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"  While visiting Hendrick Motorsports in Concord, North Carolina, I spoke with some of the guys who belong to the pit crews of Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne. Here are 11 things I learned. Athletes Run These Walls Hendrick scouts its pit crew members from all over the country. Trey Burklin, the jack man on Kahne&amp;#039;s No. 5 car, played football at the University of Miami before coming to Hendrick, and he is just one of many. Their Trainer Comes from Major League Baseball Hendrick&amp;#039;s pit crew athletic trainer is none other than Gene Monahan, who was the New York Yankees&amp;#039; trainer for decades prior to his retirement from the club. The Coaching Staff Comes from the NCAA and the NFL Chris Burkey, the head of the developmental program at Hendrick, is a former college coach and NFL scout for the Miami Dolphins. The Crew Trains Daily, and Not Just in the Weight Room Pit crew teammates endure drills every day, yoga on Mondays, strength training four days a week, and all of the 12-second pit stops they can stand on Sundays. Teams Woo Free Agents Coaches scout other teams for talent throughout the season. If someone is beating them on pit road, the courtship begins. Chad Avrit, Gordon&amp;#039;s rear-tire changer, came from Red Bull Racing as the team was leaving NASCAR, and Burklin came from a team that &amp;quot;had a sponsor that wasn&amp;#039;t Pepsi.&amp;quot; Welcome to the Majors Think there isn&amp;#039;t much competition for the pit crew spots? Burkey and his coaches have a system just like other pro sports for picking crews. If you don&amp;#039;t make the cut, you can get bumped down. Cup is the Major League equivalent, Nationwide and Trucks are the minors. Over the Wall is Always a Dangerous Place to Be Every time a crew member goes over the wall, something can go wrong. Ben Fischbeck of the No. 5 team was hit his very first time. He broke his leg, his thumb, and suffered a concussion when an ARCA driver overran the pit box. What&amp;#039;s with the sweeping? When cars come onto pit road, it brings gremlins with it that can trip up the crew members. Brake dust, rubber &amp;quot;marbles,&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;kitty litter&amp;quot; become the unseen dangers in a 12-second sprint around the car. That&amp;#039;s why teams bust out the brooms every time a car leaves the pit box. The Human Eye Isn&amp;#039;t Fast Enough to Follow a Tire Change During a pit stop, a tire changer only has about eight tenths of a second to pull five lug nuts. Gene Cornwell of Jeff Gordon&amp;#039;s team says that tire changers move so fast, they will occasionally re-catch lug nuts they&amp;#039;ve just pulled while they&amp;#039;re still midair. It sounds crazy, but there&amp;#039;s actual slow-motion video of it happening. When you see a crew member bashing his impact gun against the ground, this is why. Danger Doesn&amp;#039;t End at the Track Crew members run drills Monday through Thursday. This means they&amp;#039;re stepping in front of a speeding 3400-lb race car five days a week. After one drill, I heard the driver remark to an errant jack man, &amp;quot;What were you doing? I was coming in and I see you strolling across the lane?&amp;quot; The Game has Changed, and It&amp;#039;s Getting Faster According to Cornwell, &amp;quot;Five years ago, it wasn&amp;#039;t as competitive as it is now. You could have people a second, second and a half off \u2026 now it is tenths of a second.&amp;quot; Everyone I talked to agreed. To them, a tenth of a second costs at least one place on track. Originally published at Road &amp;amp;amp; Track. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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