Pemberton makes his mark as crew chief (cont'd)

There have been other weekends when Ryan knew this was going to be their day, and while some weeks he will come right out and admit it, other weeks his superstitious side will come out.

"How's the car, Ryan?"

"Man, it's a beautiful day."

"You got something for them today?"

"Sure is a nice day."

"Maybe we could talk about the Knicks?"

"Man, those guys are really struggling again this year."

"Think I'll see you after the race?"

"Maybe ..."

Translation: We've got a great car and a good chance to win today but I'm not going to jinx it by saying anything about it. Our luck has just been lousy this season.

After years in the garage area, you pick up a little crew chief language. Kind of like going to Cancun for a few days, you pick up on the important stuff; "Dos cervesa par favor?"

Another thing about Ryan, he has a bad back.

"All those years as a tire carrier, a tire changer, checking air pressure. It has taken a toll," Ryan explained.

Some weekends he would hobble through the garage looking like Walter Brenner in The Real McCoy's. He has two bad disks that flare up on occasion. He had surgery a couple of years ago the same week it looked like Joe Nemechek was going to win the 600 at Charlotte, but cut a tire with three laps to go. Something good, something not so good.

"It hasn't been too bad since then," Ryan said. "If I don't bother it, it doesn't bother me. I don't even think about playing basketball [one of his favorite activities] or lifting anything heavy. My luggage is about it."

Ryan used to sleep on the floor instead of on a bed to try and alleviate the pain.

"I slept on the floor because I literally couldn't get into the bed, and that's no exaggeration," Ryan said.

Ryan comes from a racing family. His brother Robin is NASCAR's vice president for competition, but now they only get together occasionally because of their work schedules.

"We used to have dinner two or three times a week, now it's maybe four or five times a year," Ryan said. "If you watched TV last week you saw him a lot more than I did!"

His brother Randy has been a popular NASCAR broadcaster for many years. His third brother Roman worked with several Nextel Cup teams.

Ryan and his wife Andrea have a three-year-old daughter, Payton, and another baby due in late April. Family and racing, a tough combination. (Continued)