CONCORD, N.C. – This weekend at Watkins Glen drivers will be turning left -- and right.
That includes a right-hand turn onto pit road. And that means everything is backwards.
Instead of the car coming into the pit stall from the right of the pit box like a typical race, this weekend the car will be coming from the left, which means the pit crew members will have to change spots on the pit wall.
Chris Krieg, the Nos. 48 and 88 pit crew coach, said it can be quite a change for the crew members.
“The difficulty in that is their body mechanics and their muscle memory are in opposite directions,” Krieg said. “To see the car coming from a different direction after doing thousands and thousands of reps the other way can throw you off mentally a little bit.”
Leading up to the race, practice and preparation are key when it comes to the backward stops. Not only do the pit crew athletes practice going over the wall, but they also watch the pit stops from last year to see what they can change and how they can improve.
“Reps, reps, reps,” Krieg said. “We have been practicing this now for about three weeks to try and get the muscle memory engrained in them.”
When watching the pit stop, the crew member’s job may look the same as a “normal” race, but every position’s role is just a little bit different, especially for the jackman and the fueler.
When the jackman goes from one side of the car to the other, he always goes around the front because it is the shortest distance. At Watkins Glen, the front of the car is facing the wrong way, so instead of going the direction he usually does, he has to do the opposite.
To gas the car properly, the fueler relies on one thing in particular – his stance.
“Normally the car comes in one way and the fueler angles one way, but now the car is coming another way,” Krieg said. “The angle where we plug in is still the same, so he has to angle a different direction. Instead of being open hips one way, he is opening his hips another.”
No. 48 front-tire changer Cam Waugh said that his job is not necessarily different, just more awkward.
“I still jump out in front of the car, but we all have to adjust to do everything almost backwards since you change left-side tires first and then right-side tires,” Waugh said.
Krieg said the way his teams attack backward pit stops can change from season to season, but the goal is always to make them as natural as possible.
“My philosophy this year is to let our guys do as much as they normally do,” he said. “Don’t try to take a guy and have him do something he doesn’t do ever, because then you are adding an X factor to it that is not good.”
The 90-lap race at Watkins Glen can usually be finished with only two pit stops. That means the Hendrick Motorsports pit crews have practiced for weeks to jump over the wall twice from a different direction to hopefully win the race.
We’ll see the results on Sunday – and come Monday morning, everything will be back to normal.