Living the life of a pit crew -- one Reuben at a time (cont'd)

Gassed up and ready to go

Thirty minutes and one Reuben later -- light on the Thousand Island to reduce the risk of having it come back up -- I was back at the arena with nearly 10 minutes to spare. Who needs practice, right?

I was hoping it would not turn out to be problematic that the "half Reuben" actually turned out to be a stout nine-inch submarine sandwich.

This was where the rigorous training program begun one day earlier at the YMCA would kick in. (The one where I felt pretty good about my effort until I noticed the woman working out next to me on the same type of machine was about seven months pregnant and more than keeping up).

Nervous? You bet. I didn't want to totally embarrass myself. Although I wasn't sure of the competition, I was pretty sure most of them hadn't been balancing their workouts with semi-regular guzzling of beer for the last 30 years. What can I say? Back when I turned 18, it was perfectly legal.

As Danielle Trotta shines, the effects of the sandwich are starting to kick in with Joe.

Upon arrival, I learned my assignment would be right-rear tire carrier -- working on the local WBTV team captained by long-time acquaintance and sports anchor Delano Little and side-by-side with the lovely Danielle Trotta, who immediately took on the air of someone who knew what she was doing with the power tool in her gloved hands.

Across the way, I noticed Michael Waltrip readying himself for ... what? He was going to be a front-tire carrier for the SPEED TV team and was in the first heat.

"You nervous?" I shouted across.

"Yep," he nodded. "I'm used to being in the driver's seat. Not doing this."

I noted Waltrip wasn't the only driver participating. Also on the stacked SPEED team was Brian Vickers, and across the way in Heat 1 was a team that included Kasey Kahne as a tire changer.

Suddenly, they were off. Or at least the team fueled by Waltrip-Vickers was. They left Kahne and Co. in their pit stall dust as each team jacked a car, changed out the required two tires, pumped in two cans of gas, and then ran to and pushed another car 40 yards across the finish line.

We were next up in Heat 2.

Trotta looked at me with a hint of disgust at first, perhaps because I had skipped practice ... perhaps because I had a hint of sauerkraut lurking in my breath. But then she professed to have confidence that I could do the job, advising me to "stay low" with the 65-pound tire "and slam it in."

I wish I could say I did. But I didn't. I fumbled the first try -- and by the time I finished my required duty and attempted to run back to push the car, the rest of the team already had advanced it two-thirds of the way toward the finish line, leaving me hopelessly and uselessly behind. Still, our time of 24.509 seconds was not that far off the time of 23.144 posted earlier by Waltrip-Vickers.

And it was way better than the time of 31.646 registered by Kahne's crew.

"Hey, it's not easy. Your heart rate really goes up instantly," said Kahne, who like Vickers said Wednesday marked the first time he had actually played tire changer. "It's a tough job." (Continued)