Fit Row: Pit crews use offseason for recovery, but maintain a healthy pace

Editor’s note: This story is part of our Fit Row series that focuses on the health and fitness aspects of racing and its superstar drivers. Presented by Lilly Diabetes, the exclusive diabetes health partner of NASCAR, the series features 10 themed stories. The travel has stopped now that the checkered flag has fallen on the NASCAR season at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but the preparation is never done for pit crew members. With one of the longest athletic seasons in all of professional sports, the individuals who go over the wall each weekend spend the little downtime the offseason provides staying race ready. Many in the garage are quick to admit, the offseason is not as long as the calendar may make it look and one can’t afford to let himself go during that time. “I was a strength coach at Ohio State before I was on the pit crew, so I preach this a lot to our guys: Take care of yourself during the offseason,” said Ryan Patton, the rear tire carrier on Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet. “You try to take time to fix any bumps, bruises, strains if you need to, but we’re all competitors and working out and dieting is something that we do year-round.” Patton, along with Kellen Mills, the gas man for Joey Logano’s No. 22 Ford, admit there are differences when the racing ends. The offseason is less structured and workouts usually lighten up a bit. Ordinarily there are no mandatory pit stop practices. This is also the time for those who might feel they have any deficiencies or areas they would like to work on to do so. Teams that might be going through turnover with their pit crews are also more likely to get together to make sure everyone develops a chemistry and rhythm. “Our rest comes from not having pit practice as much or we might not have practice at all. But in terms of conditioning or cardio levels, strength training, like I said, you want to take some time to recharge but you can’t really take too much time,” Patton said, also admitting working with Johnson, who is always training himself, is highly motivating. “Our team is held to a high standard, all of Hendrick Motorsports is. You know after the first of the year Daytona is only about a month and a half away and that’s our Super Bowl. So, you’ve got to get ready to rock and roll for that. There is a little bit of downtime, but it’s not really downtime.” Michael Lepp is the senior athletic advisor at Joe Gibbs Racing and stressed an important part in all of sports nowadays is recovery. At Gibbs, there is a designated physical therapy and training area. Crews have access to a cryotherapy chamber and can get dry needling (the use of non-medicated needles placed directly into one's problem areas). If lifting weights is something their pit crew members want to do, it’s more to maintain than gain. Anyone who might have been injured will likely be doing remedial rehab during the month of December. When it comes to staying race ready during the offseason, it seems to be the responsibility of the crew members. Both Patton and Mills acknowledged keeping consistency in their routines and habits, saying the guys on their teams are likely to hold each other accountable to get workouts in or use the pit practice car if necessary. “We send (our guys) recommended workout schedules,” said Lepp about still being aware of what the crews are doing. “They have their own logins and our strength and conditioning people will put a workout in for them. If you’re working out this week, this is the stuff you should be doing.” Being in the gym remains a priority during the offseason, as does eating right. While many might assume the end of the race year means going home and laying on the couch with potato chips, Mills explained you cannot change your lifestyle for a month and then expect to go back to in-year mode. “Thanksgiving time we’re off and come first week of January it’s beginning of pre-season,” he said. “You only have about a month of downtime. You can’t get too far out of whack during that time. Then January we’re right back at it.” Coincidentally, the NASCAR offseason occurs during one of the biggest weight gain periods of the year: the weekend after Homestead is Thanksgiving, a month later is Christmas and then come the parties on New Year’s Eve. However, pit crews these days are all made up of athletes and gone are the days of showing up before a new season with added weight that needs to be worked off. As Lepp simply said, there’s no time for that. Or as Patton described, doing so is at your own risk. Waiting in line behind you is always going to be someone training harder, getting stronger. So being a pit crew member is more than what happens from February to November. It’s become a 365-day job, leaving Patton, Mills and Lepp to agree if a NASCAR race just happened to pop up during the offseason, the pit crews would be standing at attention on the pit wall. “We’d be ready,” said Patton. “Ready to rock and roll. Absolutely.”