Changes To Slow Pit Stop Coming?

T

TonyB

Guest
First, I never post any thing from Mulhern and I wouldn't be doing it this time unless I had heard this mentioned on TV coverage a few weeks ago from an owner that I can't recall...

NASCAR wants to slow pit stops next season on the Nextel Cup and Busch tours, and officials are considering a drastic change in the fuel-dump cans. Now a gas man can dump two 11-gallon cans in a car in about 11 seconds, and that has put a remarkable premium on car owners putting together a pit crew fast enough to change four tires in that brief time span. By ordering teams to use fuel cans with smaller spouts, NASCAR officials hope to slow the dump time to 19 seconds. In turn, that would lessen the need for lightning-fast pit crews. But some top pit-crew men are upset with NASCAR's plans, saying NASCAR is playing to car owners, who have been complaining about the rising cost of hiring fast pit-crew men.(Winston Salem Journal)

Thoughts?
 
I kind of like this idea. A lot harder to leave a lugnut loose when you have enough time to tighten it twice.
Of course now they will figure out a way to do a lot more in that amount of time. Track bar, spring rubber, transmission change etc. ;)
 
Sounds like a reasonable change to me. In addition to extra time for adjustments and making sure everything is tight and right, think about the added safety of jacks and impact wrenches not being slung around while trying to race to the other side of the car.......I'm amazed that we haven't had a crew member run over by some car entering or exiting an adjacent pit because that crew member tripped or fell.
 
You have some good points there DEW, but I still believe that the excitement of the pit stops will be somewhat subdued. I just don't think that safety is one of the main reasons for this change.
 
Oh I agree.........safety probably was not even thought about. But it seems to me that it would be an added benefit. I really don't see too much excitement being lost during pit stops since everyone would be in the same boat. Fewer mistakes and opportunities for penalties.......if one considers that excitement!! :blink: I gotta admit, though, that I've cheered when one of my guys main competition leave a lug nut off and has to come back!! :D
 
I like the idea, but don't know if I like the 19 second time part. Think that is a little long. Maybe something like 15 or 16 would be better. That is a awful lot of time to giving up on the track and might cause problems there that we haven't thought about.
 
Seems to me that the 19 second fuel fill will help the drivers that get good fuel mileage taking them less time to fill the tank. That would give a premium to teams that tune for mileage. :director: Otherwise it will be hard to pass on pit road. Also this could lead to more speeding penalties on pit road. Damn! Lost my rookie status in the change over! :beerbang:
 
I like the idea, but 19 secs. seems long. More cars can get caught an extra lap down if the yellow comes out on the short tracks.
 
This seems like a stupid idea at first. Kind of devaluing the time and money the top teams have invested in getting these sub 14 second 4 tire and gas up stops. Teams like the 17 would really be hurt by this in my opinion.

But, at the same time there seems to be an aweful lot of guys going back out on the track with a loose or missing lug nut.

I don't know, but it just seems NASCAR should just but out for a change.
 
I think it's crap. These guys get paid for doing their job as fast as they possibly can, and taking that away takes their motivation away. Let it slide, NASCAR. It's also going to be my career!
 
Slick, that is exactly what they are trying to do, save some money. Do you remember back when Dale Jarrett's team invaded Jeff Gordon's team? It sure as hell wasn't for loyalty, but rather big money. That really started a trend and as you probably know, there is some pretty good money in being an over the wall pit crew member. There once was the days when some of the crew members weren't even paid at all and excepted it because they were able to get into the track and work for a team. That alone was good enough, but with today's big bucks that come along for the winners, getting the very best at changing tires, jacking up the cars and filling those tanks with fuel costs a whole lot of money. There are many different ways that NASCAR can save teams money but this seems to be the very easiest. Sorry if you had your heart set on a carreer of being a crew member. Now you'll have to work at being a crew chief. :) Hang in there bud.
 
Will have to wait and hear from some of the teams. I am sure that there will be lots of pros and cons on it though.
 
Well, it sounds to me like Nascar is again trying to control the competition aspect of the race. And buck, unless I read your post wrong, Dale Jarrett's team offered more money to Jeff Gordon's Rainbow Warrior pit crew to come and be his pit crew. In my opinion, THAT is where the price hike for pit crews started. Again, it's a competition, and Nascar has furthered that with having a contest pitting crews against one another to find out who has the fastest. :confused:
 
Those guys also have a championship to fight for, and that's the McDonalds Drive-thru Pit Crew Championship. It awards the fastest and best team of the weekend, so I hope NASCAR don't change the rules. It's also another motivation factor for them to do well..

Why don't they just take away air guns and let them take off the lugnuts by hand? I'm sure that would tighten the competition a little bit. 12 minute pitstops... oh yeah.
 
Not all teams participate in the McD's contest. And, I'm not sure the results are accurate. There is not that much difference in pit times that Lil'E's team could have absorbed all of the time he lost when they were having to change out drivers. >1 minute just for Andretti. That is the equivalent of 4 pit stops. And, yet he remains at the top. Also, I've never seen how they factor in garage time to fix a car.
 
A 19 second stop is still pretty fast, and most likley would still require some very athletic and skilled pit crew members. It wasn't too many years ago that 18 or 20 second pit stops was the average.
Just my opinion
 
majestyx said:
And buck, unless I read your post wrong, Dale Jarrett's team offered more money to Jeff Gordon's Rainbow Warrior pit crew to come and be his pit crew. In my opinion, THAT is where the price hike for pit crews started. Again, it's a competition, and Nascar has furthered that with having a contest pitting crews against one another to find out who has the fastest. :confused:
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Yep, that's what happened and I agree that is where it all started. Before that, other than the beef cakes on pit road, the newest of the new were the engineers. Some teams had them and some didn't, relying on the old shade tree mechanics. Now if you don't have an engineering degree, you might as well go look for a job at a local garage.
 
I'm not sure it's a bad thing. They've been way to many incidents of loose wheels, wrenches left in the cars etc.. I think it'll make pitting safer.
 
If everyone is under the same restrictions, no one team should have an advantage any more than now.

Safety would have to be improved---as well as the ability of the pit officials to make better calls on infractions---there have been a couple incidents this year when questionable calls were made.
 
If everyone is under the same restrictions, no one team should have an advantage any more than now.
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While that is true what we are setting up is for everyone to be standing around while they wait for the gas man to finish. I suppose the driver could have their nails done, get a haircut, eat a sandwich, or something...
 
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