Living the life of a pit crew -- one Reuben at a time

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- There were two crossroads that led to my participation (and ultimately may have affected my performance) in Wednesday's Sprint Cup Celebrity-Media Pit Crew Challenge at Time Warner Cable Arena.

The first arrived a few days earlier in the form of an instant message from my esteemed boss, NASCAR.COM managing editor Duane Cross.

While others felt practice would be benefecial, Joe decided food would improve his performance.

"You have any interest in doing this?" he asked.

"Not really," was my nearly immediate reply.

Then I made the mistake of adding, "But maybe I could get a decent column out of it, probably poking fun at myself."

"Great idea. Do it," was the gist of Boss Man's response to that suggestion.

So I was in. There was no way to back out. The second crossroad came when I arrived at the arena itself. My Blackberry read 1:26 p.m. My stomach said it was lunchtime.

A friendly Sprint representative lurked around the guard shack and beckoned for me to come on in. The young lady said I didn't even have to go around to the media entrance like the others. My stomach still said it was lunchtime.

"What time does this event start again?" I asked.

"Well, there is a practice session with members of the Red Bull Racing pit crew that runs from 1:30 to 2 p.m. That starts in about four minutes," she replied.

"But the real competition doesn't start until like 2:05, right? That gives me time to grab a quick bite to eat, doesn't it?"

She nodded, and mumbled something about a pizza-and-sandwich place right around the corner. I was gone before I heard the rest. (Continued)