WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- You know subliminal messaging is working when, on the way to a promotional event in upstate Rochester, N.Y., you make a move in traffic and find yourself saying, "that won't get me an Allstate safe driver bonus check!"

But on the eve of Sunday's Centurion Boats at The Glen, for hundreds of Rochester area patrons of the Sunoco A Plus Mini Mart on East Henrietta Road, the subliminal met reality last Thursday.

“

That's the great thing about NASCAR, its closeness and how accessible the drivers and the crew members are to the fans.

”

ED WATKINS

Four of Sprint Cup driver Elliott Sadler's over-the-wall pit crew for Gillett Evernham Motorsports' No. 19 Dodge spent more than two hours plugging the race 90 minutes to the south at Watkins Glen International, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Allstate and Sunoco's involvement in it.

If there was any question how these guys consistently crank off 13-second pit stops, their roles as Allstate "Safety Patrol" spokesmen proved it. They're just plain smooth operators.

"Good morning, thanks for coming in today -- we're here on behalf of NASCAR, Allstate and Sunoco," went the typical banter. "Congratulations on being a safe driver -- I see you're wearing your seat belt, so please accept this $15 gas card courtesy of Sunoco; and please contact your local Allstate agent if you have a question about how you can get your safe driver bonus check."

No kidding -- if these guys ever wear out from jacking racecars, lugging or changing tires or toting gas cans, they've got backup careers already in place; in sales.

Unloading ice cubes to Eskimos would be a snap.

How else do you explain a woman politely asking Sadler's jack man, Ed Watkins, to leave the gas line and come over and make a picture with her and her young child?

She passed the request through one of about a dozen intermediaries who wandered the property, pitching in and keeping it organized. And after waiting easily more than 20 minutes to get fuel, meeting a group of bona fide professional athletes had her -- and dozens of others -- just plain giddy.

She delayed leaving a little longer while Watkins strolled over in his Best Buy firesuit and shook her hand before posing for her keepsake shot.

"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."

And the gang agreed a safe driving bonus might have a place in NASCAR, as well.

"I think that kind of takes care of itself," Spaulding said. "If you're not a safe enough driver, you're not going to finish races and you aren't going to finish up towards the front, so if you're a safe driver your paycheck at the end of the day is going to be bigger because you're going to be finish closer to the front."

"I think there's a place for the safe driving bonus, because if you're out there beating up that car, particularly if you're at a superspeedway you've got to be racing clean and have a clean car [to compete]," Morrell said. "And if you make another driver mad out there, you might not finish that race. A safe driver is definitely a good thing to have, but you've got to race hard, too."

Maybe that's why the mood was so high-spirited on East Henrietta. The traffic might've been heavy, but it wasn't moving too quickly.

This was the second promotion carried off by the Safety Patrol, with the previous one coming near Scranton, Pa., earlier this season in conjunction with a Pocono Raceway event.

And it was not just a typical day at the gas store, according to A Plus Mini Mart manager Fran Dicesare.

"This NASCAR was an incredible event, and being around the guys on the pit crew was like being with your friends," said Dicesare, proprietor of a gas stop that on this day was pushing $3.89 a gallon. "At first I didn't know what to expect, but then I saw the line, and word just spread like crazy.

"We're probably one of the cheaper stations around, but this market is real competitive. But I've never seen anything that was non-stop like this. When they said they needed security, I looked at 'em funny, but now I know why they needed it."

Actually, it was networking at its finest. The guy in the Earnhardt cap was an obvious fan, as were those whose cars -- no matter how crookedly they rolled in -- proudly wore a variety of NASCAR bumper stickers.

But there's no doubt the cat that got out of his car to pump his fuel in his slippers and pajama bottoms either came from the Rochester branch of the Playboy Club or was prompted by a buddy to get up, come down and get his free gas.

Seven minutes before the deal was scheduled to end, a young lady was screaming into her cell phone at someone to "come and get free gas."

Patience was at a premium, as the location had eight pumping stations on either side of the building, but only four lanes being served by Sadler's guys. At its height, each of the four left side lanes was six-to-eight cars deep; while the right side had no waiting -- but no free gas, either.

To the organizers' credit, it didn't appear anyone went away disappointed. The event was scheduled from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., but it was about 12:15 when the crewmen slid into the Mini Mart to change into street clothes. And the gas cards were passed out until they were gone; as the "associates" took over for the last 20 minutes, washing windshields and applying tire shine until 12:30.

In the end, the most amazing thing, especially since the event was sponsored by an automobile insurance company, was that considering the glut of cars, the lack of real estate and security having to back 'em up six deep onto East Henrietta -- a four-lane main road there were no accidents.

At least here; as there was one reported bumper-banger in Scranton, that resulted in no reports being filed.

That's another safe driving bonus potentially saved.