In racing, like in life people are the key. In business, people are the most expensive element of running everything from a fruit stand to a NASCAR team. Part of the contraction of the sport of NASCAR stock car racing that we’re watching is teams figuring out how to jettison people and continue running their operations on the series tour. We have seen a change coming that will eliminate metal bodies for composite ones, thereby negating the work that metal fabricators handled for decades. We have seen the sanctioning body itself limit the number of people that teams can transit to the races starting next year. Now we’re seeing the start of the big one:
The end of the pit stop as we know it.
This year at the 2019 Snowball Derby, the most prestigious Super Late Model race of the year, there will be no traditional pit stops. Teams will pit at pre-determined times and have a pre-determined amount of time to change tires and fuel their cars before being allowed to leave for the racing surface again.
Discussions have already been had about going back to a “half-time” format for the NASCAR truck series and something similar for the Xfinity series as well. If this happens, you can bet your bottom dollar that it’ll hit the big series as well.
The story linked below is really good because it is not some blind lament of the end of an era, it talks of the elements that brought it on. The simple fact that teams reportedly were spending up to $500,000 a year on customizing their zip guns for tire changes speaks to just how insane the budgets in that world had gotten.
What’s interesting is that outside of the top tier series, most of the “pit crews” are hired from an outside firm, arrive in a van with their stuff, handle their business at the race and the leave. This would be in the Truck and Xfinity series. Up top, the men and women who change the tires, who fuel the cars, and who occasionally use baseball bats to fix body damage are employees of the teams…at least the big ones.
How fast does this trickle up? We’re guessing fast. Like within two years there will be no such thing as highly trained crew members diving over a wall and handling a half hour’s work in less than 20 seconds. Somewhere the Wood Brothers are weeping.
First the magazines, now the pit stops. We shudder to think of what’s next.
The end of the pit stop: Here’s an in-depth look at why they’re doomed
Professional racing has been dead to me for over two decades. NASCAR longer than that. Victims of the insatiable need for more marketing revenues, which have drvine the little guy out of the sport. How good are today’s pro driver compared to other guys who can’t compete at that level? We’ll never know, because today’s drivers buy their seats by bringing the sponser money. It’s a shame, but fortunately, there’s still many sportsman events that give us a place to go play.
The solution to this might be to randomize the pit crews – one slip of paper per pit crew is dropped into a hat, and team owners draw slips. There’s always the risk that if you bring a really good crew, somebody else might get them.
Drawing individual members might be a problem, if they’re really as specialized as it sounds like nowadays.
The solution is obvious. Require the crews to use tools available off the shelf at the local auto parts or home improvement center. Think of the how those relationships could benefit the teams/manufacturers/distributors/consumers
Maybe they should also get a car off the showroom floor
Two guys change all four tires , use centerlock lugs, one refueler. That will save some cost
I remember a quote when NASCAR was still running carbs a scant few years ago – it is the pinnacle racing, of cars built and raced in 1972 – now here we are with this pit crew alteration
Qualify that day, more than one car on track, see late model outlaws, no multi practice, race what you brought
The three top series cost cubic money! I still agree with taking the trick guns out of the equation and for those that complain about lost jobs because of these decisions should think about the fact when it becomes to expensive you don’t bother building a car! How many jobs do you loose then? Most super late races do not have pit stops. Under caution you can have a guy or two fix the car as yellow flag laps don’t count. Dragging a car to a race far from home and being prepared to practice, qualify, and run 300 laps is already expensive. And now you have to have a pit crew! Why just price so many people out of it or make pit stops part of a short track race? Run three segments back to back. 5 minutes for fuel and tires. One set of lefts and two rights. Cost effects car counts. Do you want to watch 40 race cars or 10 rich kids?
I have watched the pit stop evolve in under 11 seconds for 4 tires and 18 gallons of gas, only then to take away a carrier and use an inconsistent standardized gun from an European manufacturer. What do teams do but tear the gun a part and figure out what will make it spin faster ie, different compressed gases, lubricants, etc. After a year the stops got faster to 12 seconds with one less guy. The cost cutting cost to eliminate one guy has now increased the cost of another guy. (Way to save money LOL). The competition for trained talent between teams drive up the costs as well as the cost to recruit and train new talent coming in. Professional sports are competitive and expensive.
An idea for pit crew is road crew pit the car. 7 guys to the track all weekend then pit the car. 2 changers one Jack man and one gas man. 4 of the 7 over the wall and 3 behind for support. Changers carry tire and change tire, Jackman only jacks and gasman only gases. Road crew pit crew, with specific jobs, good luck finding and paying for that talent. Better start training now. These over price drivers will continue to blame their short comings on the crew. It’s never their fault or lack of talent. Pit crews and driver add an element of human performance to machine performance. Talented drivers with money will rise to the top and teams with big money will figure out how to bend the rules. All in all, it will be a shame to see the pit crew go away but the racing ain’t near as good as it once was. How bout Nascar buy stock mustangs cameros, supras and challengers. Then race them on different types of tracks instead of cookie cutter bs. Short tracks, dirt, rovals, road courses, street, mile and a half, superspeedway. Money has helped this sport but yet ruined it, turning it from a family event that no family can longer affor, to a corporate event that corporate sponsorships can no longer afford.
Ok it’s called Stock Car racing so you have to go buy a car from a dealer add safety equipment and use tool’s you can buy over the counter to do pot stops what we have now is a custom built car now close to stock cheap and real
I hate the “stock car” argument. They haven’t been stock since the 50s. No way anyone would watch a bunch of front drive suvs go around anyway, not many rear drivers left. They can make the bodies look more relevant. The pics released of the next gen car look better than the current one. Trans Am was probably closest to stock racing, read The Unfair Advantage by Mark Donahue and you can see how we were all fooled.
2 tire changers with 4-ways, 1 refueler