CONCORD, N.C. -- Alex Bowman secured Hendrick Motorsports' first win of the season last Sunday when he cruised across the finish line first in Fontana, California, after leading for 110 laps.
Behind every driver is a crew that works just as hard to make sure pit stops go smoothly, the cars are fueled properly and any adjustments are made as fast and efficiently as possible.
However, the crew isn't getting too caught up in their first win of the year. They know there still are 35 more races left in the season.
"(We got to) keep working hard. Keep pushing," rear-tire changer Devin DelRicco said. "Don’t stop just because we had a win last week. Let’s keep that going -- that momentum."
Rowdy Harrell, tire carrier for the No. 88 team, agreed that the win at Auto Club Speedway now needs to be in the rear-view mirror.
"Just keep trying to ball out," Harrell said about moving forward. "Keep going as fast as we can -- that’s the only way to go. You can’t get complacent and think that you’ve made it just because you’ve won one (race). You’ve got to keep going."
Like every race, execution for the pit crew is paramount. One seemingly small mistake could take precious seconds off a driver's time getting out of pit road.
That baseline pressure from every race was bigger at Auto Club Speedway, which is known to be a brutal track.
"That was a lot of weight last week," DelRicco said. "Cali is very tough to win at. That showed our strength this past weekend. It kind of shocked us all. It’s kind of surreal still. That was a big, big win for us."
In the final leg of the West Coast swing, Bowman will head to his hometown track in Phoenix. While he and the rest of the No. 88 crew might feel extra stress to perform well in front of a hometown crowd, Harrell said he isn't concerned over that aspect.
"I wouldn’t say that there’s a whole lot of pressure," he said. "I think they’re going to have a good car there. Alex runs really well. As long as we’re on our game, we’ll be alright."