Grand National Pit Crews

July 10, 1999 - Hello Everyone. First I want to let everyone know that this report will be a two-parter. This part will look into the average work 'routine' of a pit crew member for a Busch team, and the next part will look at a Winston Cup pit crew.

About this time last year I attended my first race ever, it was a Busch race at Fontana. I had such an amazing time, but at the time one thing stood out. During driver introductions it was announced that one of the drivers was celebrating a birthday. I later learned the driver was Wayne Grubb, he pilots the #83 Link-Belt Cranes Chevrolet this season. As I learned more about racing, I realized that it must have been hard to celebrate a birthday so far from home and loved ones. This led me to wonder about other positions in racing.

Becky Parker, from Parker Racing and the #72 Chevrolet Monte Carlos, explains that most Busch teams have approximately 10 full time crew members, with 2-3 part timers. These crew members do everything from shop work to pit crew work. "Most BGN teams never have a traditional 40-hr work week," states Parker. The teams try to have set hours, but work hours for the coming week depends on the performance of the prior week. "If we have wrecked cars, then we have to work to catch up on our equipment again," says Parker.

As a crew member you can expect to travel about 36 weekends out of the year, moving from town to town, weekend after weekend. Plus a weekend without a race doesn't necessarily guarantee a weekend off. And the 'off season' is not quite three months long. One of the BGN crew members I spoke with a few months back summed it up best when he said it is like being part of a traveling circus.

Then why in the world would anyone want to be a pit crew member? Parker's reply is that "If you ask anyone involved in motorsports on any level (BGN, WC, Late Models, etc.) and in any position (crew member, driver, weekend warrior, P.R. representative, etc.) they do it for the love of the sport. The hours, the weekends, holidays, etc. are really never an issue."

So even if the hours fluctuate weekly, or you become a prime candidate for jet lag, or your personal life has to take a back seat to racing, being a crew member is still a sought after position. "We (and all the other teams) have several applicants each week trying to get into racing in any capacity," says Parker.

Now for a question from one of our unnamed readers, "Why did Tide give up on Ricky Rudd?" Well I found this question a bit difficult to answer. Since there are numerous stories focused on Tide and Rudd Performance Motorsports. Tide isn't exactly giving up on Rudd. Their contract expires December 1999, and they are exploring their options. According to Molly Humbert from Tide, negotiations were started with Precision Preparations, Inc (PPI) as owner and Rudd as driver. However, that didn't meet Rudd's objectives. Tide is continuing negotiations with PPI and owner Cal Wells for next season.

Well that does it for this report. Until next time, take care.
Nikki

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