Success or failure all in a matter of 13 quick seconds

The jack man gives it away. Carey Wimbish picks up the long jack handle and begins rolling it through the palms of his gloved hands, again and again, making sure that the movement is smooth and resistance-free. It's the first sign that Clint Bowyer's car is heading for pit road, and 13 seconds of organized chaos are about to begin.

Crewmen slide on their black, motocross-style helmets. Some stretch their arms and torsos to limber up. Front tire changer Shane Westerberg checks his impact wrench, and makes sure the hose powering it has plenty of slack. The No. 07 team climbs on top of the wall as mechanic Wayne Harron extends a long pole with Bowyer's pit sign at the end, dangling it up and down as if he's trying to snag a brook trout.

Over the radio, crew chief Gil Martin counts it down. "Here we come. Here we come. Here we go," he says. "Five away. Four. Three. Two. One. Wheels straight!"

On that command seven men leap over the concrete barrier and into the cauldron that is pit road during a Nextel Cup race, an arena of noise, brake dust, hustle and danger. For an observer, there's no better viewpoint than the photo tower inside Turn 1 at Darlington Raceway, site of last Sunday's Dodge Avenger 500. Almost directly below, the crew of pole-winner Bowyer scurries through the delicate choreography that will be on display Wednesday in the Nextel Pit Crew Challenge, set for Bobcats Arena in downtown Charlotte.

In a little more than 13 seconds, it's all over -- four tires changed, two big cans of fuel emptied into the tank, the front grille cleaned, the car's handling adjusted and sometimes a windshield tear-off removed or a water bottle passed to the driver. Meanwhile, other cars are zooming by mere feet from ankles and knees. It's terrific pressure, and how it's handled is often the difference between a good day like the one enjoyed by Bowyer -- vaulted into the top 10 by his pit crew -- or a frustrating day like the one suffered by Denny Hamlin, doomed by a problematic stop that cost him a chance to win.

"The way NASCAR is structured, obviously it's all toward the drivers," said Robbie Reiser, Matt Kenseth's crew chief at Roush Fenway Racing, and overseer of one of the top squads in Nextel Cup the past five years. "But I think if you watch during the race and the things that have gone on the last few years, they get their opportunity to shine every week. They put the car in a position to win, and I think that's satisfaction for them." (Continued)