Please tolerate another week of NASCAR musings in this space. But an incident on pit road that happened during last Sunday’s Atlanta Motor Speedway Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race intersected perfectly with a discussion we have had here many times.
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As the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 wound down, drivers began making their final pit stops and did so during the green flag. Pitting when the track is slowed for a yellow flag is often easier, because mistakes on pit stops are then less costly in the outcome of the race. Drivers also have to bring their racecars from full speed down to the pit road speed, which is usually 45 mph. Pit stops are tense, no matter what. Green flag stops certainly are more stressful.
Rookie Ryan Preece was punching above his weight in this particular race. His inexperience and his mid-level race team were not contenders to win the trophy. But they were higher-than-normal in the running order by having fast stops on pit road. Those pit stops and some misfortune and missed setups by regular contenders had put both Preece and his JTG-Daugherty Racing teammate Chris Buescher into the top 10.But a very familiar mistake marooned Preece's great day.
With 52 laps to go, Preece’s crew finished their stop, dropped the jack, and sent their hot shoe away for the final run. But fate flips in seconds. Preece hit the gas, threw the No. 47 Kroger Chevy into second gear and then glanced at his tachometer to make sure and hit the correct RPM.
Drivers do not have speedometers on the digital dashboards in their racecars. Their crews figure out the RPM that is the correct number for drivers to hit the established pit road speed. That RPM varies for every car, depending on the gear they run and the power under the hood. If Preece had breached 45 mph, NASCAR would have called him in for a penalty and his day would have been ruined.
Preece exercised extra caution and glanced down at an inopportune time. The ailing, underfunded No. 52 car of B.J. McLeod had a tire going down and seemed to be struggling to find his crew’s pit box. He turned from the outside lane of pit road to make a sharp angle into his box and did this just as Preece was exiting his. Preece looked down for one second and then looked up to a windshield full of McCleod’s cream and red car.
The impact spun McCleod into the pit wall and pinned a crew member from Buescher’s team against the wall. Fuel man Anthony Pasut jumped over to the other side of the wall after being hit, but medical crews realized he was hurt. He will miss an unknown amount of time with a broken fibula, torn ACL, and some other injuries.
McCleod got hit more squarely from behind and was upset, because the team needed that car to be in good shape for the forthcoming race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. That small Rick Ware Racing team can’t afford to damage many cars.
Preece's car suffered heavy left front damage and had the radiator knocked out. The 28-year-old from Connecticut limped his car around the track, getting oil on the racing surface, and then took his wounded No. 47 to the garage. Done.
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In my brief interview for the Performance Racing Network with Preece at the track's care center, he took full blame for the crash and just shrugged his shoulders in dejection. He had more to be proud of than upset about. He could have pointed blame on McCleod's ill-advised maneuver, but he knew he looked down too long and got himself in trouble.
We can all learn from Preece’s mistake. Many newer cars have multimedia consoles in the dashboards that are legal under Georgia’s Hands-Free Law. And many people still break that law by putting their hands on their phones while in traffic. A commute can change in an instant because of a small distraction. Preece’s mistake took him from a likely 8th-place finish to 35th and it injured his teammate’s crew member. And the contact wouldn’t have happened had their not been a miscue from McCleod as well. Our awareness behind the wheel helps us avoid the consequences of others’ lack thereof. The consequences often have a ripple effect and involve innocent bystanders, too. The parallel between sports and life here is quite palpable.
Focus is incredibly important in auto racing. I covered two races on pit road for PRN at AMS and crews constantly had to calm their drivers, who were frustrated at their cars’ handling. I listened to Clint Bowyer give feedback on his No. 14 Ford and then make a huge bobble in Turn 4, as he talked. Crew chief Mike Bugarewicz told him to wait until the yellow flag to give anymore feedback. Bowyer’s talking cost them too much time on the track.
Atlanta traffic can learn plenty of lessons from the recent race weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
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Doug Turnbull, the PM drive Skycopter anchor for Triple Team Traffic on News 95-5 FM and AM-750 WSB, is the Gridlock Guy. He also writes a traffic blog and hosts a podcast with Smilin’ Mark McKay on wsbradio.com. Contact him at Doug.Turnbull@coxinc.com.
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