Teams discuss the pros and cons of new rule regarding lug nuts
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Now that NASCAR officials are no longer going across the wall, will Sprint Cup Series teams play fast and loose when they change tires during pit stops in 2015?
Will hitting all five lug nuts on each wheel continue to be the norm, since tire changers have practiced doing exactly that throughout their careers?
Or will hitting only three or four in an attempt to speed up the stop become more commonplace, particularly late in the race when only a few laps remain?
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"Everybody says, well maybe they're going to just hit three lug nuts now," said Rodney Childers, crew chief for 2014 Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick. "The problem is that when you hit three, probably only two of them are going to be tight and that's not going to be good enough.
"There are just so many things that can go wrong."
Experience has taught him as much. His Stewart-Haas Racing team won last year's title, but a variety of issues early in the season may have kept Harvick and the group from visiting the winner's circle more often.
Wheel-related issues surfaced on more than one occasion with the No. 4 team.
"We learned a valuable lesson," he said. "If you do leave a lug nut just hanging on the stud, there's a pretty good chance it's going to sling off the stud and then the glue will hang onto it for about five laps, the lug nut will end up inside the wheel and then it's going to knock a valve stem off and you're going to give away a race. That's the kind of thing you've got to worry about and be careful with."
A loose wheel on a car "shows up on the stopwatch" on the track, said Jason Ratcliff, crew chief for 2003 champion Matt Kenseth, and depending on how many laps remain, could result in the driver having to return to the pits to correct the problem, erasing any track position gained from the move.
"When you weigh that out, it could be good," Ratcliff said. "The risk is going to be really high. Would I make the call? It depends on where I'm running, what I have to gain."
There's also the potential for a P3 penalty from NASCAR if a wheel should come off and officials determine the failure was the result of a wheel not being properly attached.
P3 level penalties consist of a maximum $50,000 fine and/or a 15-point penalty in the driver and owner standings and/or crew chief suspension.
That would be the extreme, however, according to Drew Blickensderfer, a former tire changer that serves as crew chief for Sam Hornish Jr. at Richard Petty Motorsports.
"If you look back at how many wheels have fallen off cars because of loose lug nuts, it's very small," Blickensderfer said. "To get one to fall off, it has to be a major mistake. Hitting three … is probably not going to make the wheel fall off; the driver is going to think the vibration is so bad he's going to catch it before it falls off.
"I think you'll see drivers complaining of vibrations and then it's up to them how brave they want to be, whether they come to pit road or not."
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The potential to win the race off pit road, or greatly improve one's track position is difficult to ignore, especially if teams see others roll the dice and reap the rewards.
Crew chiefs often have to make crucial calls during the course of a race. Now, they have one more area to consider.
"It's no different than the stay out, two-tire or four-tire call that’s a creative call at times but can win a race," Todd Gordon, crew chief for Joey Logano, said. "I think there will be other opportunities for that with pit stops now."
Gordon wouldn't say if he'd instruct his tire changers to hit fewer than five lug nuts, but noted, "We are always aware of what our opportunities are to speed up anything on pit road.
"It's a performance business and we're trying to beat people, so you have to take every avenue you can to be more competitive."
"Really, let’s be honest, it probably goes on now," said Alan Gustafson, crew chief for Jeff Gordon. "It's really tough for them to police … to 100 percent accuracy. Maybe they were at best 50-60 percent accurate, so it's going to be very similar to now."
Where the race is being held will have an impact on the decision-making process. The force on a wheel is greater, for example, on the faster intermediate tracks than the shorter venues such as Richmond and Martinsville.
"Now, if you drop a lug nut at Daytona on the right rear you won't even think twice about going back and putting it on," Blickensderfer said. "Before, you would take the time to put it on, have a 19-second stop that would kill you. Now you leave it, keep going and hope the driver doesn't say there’s a vibration.
"I think when you go to Martinsville, you're going to know 'Hey, we're going to try to get them all tight; if something happens we're OK with that.' … You go to Atlanta, that right front better be tight or you're in trouble. It's fairly self policing there."
Altering how a tire changer does his job could actually slow down the process.
"If you've got a guy that's very precise and is very good at that, and you ask him to change that, you may not be doing yourself any favors," Ratcliff said. "Just speaking as a former tire changer, and knowing how your typical athlete behaves, the reason they practice is so they can perform the way they practice -- it's just a dress rehearsal."
But, he added, "You can bet your bottom dollar some guys are going to try it early on and see what they can get out of it."
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