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LEVEL CROSS — Six-tenths of a second after the car stops, a gang of guys in knee pads and gloves are already attacking the lug nuts with high-speed air wrenches. Two seconds later, they’ve ripped off a pair of scorching 80-pound tires.
The average time to change all four tires and move out of the way? 16.5 seconds. To dump 11 gallons of fuel into the tank? Seven seconds.
And who says racing isn’t a sport?
Today’s NASCAR pit crews are professional athletes, says Mark Mauldin, the Salisbury man in charge of conditioning at Petty Racing Enterprises. The company’s drivers are Kyle Petty, John Andretti and Steve Grissom.
“It’s no more going out Saturday night and seeing how many beers you can drink and hot dogs you can eat,” Mauldin said. “It’s become real professional. People think we’re just a bunch of rednecks that like racing. But these guys are trained athletes.”
When the checkered flag drops, it’s still the driver who steps into the winner’s circle to claim the cup. But fans do appear more interested in what goes on behind the scenes in racing. Crew members’ names roll off announcers’ lips more often. For the first time this year, Winston Cup pit crews will even receive awards. A new annual awards program recognizes members in each of 12 positions for speed, performance, teamwork, leadership, vision, reliability and athleticism.
At Petty Racing — where fans can see the late Lee Petty’s birthplace and many Petty cars — Mauldin works on every aspect of a pit stop. A car grinds to a stop in a yellow rectangle in a parking lot at the company’s complex of white warehouses. He stands by with a stopwatch in each hand as a crew whirs into action.
Speed is everything in the pits, Mauldin says. Crews glue lugs onto the holes of wheels just so they don’t have to handle them. But too much speed means errors. When someone steps on an air hose, drops a tire, takes more than a single push to jack up the side of a car, the whole crew must slow down.
“Right now, we know we need to work on foot speed,” he said.
So why are a few seconds so important in a race that can last several hours?
“The cars are so technically close now that it’s a whole lot more up to the human element,” Mauldin said. “Our philosophy is: It’s a whole lot easier to pass cars sitting still than it is on the track.”
Mauldin earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Catawba College in 1978 and a master’s degree from N.C. A&TUniversity. He also served as an assistant coach on the Catawba and West Rowan High School football teams.
Mauldin takes new recruits through a wall of videotapes in his office, recordings of pit stops during races all over the country. Outside of tire changes, fueling and other drills, pit crews lift weights, run sprints and work on coordination. On a wall in the gym at Petty Racing is a board with names, times and goals for pit crew members.
The crews at Petty Racing even have a customized program of vitamins and supplements that costs the company more than $100,000 a year.
“It takes explosive power,” said Chris Martin, a Kernersville resident and tire carrier. “We’re not running a marathon. Everybody’s training in gyms now. If you’re not running 15-second pit stops now you’re out of the race.”
What do these men get out of their jobs? Most, like Chris Beeson, a rear tire changer for Steve Grissom’s crew, say it’s the rush.
“I’d say it’s the adrenaline. The travel can be rough, but they know that going into it,” the just-married Beeson said. “But it pays pretty well.”
“This is more than seven guys who decide to jump over the fence and service a car,” Mauldin said. “They spend their lives on the road.”
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