When NFL dreams end, NASCAR’s pit crews beckon
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina –
D.J. Twitty was taking it all in: the jackmen lifting the race cars, the whizzing of air guns screwing in lug nuts, the slinging of 22-kilogram wheels. For a South Carolina native like the 24-year-old Twitty, the cacophonous scene was just this side of paradise.
“I’m ready to make this my home,” Twitty said. He was one of 55 recruits who attended the annual pit crew combine for Hendrick Motorsports. The auto racing team’s coaches and trainers use the all-day event in June — and a smaller, three-day minicamp held last week — to find a half-dozen or so athletes capable of jumping onto a track, gassing a car and changing tires in less than 10 seconds.
When NFL dreams end, NASCAR’s pit crews beckon
Jacob Roberts, a former Wake Forest football player, changes tires alongside other athletes in simulated pit stops during the annual pit crew combine at Hendrick Motorsports3. Top racing teams have found former college football players often make the best prospects for their pit crew teams.
Jacob Roberts, a former Wake Forest football player, changes tires alongside other athletes in simulated pit stops during the annual pit crew combine at Hendrick Motorsports in Concord, North Carolina, on June 13. Top racing teams have found former college football players often make the best prospects for their pit crew teams. | Travis Dove / The New York Times
By Ken Belson
The New York Times
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Aug 20, 2024
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina – D.J. Twitty was taking it all in: the jackmen lifting the race cars, the whizzing of air guns screwing in lug nuts, the slinging of 22-kilogram wheels. For a South Carolina native like the 24-year-old Twitty, the cacophonous scene was just this side of paradise.
“I’m ready to make this my home,” Twitty said. He was one of 55 recruits who attended the annual pit crew combine for Hendrick Motorsports. The auto racing team’s coaches and trainers use the all-day event in June — and a smaller, three-day minicamp held last week — to find a half-dozen or so athletes capable of jumping onto a track, gassing a car and changing tires in less than 10 seconds.
Twitty, a former running back at the University of South Carolina, was in attendance because Hendrick and other teams have learned that former football players often make the best prospects for five-man crews, thanks to their strength, agility and speed. So teams scour college campuses looking for players like Twitty who didn’t catch on with an NFL team and want to trade their football helmets for fireproof suits. A few, like Twitty, know about NASCAR — he grew up rooting for driver Denny Hamlin — but most are new to the sport and can barely change the oil on their own cars.
“You don’t grow up playing pit crew in your backyard,” said Keith Flynn, Hendrick’s developmental pit crew director, who has recruited athletes for 14 years. “Most of these football guys had no idea that this is even an opportunity. But once they come on campus and see the place, they get pretty excited.”
NASCAR races can cover up to 965 kilometers with cars zipping around the track approaching 322 kph. Yet races are often won by seconds, or even slivers of a second, and a slower pit stop can cost teams hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money and potential sponsorships. Every second saved in a stop is worth about 20 car lengths on the track.
Last season, the average margin of victory was 1.11 seconds, and it was under one second in 19 of the 36 races. The margin of victory was under one second in 10 of the 23 races so far this season.
“While you are fighting for every position on the track, you can gain multiple spots on pit road,” said Dave Alpern, president of Joe Gibbs Racing, which has about 50 athletes in its pit crews. “It can 100% win you a race and absolutely lose you a race.”
“I’m ready to make this my home,” Twitty said. He was one of 55 recruits who attended the annual pit crew combine for Hendrick Motorsports. The auto racing team’s coaches and trainers use the all-day event in June — and a smaller, three-day minicamp held last week — to find a half-dozen or so athletes capable of jumping onto a track, gassing a car and changing tires in less than 10 seconds.
Twitty, a former running back at the University of South Carolina, was in attendance because Hendrick and other teams have learned that former football players often make the best prospects for five-man crews, thanks to their strength, agility and speed. So teams scour college campuses looking for players like Twitty who didn’t catch on with an NFL team and want to trade their football helmets for fireproof suits. A few, like Twitty, know about NASCAR — he grew up rooting for driver Denny Hamlin — but most are new to the sport and can barely change the oil on their own cars.
“You don’t grow up playing pit crew in your backyard,” said Keith Flynn, Hendrick’s developmental pit crew director, who has recruited athletes for 14 years. “Most of these football guys had no idea that this is even an opportunity. But once they come on campus and see the place, they get pretty excited.”
NASCAR races can cover up to 965 kilometers with cars zipping around the track approaching 322 kph. Yet races are often won by seconds, or even slivers of a second, and a slower pit stop can cost teams hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money and potential sponsorships. Every second saved in a stop is worth about 20 car lengths on the track.
Last season, the average margin of victory was 1.11 seconds, and it was under one second in 19 of the 36 races. The margin of victory was under one second in 10 of the 23 races so far this season.
“While you are fighting for every position on the track, you can gain multiple spots on pit road,” said Dave Alpern, president of Joe Gibbs Racing, which has about 50 athletes in its pit crews. “It can 100% win you a race and absolutely lose you a race.”
