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The Nascar Insiders
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The NASCAR blog by insiders for outsiders. Two NASCAR insiders, including a crew member and journalist will expose the world of NASCAR to fans and readers. We cover topics ranging from news and rumors, to driver development, to experiences.
Recent Posts Tagged With 'over the wall'
And We’re Back!
After a nice (but brief) vacation, both myself and Journo are returning to action this week. As Journo said last week, we are going to cut down our posting frequency during the off-season to a post for Monday, Ask The Insiders on Wednesday, a post...
Teams Already Tweaking Crews For Next Season
You may not realize it, but while the 2009 season still isn’t officially over yet, preparations for 2010 have already begun. One area that teams will spend the last few races working on, is changes to their pit crews. To the untrained eye, it...
The Glamorous World Of Race Team Travel
I get asked all the time by family and friends about the constant travel that is necessary to be apart of the sport we call NASCAR. People always want to know where I’m going and how we get there. It’s a topic I explored in a post I ...
The End Is Near
And then there were two. Phoenix and Homestead are the only two remaining races before we put the 2009 season in the books. And I’ve got to say, I’m a little bummed. This time of year is always a little bitter sweet for me. I know the...
It’s Always Good To Come Home
In other sports, home games happen just as often as away games. But racing is different. We spend almost the entire season at away games. The sport as a whole only gets two home weekends a year; the 600 weekend in May and the October night...
Teams Need To Let Young Pit Crew Guys Make Mistakes
I’m going to go on a rant here, so I apologize in advance, but this is something that has bothered me since I started as a tire changer. When young guys finally get their first opportunities to jack, carry, and change they usually end up on T...
Crew Guys Need More Exposure
This post may end up sounding self serving, but hear me out first. I think it’s time that NASCAR and the media partners start putting more of the spotlight on the faces behind the drivers. If the fans knew some of the people that work in...
No, I Never Wanted To Be A Driver
Once people figure out what I do for a living (you know, changing tires in big time auto racing), there are always the same usual questions. One that I get asked on a fairly regular basis by friends, acquaintances, and family members is if and wh...
Ask The Insiders Wednesday #38
The Cup Series is off this weekend, but there will be no shortage of racing to watch. The Truck Series takes on Chicago, while the Nationwide cars head north of the border to the Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. If you don’t know what ...
Won’t You Be My [Pit Road] Neighbor?
Each week when we set up on pit road for the race, we’ve got two neighbors. One on each side. Most pit stalls, both over the wall and behind the wall, are clearly marked. Everybody gets about the same amount of real estate. And in being...
Not Every Crew Guy Is Making $100K A Year
Although that would be really nice, it just isn’t true. There was a piece written by Dustin Long that came out on Monday that revealed some numbers about a specific crew member’s pay. And while numbers like these are a reality for so...
Ever Tried to Do Your Job Backward?
This is a post we ran last year about this time, and because we are racing at Watkins Glen this weekend, we thought it would be fun to revisit this topic. Enjoy! I have… The Nationwide and Cup Series are heading north this weekend to the Finger L...
Pressure, What Pressure?
The struggles of some teams on pit road this season have been well documented, as have some of the problems facing the crews this season with regard to some different rules and a shift in the competition. With that you will often hear the TV peopl...
The Ethical Lapse of ESPN’s David Newton
In journalism school one of the very first things you learn is to not report on things you have a connection with. You don’t write about your friends, relatives or loved ones (there are special exceptions here), companies you work for or clubs ...
Southern Swing Allows Teams Chance To Catch Breath
This weekend’s Coke 600 at Charlotte marks the end of a five week southern swing of races. The stretch included stops at Talladega, Richmond, Darlington, and Lowes; all being within about a six hour drive from Charlotte. These races close...
Some Thoughts On The Lug Nut Problems
I’ve gotten quite a few emails and have had several “Ask The Insiders” questions over the last few weeks regarding all the issues surrounding the lug nut problems and the new stud length. I’m sure I will continue to get more...
Team Radio Traffic Should Be Beyond Reproach
So Kurt Busch got mad about his racecar at Martinsville and called Roger Penske “dude” on the radio. Who cares? Sometimes that kind of stuff happens on the radio. And you know what? It’s perfectly, 100% okay that it does. B...
I Gotta Question About Firesuits
Reader questions are normally answered in the Ask The Insiders Wednesday posts, but I got this question from reader BJ and decided I would need more then a paragraph or two to answer it. First, here is the question(s): This season I’ve notic...
Wait, Ambrose’s Gas Man Did What?!
For the record, I have no idea why somebody would think it okay to run out onto the infield grass to chase an errant tire. I could see if maybe the race was under caution and the tire was sitting just onto the grass from pit road, but not half w...
