No. 31 crew takes a trip to New York to promote pits

Jon Wallace is on television in front of millions every week, but it's never been quite like it was in early May.

Wallace, the front-tire carrier for Jeff Burton's Cup Series team, joined the other six members of his crew when they traveled to New York to appear live on FOX and Friends on May 4. This time, as part of the first Cup crew to be featured live on a national morning show, he wasn't shielded by a helmet.

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"It was different being that we were going to be interviewed and on live TV and that's something we're not really used to," Wallace said.

They'll be back on TV, with the cameras squarely on them, Wednesday night when they try to defend their record-setting performance in the Sprint Pit Crew Challenge in Charlotte, N.C. Their goal? To become the first team to capture the event twice.

Most members of the crew were in the Big Apple for the first time -- gas man Curt Bowman made a short trip to the city when he was in New Jersey for a race earlier in his career. Rain on May 3, the day of their scheduled appearance, left an entire day open for the crew to go around the city together on sightseeing and bonding missions.

"Living in North Carolina, you're in the country," said Daniel Blizzard, the front-tire changer. "Then you go to New York and you're on top of the Empire State Building and you look down and see nothing but concrete. That was a little nuts."

Being able to spend time together -- away from the track -- is a rarity for a crew that often is only together on race days. The guys ate pizza in Brooklyn, went to Rockefeller Center and got a behind-the-scenes tour of Yankee Stadium.

But they were there to do a job. And despite a one-day rain delay, they did just that in front of cameras, a live television audience and a growing crowd in the middle of the city.

The media spotlight, and fans' attention, was on them as they pulled off a textbook stop. (Continued)