Pit crew members live life on the edge each weekend (cont'd)

"With one bad hit, a guy's career could be over; it's not like the NFL." Ford said. "We are out there putting on a show just as much as the drivers and [we] need taken care of as well."

Of course Ford, or Lucas, is not alone in all of this. Last season alone, several injuries caught the attention of fans and broadcasters.

At the Dover International Speedway's fall race, Art Harris, gas man for Michael Waltrip's No. 55 crew, was loaded on a stretcher and taken by ambulance to a hospital after he was hit in the head by a bouncing tire during a pit stop (watch video).

Josh Yost, the jack man for driver Jeff Burton, underwent surgery on his left ankle following a pit-road incident during last season's Daytona 500.

NASCAR reacted with safety requirements and improvements.

Making it safer

In 2002, NASCAR implemented the first rule requiring all crew members to wear helmets, Before this, helmets, as well as all other safety equipment, were recommended but not required.

The issue became paramount in 2001 after three Robert Yates Racing crewmen and a NASCAR official were struck on pit road at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Bobby Burrell, 30, a tire changer for driver Ricky Rudd, suffered head injuries and was hospitalized after the accident, which happened after Ward Burton and Casey Atwood collided while leaving the pits, diverting Burton's car toward Rudd's being serviced at the time.

Rudd's jack man John Bryan, 31, and tire carrier Kevin Hall, 31, suffered lesser injuries.

Bryan injured his knee and got a concussion in that accident, his second significant injury on pit road.

Fortunately for the sport, NASCAR has only seen one fatality on pit road in the modern era.

In 1990, Mike Rich was killed on pit road when Ricky Rudd's car spun coming into the pits at Atlanta Motor Speedway and hit Bill Elliott's car, which was being serviced by Rich, 32 years old at the time.

Fast approaching the new 2008 season, NASCAR crewmen will abide by yet another new safety rule implemented by NASCAR.

The sanctioning body created the rule to help with the safety of runaway tires on pit road, likely in response to the Harris incident in Dover.

"The tire carriers now have to assist their tire (which is taken off on the right side during a pit stop) back to the wall, instead of allowing the jack man or front changer to roll the tire to the wall," Ford said.

Injury prevention human performance experts at Hendrick Motorsports are faced with injured crewman just like every other team in the sport, but they try to avoid the more frequent injuries through special training plus strength and conditioning.

Together, Andy Papa and Mark Morrison train and perfect iconic crewmen like Ron Malec, longtime confidant of two-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Cook, Jeff Gordon's jack man.

At Hendrick, Morrison said injuries are down 30 percent over last year.

Morrison attributes that to a well executed training program that involves slow, controlled movements, less weight and more repetitions.

Each exercise is specially designed to enhance the performance of each crewman. Everyone performs the band routine to condition shoulders; shoulder injuries, blown rotator cuffs, are the most frequent injuries, Morrison said.

Quick feet drills, ladder drills, dot drills are crucial to the conditioning as well.

"Anything can happen on pit road, quick reaction time, like in any professional sport, is key," Morrison said. "You have to know how to move if the car comes in too hot, too tight to the wall, etc. You'd be crazy not to work quick feet with a pit crew."

And crazy as this seems, 10 year ago, teams didn't have "human performance coaches" or even a single staff member to advise crewman on technique or how to prevent the simplest of injuries.