"Pitting" - By Greg from the Wizzard BBS
Have you ever been to a big race with a friend and experienced terrible luck? Spent on ton of money (or maxed the charge card) on travel, food, lodging and parts only to end up unhooking your controller early? Start to work your way up through the field in a semi, began thinking of how to tweak the car for the main only to get taken out... and the marshal hands you a broken chassis? Of course you have, we all have! Been there, done that!
But sometimes your buddy has everything going his way. He's made the main and looking good! What did you do? Sit in the pits? Bemoan your fate to the other luckless racers? Drown your sorrow in cheap beer? Or... did you get up and help your friend? Helping your racing buddies is an excellent way to take a rotten race and turn it around to having a great time. Other than turn marshalling, pitting for them is the best way I know of for forgetting your problems and contribute positively to the race. But you need to do it the right way. If your friend happens to win the race, as mine did at the SoCal Spring Nationals, you can change your: "I was in 2nd, and my motor smoked" to his: "Thanks for the help, I couldn't have won without you." And along with it, it made the trip back to Phoenix a lot nicer! Well, if I had made the main it still would have been better, but what the hell... That's racing!
Pitting for a friend can help him in a lot of ways. It allows him to relax between heats and not worry about lane stickers, where his car is on track, maintenance, etc. during the short, hectic break. All he has to do is hook up his controller to the next lane and think about that lane's particular problems. He has time to hear the standings and think about what he needs to do to move up or protect his lead. He can visualize the lane and the particular problems that lane has. He can also joke with the other racers which is a two edged sword. It further relaxes him and tells the other racers that he is relaxed even in the heat of battle. Why is he so relaxed? He has a PITCREW! He can do this because he isn't thrashing his brains to do a million things in a minute and a half.
But as a pit crew, you have to do a good job... and preparation is a key. Get everything together in a pit box that you think you will need to repair a car. Minimum is oil, pickup shoe cleaner, spare pickup shoes and a complete rear axle assembly already setup with the proper tires and gear. It doesn't hurt to have spare pickup springs, guide pin, and body pins. Also have the lane stickers ready in the order of his lane rotation so you will know without checking what his next lane and have the sticker for it. You may also want to set your pit up for major repairs if it is an important race, neatly laid out with a spare motor, tools, tape, pinion gears, spare controller, etc. Anything you think can fail that can be repaired to get him back in the race quickly you should have already set out. Also, if a major failure occurs, pep talk your driver into hanging in there. Sometimes the climb back is a lot of fun, and you never know what can happen.
When the power goes off, it is important to get to the car quickly. I use a printed card to lay on the track to spot where the car was when I picked it up. Depending on the length of the break, I will either work on the car out of a portable pit box or take the car back to our pit area. If the car is running hot I will use a cooling fan to bring the temp down. I have the fan setup so that as it is cooling I can change the sticker. Then I clean the pickup shoes with a pickup shoe eraser, run the front and rear tires over tape to remove debris, oil the motor and axles as needed and give the car a careful look over. Insure that the gears and body pins are okay. About 15 to 20 seconds before the heat starts I place the car back on the track to let the driver see where he will be starting. I'll talk to him about how he is doing and the problems the lane may have, give him some words of confidence and maybe a joke to relax him.
When the race resumes, I will watch the computer to see how consistent his lap times are and watch the race to see the overall progress of him against the field. This can age you quite a bit as you see the thumb jobs or crashes he could have avoided, the mistakes that seem silly, etc. Don't ride him about it. He knows, and last thing he needs is some guy who couldn't even make the main telling him how to drive! Keep him focused on the race and don't let the crashes get him down. I'll usually wait till he's entering a long straight to say something loud enough for him to hear like, "just get the laps", "looking good, keep it up", etc. It lets him know that someone else knows what�s happening to him and he's not alone. Someone else has seen the thumb jobs, the hits, and agrees with him.
At the end you can celebrate, or go over the "what if's." With both of you knowing what went on you can tell some pretty big lies on how he should have won. When he goes up to get the trophy you can join in the applause for him. It's a good feeling knowing you helped him out. You never know, someday you'll be in the main and he will be helping you out!
|
