Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 13, 1993 TAG: 9303130173
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HAMPTON, GA. LENGTH: Medium
PIT-STOP SPEED ALL THE RAGE
The lightning-fast pit stops of 1993 are a hot topic in Winston Cup garages these days.The best teams now almost routinely take less than 18 seconds to change four tires and fill their cars with 22 gallons of gas.
Last year, four-tire pit stops below 19 seconds were considered world class. And only a few years ago, 23 or 24 seconds was the standard.
Davey Allison won at Richmond last weekend in part because of fast pit stops. And Rusty Wallace, who won the pole at Atlanta Motor Speedway for Sunday's Motorcraft 500, gave his pit crew much of the credit for his win at Rockingham two weeks ago.
Allison's last pit stop at Richmond, which kept him in the lead, was timed by his crew at 17.36 seconds. Another of his stops was completed in 18.01 seconds. And his crew gave him the lead during a caution period on lap 242 with a stop of 18.21 seconds.
Wallace's quickest stop at Rockingham was timed at 17.4 seconds.
"Last year, anything in the 18s, right up to an 18.999, would have been good," said Wallace's crew chief, Buddy Parrott. "Now, we think we can go below 17 seconds in a race if we have to.
"The cars are getting closer and closer because Goodyear is making better tires and the cars drive better. So the only place to make up a lot of time is in the pits."
During Kyle Petty's drive to victory last fall at Rockingham, his pit crew broke the 17-second barrier during the race with one stop at 16.85 seconds.
"Once some other team starts working on this, everybody else has to follow suit," said Robin Pemberton, Petty's crew chief.
Many things are helping make pit stops faster. Two-thirds of the top teams, including Wallace's, now have weight and conditioning programs. Tires are five pounds lighter. The best jacks are down to 27 pounds (from almost 100 pounds) and can lift a car in two downstrokes instead of five or six.
The jackman is especially critical. He is the quarterback of the pit crew. Allison's all-pro jackman, Jeff Clark, is 6 feet 7 and considered the best in the business.
Parrott said his jackman, Scott Robinson, takes 3.3 seconds to get from the left side of the car to the right side. "It used to take him six seconds," he said.
Parrott said teams also are videotaping their stops to analyze efficiency. And they are developing new strategies - "working up plays like football teams."
Wallace's team has become so fast that other teams began suggesting that his crew was cheating. Last Sunday, a NASCAR inspector showed up in Wallace's pit before the race and told the crew that he would be watching. Wallace incurred no penalties.
"Some people were doubting it," Parrott said. "We weren't using more than seven men. But we are utilizing seven men on the ground all the time."
Keywords:
AUTO RACING