The pressure to get back into the winner’s circle has now resulted in another pit crew change. This time at it is on Michael Truex, Jr.'s car at Michael Waltrip Racing.
Truex now has four different over-the-wall guys; out of the six which came to Richmond International Raceway last week. After grabbing the lead past the halfway point he finished 27th three laps down to the leaders due to problem in the pits.
In his Darlington pre-race release Truex, who hasn’t won since 2007, said “We had a very good car at Richmond. It was the best car I’ve ever had there. The last five weeks have been very tough on this NAPA Auto Parts team.”
“We go from taking the lead and me screaming, “Hell yeah!” on the radio to having a loose wheel and going several laps down. I got pretty upset,” said the driver. So upset that Truex is reported to have radioed that he wanted his pit crew axed.
He added “There is a tremendous amount of pressure on every single individual that makes up a race team. If a job is not getting done, then a change needs to be made. That holds true for every member including myself. I want to win more than anything in this world and that’s why I got very upset. I understand changes are going to be made within our pit crew heading into Darlington. I appreciate the fact that MWR addressed the issue and we’re moving on.”
Steve Hallam, executive vice president and director of competition at MWR, explained “With our impressive speed comes the added pressure of the entire team to perform. As we know, the No. 56 has experienced several challenges on pit road and we feel the need to intervene. Pit crews are professional sportsmen and as such, they understand that sometimes changes need to be made. The team will have new tire carriers and changers beginning at Darlington this weekend.”
Hallam explained that some of the over-the-wall crew have come from the Nationwide team and some from their back-up crews.
Last year both Hendrick Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing did a pit crew swap late in the season and both achieved success by their changes.
Truex now has four different over-the-wall guys; out of the six which came to Richmond International Raceway last week. After grabbing the lead past the halfway point he finished 27th three laps down to the leaders due to problem in the pits.
In his Darlington pre-race release Truex, who hasn’t won since 2007, said “We had a very good car at Richmond. It was the best car I’ve ever had there. The last five weeks have been very tough on this NAPA Auto Parts team.”
“We go from taking the lead and me screaming, “Hell yeah!” on the radio to having a loose wheel and going several laps down. I got pretty upset,” said the driver. So upset that Truex is reported to have radioed that he wanted his pit crew axed.
He added “There is a tremendous amount of pressure on every single individual that makes up a race team. If a job is not getting done, then a change needs to be made. That holds true for every member including myself. I want to win more than anything in this world and that’s why I got very upset. I understand changes are going to be made within our pit crew heading into Darlington. I appreciate the fact that MWR addressed the issue and we’re moving on.”
Steve Hallam, executive vice president and director of competition at MWR, explained “With our impressive speed comes the added pressure of the entire team to perform. As we know, the No. 56 has experienced several challenges on pit road and we feel the need to intervene. Pit crews are professional sportsmen and as such, they understand that sometimes changes need to be made. The team will have new tire carriers and changers beginning at Darlington this weekend.”
Hallam explained that some of the over-the-wall crew have come from the Nationwide team and some from their back-up crews.
Last year both Hendrick Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing did a pit crew swap late in the season and both achieved success by their changes.