(Lead photo: NASCAR.com) The pit crew is critical to a NASCAR driver’s success. If they aren’t where they are supposed to be in the carefully choreographed design of a pit stop, it turns into a disaster. Four tires and fuel take about 12-15 seconds…that’s not a lot of time to get everything done. The pressure is on the crew to get the tires on, car topped off and the driver out before positions are lost, so you will see them in place and ready as the car comes into Pit Row for servicing.
This is Brad Keselowski at Pocono this past weekend. In a wild race that saw Kasey Kahne wreck into the pit wall, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. rear-ending Sam Hornish, Jr. and Kevin Harvick grenading an engine while he was in the lead, it was this moment that everyone is talking about. He entered Pit Row on lap 58 and came into his stall a little too hot, right as his crew was jumping the barrier to get ready. Front tire carrier Jeremy Ogles and jack man Braxton Brannon caught the worst of it, with Ogles bouncing off of the hood of the Ford, and Brannon catching a 35 pound jack after getting flipped. To the crew’s credit, they get right back up and get the job done, which isn’t something to take lightly, especially after Brannon caught a jack to the face. All of the crew was ok, according to Team Penske, and Keselowski was brought back in to serve a penalty. We wonder if there was a “discussion” after the race between driver and crew…
