Tire changer on 12 team continues to see success

Joe Piette Jr. seems to be the kind of guy, if you were ever an athlete, would've aggravated the heck out of you as you tried to chase him across a field or a court.

But growing up, Piette said his size precluded him playing a lot of contact sports on a serious level. He gravitated to fast-pitch softball and also thrives on more precise elements such as ping-pong, billiards, bowling and pitching horseshoes.

Seeing clearly

While not mandated by NASCAR or teams, most pit coaches suggest that their crewmembers were protective eyewear for several different reasons.

• Complete story, click here

"I'm 145 pounds, soaking wet," Piette said through a grin. "My sheer size didn't lend itself well to being a football player.

"Basically, I've always been a fan of the hand-eye coordination things."

So these days Piette, 40, of Salisbury, N.C., is a rear-tire changer for Penske Racing's No. 12 Dodge driven by Ryan Newman.

And time and experience has trained him to do the job well.

"It takes a lot of practice," Piette said. "What I try to tell people who are trying to learn the sport, or learn how to do this, is that if you actually have to think about what you're doing on a pit stop, it's not going to be very good.

"It's all instinctive, and I know, after some pit stops, I'll struggle to remember if I hit all the lug nuts on the right side, though I know I did.

"The more you practice, the more you just do it."

As a young man in his early 20s, Piette left a well-paying job with UPS in his native Wisconsin to relocate to North Carolina, and giving that up made him seriously determined to make it work.

"We don't really have racing in our family history, but we knew a lot of people who raced," Piette said of his background in a sport that becomes a lifestyle. "So from the time I was old enough to know where I was going, I've been going to racetracks."

An equally determined independent owner/driver, coincidentally also from Wausau, Wis., Dave Marcis gave Piette his first job changing tires back in 1989 when three air guns were used and a third crewman loosened the left-side lugs while the primary tire changers switched the right-side tires.

The dynamics of pit stops have changed, along with everything else, including equipment, attire and the elapsed time of stops.

"It's totally different than it used to be," Piette said, laughing. "I've got pictures I could show you of me changing tires in a short-sleeved shirt, blue jeans and a ball cap -- though I was wearing gloves."

The timing of pit stops has also accelerated in pace with equipment improvements.

"Back when I started, if you could do a four-tire change in under 20 seconds you were doing something," Piette said. "Now, like you say, we're shooting for something around 12 seconds.

"The equipment is much better -- smaller, lighter and they don't require as much air pressure so you can go faster without losing control.

"The equipment has come a long way, but the training and how we prepare to do our jobs is a big part of it, as well. And I think the jackmen and tire carriers are a big part of how much faster we are."

These days, rather than being an athletic aggravation, Piette inadvertently has become an inspirational figure due to his long-term perseverance at developing his craft in an incredibly volatile, dangerous and competitive arena -- and for serving as an inspiration for dogged determination.

After cutting his teeth with Marcis Auto Racing, Piette's changed tires full time for the last 16 years for Stavola Brothers Racing, Petty Enterprises and MBV Racing before coming to Penske Racing in 2002.

For advocates of safety in the workplace, the saga that Piette lived at California Speedway earlier this season would have a better ending if it resulted in across-the-board use of eyewear on pit road.

But while NASCAR has mandated helmets, gloves and fire suits for several seasons, the decision of whether or not to don eye protection when going over the wall is a personal choice.

Piette, who works as a general mechanic during the week at Penske's shop, typically spends two days on pit practice and three days on physical training during the season, in addition to his regular mechanic's duties.

But nothing could prepare him for what happened only nine laps into the Auto Club 500 in February.

"It was the third lug I took off, and it must have hit the center cap or something, because it bounced up and hit me in the corner of the eye," Piette said. "I've had that happen before, and it's no big deal -- so I finished putting the lugs on and finished the stop on the left side."

Remember what Piette said about robotically achieving rapid pit stops? Despite the incident, the crew executed the stop in 13.4 seconds.

"After the stop was over, my left eye was watering, and all of a sudden I realized my contact was gone," Piette said. "I had Trent Cherry, my tire carrier, look in my eye and on my uniform, but it was gone -- it had been knocked out."

Piette and a teammate went out on pit road to look for the lens and were stopped by their NASCAR inspector, who asked what they were doing. Told the problem, "20 seconds later, he found it, literally all wadded up into a ball with debris all over it, but it wasn't torn."

After washing it off, Piette returned the lens to its proper place and was ready to get back to work.

"I literally got the lens washed off just before Newman came in for his second stop," Piette said when describing a day in which he changed 18 tires, spinning 180 lugs off and on.

"I always have spares with me, but they weren't on the pit cart that day," Piette said, laughing again. "But they always are, now."

And Piette has tried to adjust to wearing eye protection.

"The reason I never wore anything before was I felt like it distorted my vision," Piette said. "I'm having a hard time finding something that doesn't give me that feeling, but basically they're just safety goggles."

Piette said he's gotten his cheeks cut from lugs and a tooth chipped in pit practice last season -- but part of his experience is learning what not to do.

"When I finish a pit stop on the left side, I always turn to the right, in case a lug gets spun back when Ryan leaves," Piette said. "I've had that happen and it stings -- it hurts."

But for his teammates, Piette said the pain of an eye injury is something none of them is risking.

"Most of them do [wear eye protection]," Piette said. "A lot of guys wear sunglasses, particularly on bright, sunny days -- but most guys wear something, and it's a good practice."

And for his part, Piette plans to continue practicing his craft into the near future, at least.

"I don't have a timeframe set for stepping away from changing tires," Piette said. "But obviously there will come a day when a 21- or 22-year-old healthy boy -- or woman -- comes along that can get the job done quicker than I can.

"When that happens I'll be very supportive of that person because I want what's best for our team. But fortunately I still feel good right now and don't have a lot of aches and pains, which I'm very fortunate for.

"Whenever the day comes when I don't enjoy it or can't get it done, then I'll give it up, and I hope I'll still have a place to work on this race team, because I have a lot of experience with that, and that's not something you can just go to a job service and find."