How teams pick pit stalls and what are the strategies behind it
Every crew chief, driver, and pit crew have their own idea of what pit stalls are the best and why. We wanted to take a minute to explain how teams pick stalls and why they pick the stalls they do. Its probably one of the most asked questions at the track and so we thought we would explain.
The answer to the first question is easy. Crew Chiefs pick the pit stalls depending on where they qualify. Example: The pole sitter gets to pick any stall they want first. It doesn’t have to be stall 1 but it always is. We’ll explain that in a second. So basically if you qualify up front then you have a better chance of getting a good pit stall than if you qualify back in the field.
The answer to this second question is a little more tricky. Believe it or not, teams take a lot into consideration when picking a stall. It can make a huge difference in the performance of the crew depending on who they are pitting around. So here are what teams take into consideration while picking a stall:
1). Does the stall have an opening in front of it or behind it. (There are usually a few on every pit road) opening are breaks in the wall where cars can exit behind pit wall if they need to. By having this OPENING it gives the teams a better chance of not getting blocked in by another car.
2). Is the stall in a good timing line segment. Nascar does a good job of placing the timing lines so that there isn’t much of an advantage to anyone on pit road. Unfortunately, their are some boxes that are better than others in the sense of timing lines. A good driver can exploit a timing line and get more speed on and off pit road if they do it correctly.
3). What teams are going to be pitting in front and behind you. Some times you can’t control this but if you’re a team picking 15th, you don’t generally want to pick a stall that is going to be in-between two good running teams that have already picked. You might find yourself driving around the car behind you or having trouble getting out because of the team in front. Ideally teams would like to have a start and park in between them and another team.
4.) Where on pit road is the stall. For years you have seen the 48 take stall 43. They enjoy being able to get right off the track and into the stall. Some teams enjoy taking stalls down pit road in the 2,3,4,5 area. This is one of those things that is totally team specific. There are advantages and dis advantages to both.
