Stewart-Haas hopes third team is charm in the pits

CONCORD, N.C. -- When the No. 39 Stewart-Haas Racing team of driver Ryan Newman struggled with its pit stops at the beginning of last season, observers shrugged it off as an example of growing pains a new organization must endure.

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Later in the season when the No. 14 team of driver Tony Stewart, Newman's boss and teammate, lost jack man Mike Casto to a knee injury and had to scramble the find someone of the same quality to replace him, it was considered bad luck.

Bobby Hutchens, director of competition for Stewart-Haas, looked at all of the above and saw a way to prevent such heartaches in the future. With that in mind, this year Hutchens has quietly gone about building a third pit crew for the organization that currently fields only two Sprint Cup cars.

Stewart-Haas will train the third crew regularly along with the crews that will start the season in the pits for the No. 14 and No. 39 Chevrolets, but will loan the extra crew out to the No. 71 team of TRG Motorsports on race days. The deal to loan them out comes with the stipulation that any of the crew members can be recalled to the Stewart-Haas stable if Hutchens and Stewart decide a change is in order on one of the Stewart-Haas pit crews, or if any members of the Stewart-Haas pit crews become injured.

It is an innovative move that doesn't come cheaply, but Hutchens and Stewart said they are confident it will pay dividends during the upcoming 2010 season and perhaps beyond.

"We've all probably had developmental people working on other [teams'] cars in the past, but I don't know about just having a core group like what we're trying to do here," Hutchens said. "It was a tough thing to put together from a personnel and economic standpoint to make it be right for our company and for TRG. We worked real diligently in the last week or two to pull it off, and we feel really good about it for both companies. That's the thing: I think it's a win-win for both companies."

Hutchens said it is key that the extra crew guys who will work at Stewart-Haas during the week will gain valuable over-the-wall race-day experience pitting the No. 71 Chevy driven by Bobby Labonte each week. (Continued)