Short Track Crew Members

The term "crew" can refer to everything from the part-time volunteer who just shows up at the track to the paid, full-time worker. The ideal crew person's attributes are just about the same as you would like in any employee of any business--dedication, loyalty, upbeat attitude, intelligence, high attention to detail, drive for perfection, and ability to get along with other workers. In return, the driver and the person in charge of the crew should remember the two most valuable words for them are "thank you" and the least valuable is "I." Many years ago, in the early stages of his Winston Cup career, Darrell Waltrip tended to place the blame for a poor race on other people and gave little credit to them when things went right. He was a big "I" person and was not very popular with the fans or crew people. Since then, he has changed his attitude 180 degrees, giving much credit to his crew and even winning the most popular driver award. He is also a lot happier. Most of you realize that it is important to have a good crew. If you have a high dollar operation with full-time employees, you have probably been in racing long enough to know what you're looking for and know enough people to get you going. It's hard for the weekend racer, running on little money, to get competent help.

Your first responsibility is to accept the fact that you need help. If you can pull into the pits, jump out, change a flat tire, roar back out on the track and win the feature, you don't need my advice. You either change clothes in a phone booth like Superman or run against very poor competition. If you have the attitude that you don't need anyone, how does that make your crew feel? In most cases, money is a small factor in the decision to become part of a crew. The people who are there for the money are what I call "car polishers."

Car polishers are the fair weather people who want to be involved, but don't have the dedication to learn. They are handy to have around to run errands, but you dare not let them work on the car, so they add little to winning. Most of these people are very photogenic and never miss a chance to be in a picture. They also talk a good game. Good crew members are always striving to learn and do a better job. Having someone on your crew who is less knowledgeable, but enthusiastic and eager to learn, is superior to having someone more experienced without their heart in their work.

Once you decide you need help, where do you find it? Winston Cup teams get hundreds of applications for crew jobs each year. These are the top of the line prestige racing jobs. Few of these teams hire people with no experience, and you almost need to know someone to get your foot in the door. You, with the Street Stock team, on the other hand, are not exactly turning away Robin Pemberton clones by the dozen. First, you have to let it be known that you want some help. If you've been racing for awhile, you know enough racers to spread the word that you are looking for people. Many times there will be members from other teams ready to make a change and you can recruit them during the off-season. Since these people are experienced at some level, you can also find out why they want to change teams. You can also talk to some of the people they have worked with in the past. With a small, close team, personnel additions should be discussed with team members still with the team, just to make sure there are no hidden problems that will crop up later on.

If you're already racing, keep your eyes open. You can see the good workers and the ones who aren't. In our area, there's one guy on a Modified crew who is constantly being recruited. He's good and it's obvious to anyone paying attention that he's an asset. If you're starting out in racing and don't know many people, you may have to advertise for help. This does work. I've seen people advertise in the local racing papers and get involved with people who turned out to be very competent help. You can also get some real losers. I have seen "help wanted" signs on race cars. Most people won't come up to you out of the blue and ask if you need help. If you go this route, the applicants will more than likely have no experience. That's not all bad. You're much better off with someone with a desire to learn than with one of your friends you may have cajoled to come to the races with you when he would rather be watching a ball game on TV at the local bar. You'll have the responsibility of training a beginner. You must explain to them that you'll assume they know nothing until they prove otherwise. Their work will be constantly checked. It's not a reflection on them, you must explain, but part of the process of striving for perfection.

I worked on a Modified crew and we constantly checked and rechecked each other. We didn't have an ego problem because we all had the same objective. We also didn't have a mechanical breakdown in four years. When Ray Evernham was running the IROC shop, most of their employees came there with little or no race car experience. Even those with experience had to be retrained to do things the IROC way. I think the dependability of the cars in that series speaks well for that method. When you get a new crew member, it is your responsibility to assign them work in a gradual degree of difficulty as they prove their capabilities. You don't tell a person to mount a new ring and pinion the first night they come into the shop. Give them little jobs and explain exactly how you want them done. They may have done the same job before for someone else, but the method you prefer may be different than the way they learned. Do not criticize--explain. Have them help you or watch when you're doing something new to them. Good crew people are taught and, on a small crew, you have to be the teacher. You also have to listen to them. If they have a suggestion, you should listen and then make a decision. You have to make the final decision, but it doesn't hurt to listen unless you already know it all.

From time to time, you are going to get people on the crew who aren't very good at much. It's like they have two left feet and five thumbs on each hand, yet everyone on the crew likes them. If you wish to keep them on the crew, you have to pick the jobs they can handle, which may not be much, but every team can use people like this if they are an asset to morale. They should be thanked for what they do just as a master mechanic is thanked. Both should be made to feel that their work is a major contribution to the race team. Other members will have limited mechanical skills and can be given specialties such as tire responsibility. Mounting, balancing, cleaning, and sizing tires and wheels doesn't require a lot of mechanical ability, but it's an important job and requires good organization. One thing to emphasize to the whole crew is that all jobs on a race car are important and all must be done as perfectly as possible.

There's always a turnover in crew members for various reasons such as marriage, children, change of interest, burnout, etc., but if you're looking for a new crew almost every season, maybe you should evaluate the way you are treating your crew. What's your attitude towards them? Are they just supposed to follow orders or do you solicit their opinions? If they make a suggestion, do you immediately dismiss it or do you consider it and, if you don't implement it, explain why? If someone makes a mistake, do you go ballistic? A dedicated crew member wants to improve. This means learning more about the whole operation, chassis, tires, engine, etc. If their input is constantly ignored, they will soon go someplace they feel appreciated. Obviously, there must be someone who makes the final decision. All organizations have a chain of command. You, as the leader, must base that decision-making on what will give the car the best chance of winning. You can't make everyone happy all the time. Decisions can be made in ways that don't inhibit someone else's creativity. No one wants to feel his opinion's worthless.

I have worked on crews at every level from full-time employee with salary plus expenses to teams where I paid all my own expenses, including packing my own lunch. The desire to have the team do well was just as strong in all cases. Money is not the only motivation for me (not that I object to being paid for what I do), but once the financial deal is struck, I feel that members should give 100 percent to the task at hand. If they aren't, get rid of them. If the crew sees you're putting everything back into the race car, they will not object to a lack of financial compensation, but if you have a good night and they see you drink it up at the local watering hole, they'll wonder why you couldn't pick up their pit pass cost on the following Saturday night. Do what you can financially for the team, no matter how small it may seem. Little things, like having a cooler of soda or a jug of iced tea available, go a long way towards team morale. An important fact to remember is that this is your race car and even though you are willing to work on it 24 hours a day, seven days a week, these other people may not be. Very single-minded, tunnel visioned racers tend to forget that not everyone has the same drive. I know it may be hard to accept, but there is a world outside racing for some people.