Stewart-Haas hopes third team is charm in the pits (cont'd)

"So now our guys are getting reps and going over the wall. I've had a lot of guys who could change a tire or jack a car behind the shop -- but when you got out on pit road, it was a whole different story," Hutchens said. "So hopefully we'll get this crew put together and that'll give us some depth on the pit crew. Hopefully then we won't have any more issues with our two cars, and at the same time hopefully it will help Labonte and the 71 guys."

Despite the added expense to the operation he now heads up, Stewart said he obviously is in agreement with Hutchens that it will be well worth it in the long run.

There is another factor at work in the equation as well. Hutchens and Stewart said that when and if a third team is added to the operation -- which Hutchens admitted could be as soon as 2011 -- a well-trained, seasoned pit crew already will be in place for the new car.

"It's like in other sports: you don't just play with the guys on the field; you've got to have guys on the bench who are ready to go in at any time, too," Stewart said. "I think that's the crucial part of why we started that third pit crew this year. If somebody's getting in a slump and not getting it done, we need to have somebody we know we can go to.

"I think at times last year we had guys on Ryan's pit crew who weren't giving us what we wanted, but we had no one else that we could go to. We didn't have any options. To be able to have that third group there, if there is a position that needs to be filled, we're going to feel like now we can go to the bench. And if a third team develops down the road, we're not going to be in that position of not being able to get guys. We'll have that third pit crew already there and can just build on it, and then just build up another reserve of guys behind that and keep it going."

Tony Gibson, Newman's crew chief, admitted that he and his driver were displeased with the overall performance of the No. 39 pit crew much of last season. And while several changes were made during the season, Gibson said he felt like his options were severely limited.

"It goes back to the start of last year, when we were really struggling on the pit-stop side," Gibson said. "We would come in first, second or third and go out eighth or ninth. It's hard to recover from that.

"So what Bobby has tried to do is get a group of guys and hire 'em. A lot of guys' contracts were up at the end of the year -- and Bobby has done a good job of getting in there and trying to get them on our side, trying to build a third pit crew. Because if a guy gets hurt or something, you've got to be able to plug in a guy who is just as good.

"If you're leading the Daytona 500 and you've got two stops to go, and you put in a tire changer who is second slower, you're in trouble. You can't give up anything on pit road anymore. A second on pit road is 4 seconds on the race track."

Newman said there is even more to it than being able to plug in another guy in case of an emergency. He said just having quality extra guys available in reserve should push the current pit-crew members on the No. 14 and the No. 39 to higher performance levels.

"I don't think anybody looks at them as extra guys -- because they're not. They're guys who are fully capable of doing what they do," Newman said. "My point is that we don't have a Nationwide [Series] team to pull somebody from; we have not had the capabilities of someone being there to provide a backup -- whether it's an entire crew or a fuel man or a tire changer. It's nice to have if somebody gets injured or somebody has a bad attitude. That's helps with some of that stuff.

"To me, and I'm sure this is how Tony looks at it, there are plenty of drivers out there willing to take our seats. They're willing to say yes sir and no sir in every conversation and everything is going to be great. And we respect that. From a tire changer's standpoint, if he knows there is somebody over there who has a better attitude than him or maybe is capable of changing a tire faster than him, that's going to make him step up his game. So it helps the organization all the way around."

Related:
• Notes: Newman's father no longer his spotter