It’s a sweltering afternoon on the track and after about 20 laps, your favorite IndyCar driver relays to the pit crew how much E85 fuel is left in the 18.5 gallon tank. Doing upwards of 220 mph has started to drain the vehicle and wear down the tires, which could affect the performance. After several more laps, and some key strategizing, the two sides agree that the time has come to make a pit stop.
But even just to get to that point in the race is one that requires a large crew, a vast amount of work and more moving parts than most people could even fathom. All weekend, the garage is packed with crew members preparing the vehicle for what lies ahead. The IndyCars are started, tested and tested again, before eventually being pushed out to the pit where the race begins. As the pre-race festivities commence, the crew works to make sure the vehicle and driver are ready to race.
Once the vehicle is in the proper area, an umbrella is placed on top of the seat, because let’s face it, we’ve all gotten into a car with a hot seat at one point – and it’s not fun. The tire pressure is checked on each wheel to make sure it’s at the proper pressure depending on the conditions. At this point, typically the driver makes sure all of the communication equipment in his helmet is functioning and that’s when it’s time to climb into the turbocharged, 2.2-liter V-6 engine, 500-700 horsepower IndyCar.
For many drivers, the pit stop isn’t always as easy as it appears. There’s a lot of concentration that goes into it and the slightest mistake could cost their team in a big way. An IndyCar pit stop typically takes between seven and nine seconds, which doesn’t sound like much, but given that 96 races have been decided by less than one second, it can be the difference between the podium and the bottom.
“I would say that the pit stop is one of the most difficult parts of the race,” admitted Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver Mikhail Aleshin. “It’s all about direction, really – the mechanics need to change tires as fast as possible, the fuel guy needs to put the stuff in there as fast as possible, all of that. Everybody [on the team] is under pressure.”
To be a member of the crew team, a job that can be very labor-intensive, there needs to be some preparation physically. For instance, the Andretti Autosport team, specifically the Snapple-sponsored one for Marco Andretti, spends a substantial portion of its time in the gymnasium – routinely about an hour a day. Often, some members were standout athletes in both high school college, while others are gearheads that just have a passion for automobiles.
An IndyCar pit crew is made up of 11 people, however only six are allowed over the wall to work in direct contact with the vehicle. Team leaders also keep watch at the pit box, an almost cockpit-like station that allows them to monitor the race, the weather reports and the car’s telemetry, with the help of laptops, TVs and antennas. A camera is even mounted to one of the antennae, that way the group can review each pit stop following the race. All of these features allow the team leaders to improve and make certain everything goes smoothly between the driver and his 11 pit cohorts.
Each of the members has a specific job. Here are the five who don’t go over-the-wall:
- Front tire assistant: Assists in getting the tires over the wall.
- Deadman/fuel hose assistant: Handles springloaded lever on fuel tank. The deadman can stop the flow of ethanol if a problem arises, thanks to a release lever, while ensuring a level fuel hose to minimize fill time.
- Fire extinguisher: Stands close and sprays a mixture on the engine to wash away spillage after the hose has been removed.
- Stop sign/front air hose/wing: Signals to the driver to stop and to pit, marking the optimum area. After, they assist outside front tire changer by clearing wheel gun and air hose.
- Rear tire assistant: Passes left-rear tire and the starter, in the rare chance the car stalls.
Here are the six that have direct contact with the driver and vehicle:
- Inside front tire changer: Typically one of the mechanics, their job is to take the air gun and the tire over the wall the lap before the pit stop. Remove the old tire and replace it, while assisting with the front wing.
- Fueler: Inserts fuel nozzle into opening on side of vehicle, capturing excess fuel.
- Inside rear tire changer: Changes tire, pushing the car out of the pit upon completion.
- AirJack: Raises the vehicle by placing airjack nozzle into the vehicle’s built-in jack.
- Outside rear tire changer: Waits by wall with airgun, changes tire and pushes car out of pit.
- Outside front tire changer: Often the chief mechanic, who guides driver into the pit, signals driver to stop on mark, changes tire, makes front-wing adjustments and signals the driver to leave the pit.
Once the car is pitted, what looks like a fire drill to the untrained eye, is precision to those involved. First, the vehicle pulls into the pit box. The outside tire changers get into their set positions, while the other four get right up to the wall in preparation. Just half a second in, all of the pit crew is in position, with all six over the wall. With the crew in position, the vehicle is lifted using the airjack, which simply pushes air into the built-in jack that can found in the backend of any IndyCar. After the vehicle has been lifted, the crew works diligently to remove each of the tires and replace them with new ones – but these aren’t the tires found at any local auto store.
IndyCar uses several types of Firestone tires, which are about twice as wide as those on a commercial vehicle – and the tires are bald. All vehicles must use at least one set of primary tires and a recent mandate forces teams to also use one of the new alternate tires with a softer grip, for either a road or street course, to provide more grip and faster lap times. All vehicles must use at least one set of each tire set, but are otherwise free to use their allotment as it sees fit. Tires are tested during the race and the tire pressure is marked on each, before being placed to the side.
A few months ago, at the Indianapolis 500, we caught up to Tony Kanaan and the 39-year-old, former IndyCar Series champion, made it abundantly clear just how important tires are to a race.
“Obviously, because it’s not a street car, if it rains we have to stop. That’s why we have grooves on street cars, because you don’t have pit stops – you don’t change tires every time you leave the house. The track is always dry, so you definitely have a lot more grip, because you have more tire contact – instead of the grooves, which make you lose some of the grip. That’s why they’re bald.”
At this point, about six seconds has gone by and the vehicle is dropped back to the ground – now it’s time to fuel up. At the end of the race, as the plot thickens and the strategizing is in full-swing, sometimes vehicles will do a shorter pit stop to ensure there’s enough fuel to finish the race. This is sometimes referred to as a splash, because the tires are left alone and just a little fuel is added. The fuel hose has an attachment on the end that locks onto the tank, making it much easier to load up. It takes only about a second to fill up, during which the crew checks for leaks or other car issues.
Watching these men and women work up close is like watching a well-oiled machine. There might seem like a lot of waiting and preparation for such a brief moment, however it’s all been carefully thought out. And while it might not look very organized, the precision and timely fashion in which it all gets accomplished is something to marvel at – but don’t blink, because it’s all over in a flash.
Finally, once finished fueling, the vehicle is directed out of the pit, pushed and then it’s on its way, heading back onto the track at 60 mph until it leaves the pit. If the pit stop was a success, it would be under the eight second mark, anything more than that and there might be reason for concern.
To see it up close feels like the quickest eight seconds of your life.
Ed Miller is a contributor for CraveOnline Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @PhillyEdMiller or “like” CraveOnline Sports on Facebook.
Photos courtesy of Megan K. Miller
Graphic courtesy of IndyCar.com
