otherwise uncomfortable conditions in an effort to be the best at their respective trade. Of course, there are differences in methods and mechanisms, such as how the wheels of a M88 differ from a stock car.

A M88 wheel features 10 lug nuts as opposed to the familiar five on a NASCAR tire. And M88 wheels, at between 150 and 200 pounds each, also weigh considerably more than those on Newman’s Chevrolet.

“We don’t quite go to these extremes with what they’re doing here, but this is great and it’s humbling for an experience to see our troops that defend us and the reason we are able to do what we do,” said Jeff Kerr, a pit coach at SHR.


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