No. 19 crew doles out free gas in Allstate promotion (cont'd)

"Yeah, that was kind of neat and that's the great thing about NASCAR, is its closeness and how accessible the drivers and the crew members are to the fans," Watkins said. "We go to a different venue each week and we get to meet the fans, and it's great to represent Gillett Evernham Motorsports' cars and do this Allstate promotion, and contribute to the community."

It was a scene that in similar degrees -- both alone and in groups and by signing plenty of autographs -- that was repeated by front tire carrier Brett Morrell, rear tire changer Terry Spaulding and gas man Chris Moore.

“

It's exciting for us to do things like this ... it just goes to show you how big NASCAR [racing] has become, to have the pit crew out here doing promotions for Allstate like we are.

”

CHRIS MOORE

Dealing with fans at racetracks is a constant, but the two public events have exposed the group to a whole other aspect of people.

"It is pretty surprising, how many people come out," Morrell said. "It's just car after car and tons and tons of people. A lot of people are surprised we're there, a lot of people get calls and come out -- but really it's about a 50-50 split. A lot of people are there for the free gas cards, but we've seen a lot of Elliott Sadler fans and Kasey Kahne fans and they're coming to see some of Gillett Evernham's pit crew."

"Seeing the fans has been about what I expected," Spaulding said. "But what have exceeded my expectations have been Allstate and Sunoco including the pit crew members. I've been doing this for about 10 years, and typically it's the drivers or owners who do these kinds of things -- so I really appreciate Allstate letting us come out and have some fun."

"It's exciting for us to do things like this, because we're a close group on the pit crew -- almost like family members," Moore said. "It just goes to show you how big NASCAR [racing] has become, to have the pit crew out here doing promotions for Allstate like we are."

But sometimes they were left shaking their heads, as with the, um, blonde woman who -- apparently mesmerized by the firesuits -- pulled the fueling hose out of her car while she had the trigger wide-open, pouring fuel all over her lower extremities.

She let out a stream of curses, noting that she was a smoker, while begging one of the crewmen to clean some of the mess up. But she drove out of the lot letting loose a wild war whoop out her open window as she did, making one hope she didn't travel less than a mile, forget what she had done and light up another Lucky, and possibly immolating her ride.

But maybe she was already an Allstate customer and she didn't care?

That episode made the crewmembers put the day in the context of their weekly roles, servicing a car on pit road at different Cup Series venues, where "safe driving" is a ridiculous proposition, at best.

"Now, from our perspective on pit road," Watkins said through a laugh, "we see it completely differently because [the drivers] are inches away from us. And I don't think anyone here will say there's anyone who's safe out there."

Spaulding begged to differ, a bit.

"As soon as you asked that question I thought of Mark Martin, because I think as far as a safe driver, he kind of pioneered [the concept]," Spaulding said. "If somebody runs up on you on the racetrack, they're obviously faster [so] let 'em go. So I think Mark Martin is a real safe driver.

"But on pit road, like Ed was talking about -- I am really glad Rusty Wallace is retired."

"When these guys are coming down pit road, we're within inches of contact," Watkins said. "I don't know how many races -- we watch film and scrutinize each other and I don't know how many times we watch film and, we always look out for each other, but in the same sense we always get a good chuckle out of how close we've come to getting run over, just within the past few weeks.

"When it's on pit road, we've got helmets and that's our protection, so you can't stress safety enough out on pit road." (Continued)