NASCAR Then and Now - Ben White [18]
Modern garage areas have plenty of room for teams to stow their tools and equipment for the race weekend. Even with all that space, an engine change requires the car to be rolled outdoors. Here the Joe Gibbs Racing crew members perform an engine swap on Kyle Busch’s No. 18 Toyota Camry.
Chapter 5 Setting the Stage
During the 1981 Winston Cup season, a sign painter puts the final touches on the rear door of the team transporter of Darrell Waltrip’s Junior Johnson–owned Buicks.
Kyle Busch’s M&M’s-sponsored truck is nothing less than a rolling advertising billboard. Like the cars they carry, today’s transporters feature vivid, computer-generated vinyl graphics.
Haulers
Years ago, getting race cars to the track required nothing more than a truck and trailer. Today’s transporters are virtual rolling shops, carrying the tools and parts needed to solve any mechanical problem that might be encountered during a race weekend, including a spare engine, chassis components, jack stands, tape rolls, cutting tools, shocks, a welder, extra sheet metal, and complete rear end housing. In addition, today’s haulers also carry a spare race car to each event.
Once unloaded, the transporter serves as a work area with computers and a television that the crew uses to monitor qualifying and practice speeds. It’s also a place for the driver and crew chief to meet to discuss changes that need to be made to the car for better handling and speed.
Fred Lorenzen’s Ford Fairlane is loaded and ready for the trip from Junior Johnson’s shop in North Carolina to Atlanta Motor Speedway. Unlike modern race machines, the car will be exposed to the elements as it rides along the highway, no doubt to the delight of race fans who happen to see it motoring past. This photo was taken in 1966 and already demonstrates how much the sport had grown from the Strictly Stock days when racers drove their cars to the track.
Jimmie Johnson watches his No. 48 car being unloaded from the transporter. Two Sprint Cup cars usually make the trip to the track with one deemed primary and the other secondary. The primary car is rolled out of the transporter for use during the weekend. Should a crash occur and heavily damage the car, the secondary car is taken out and pressed into service. Both cars are prepared as identically as possible in case that happens.
Consultation
In today’s NASCAR, it’s no longer enough to just have a fast driver and a fast car. Every Sprint Cup driver is fast, and just about any Sprint Cup car can be a challenger on any given day. In many ways, it’s communication that separates the great from the merely good. The best wheelmen have a feel for their cars and can communicate what they’re doing to their crew chiefs in order to make the adjustments needed to get the maximum performance for qualifying and the best results on race day.
Then, as now, practice sessions are a crucial part of any weekend. They are the time to iron out any wrinkles, to methodically work through different setup scenarios, and to find the car’s “sweet spot” that allows the driver to run at the front. Practice sessions were even more vital during the sport’s earlier days, when technology to make mid-race chassis adjustments had not yet been introduced into the sport. The key to success has always been good communication.
Two of America’s greatest racing legends, Smokey Yunick and a very young Mario Andretti, converse prior to the start of the 1966 Daytona 500. Both men enjoyed success in Indy car racing as well as stock cars. Andretti would crash his Chevrolet out of NASCAR’s biggest event in 1966 before going on to win the race for Holman-Moody a year later.
Greg Zipadelli and Joey Logano make up a modern example of the wise and successful crew chief working with a young and highly talented driver. Here the two discuss chassis changes, with Zipadelli employing the hand gestures that make up the universal language understood by all race drivers. Zipadelli