Thanks for the Pit Crew video post

I REALLY liked the post of the pit crew competition at Rockingham. I was working for Cecil Gordon at that time in '74.

In 1975 I was at DiGard in Daytona and we won the competition. Mario Rossi was the crew chief. We built a wall out behind the shop and practice on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. If we had a problem or an 'issue', Rossi would tell us to keep going.

At Rockingham, we had just put on new brake pads, but had not scuffed them in yet, when it was time for the competition. Donnie Allison was driving and when he came into the pit stall the new brake pads locked up the wheels and the engine stalled. Because of Rossi's training, we kept at it, and set fast time. Televised accounts showed the exhaust just starting out the exhaust pipe as I am making the first strp around the front of the car. We had changed two tires in the same amount of time it took Donnie to re-fire the car.

That video was a reminder of that day. I REALLY apprecitae your posting that here. Any chance you have the 1975 version?

Billy, I thought I remembered that you were a rear tire guy.

Do I remember incorrectly?

Yeah, that video was way cool. That's how ya used to do it! I can still smell the gas and the the tire rubber, and the hi-pitched whine of a modified IR wrench can never be forgotten. Things you can't explain.

Most of you will know that Mario Rossi was the lead designer on the pit stop tool modifications. He got Howard Hurd to port and polish the Ingersoll Rand air wrenches. He showed us how to cut the outside diameter of the lug nut sockets, grind every other 'tooth' on the inside of the socket and then drill and pin it to the air wrench. Determining the wire diameter of the inserted spring was another issue. Rossi preached that to be better than good you had to hit the next lug while the last one you touched was still spinning, but not off the stud yet. This required a subtle touch to the spring tension on the inside of the socket.

One of the more notable issues of incorrect spring tension was poor directional control of the exiting lug nut. Worn, used lug nuts, as used by the less funded teams had multiple sharp edges on the corners, and you would often suffer multiple cuts on the inside of your forearms. From Daytona to Rockingham, you could often recognize which guys were serious about practicing pit stops by the condition of their forearms.

Similarly, you could tell who were the engine tuners on the Hemi powered 'pieces' at Daytona , because it was always quite cool in the mornings at Daytona and they would have to choke the carbs a LOT to get them to fire. When they were using the wide, flat top cross ram intake manifolds, the fuel would puddle in the interior crevices where the un-attomized fuel would gather, and then when, or if the motor backfired, even once, it would blow off the top of that manifold and BOTH guys under the hood and inside the fender wells had both eyebrows and the bottom of their sideburns burned off. I can still recall the smell of burnt cheekbones and singed hair.

Rossi's ultimate approval of proper lug nut socket spring tension could be obtained when running at night at the old Nashville track. You would pit on the smaller of the two tracks, and often the tire changers, if their spring tension and the technique were both correct, you could see as the lug nut exited the extended 'bullet' stud and just drop off at the end, drop to the rim of the wheel and make one full revolution of the wheel, showering sparks at it rotated, before falling to the ground. If you were REALLY good and fast you could get two rounding and sparking at the same time. A miniature version of fireworks that few get to see.

Billy, the rush of familiar faces was amazing. I was not able to name many more than you did, but man, that brought back some memories. This is what I look for here on RacersReunion.

Will. I raced against Cecil in the late '60's. We have remained friends since then. He and his brother used to come to our house sometime after the races before going back to Horseshoe, N C. Good guy. I talk to him once in awhile on the phone now.

He gave my wife and I the grand tour of Childress' shop when he was the shop foreman. I say the grand tour. We were not allowed in the engine room. That was off limits to everybody.

Tommie, Cecil was another gentleman that was instrumental in my development. When I was hired as his crew chief, I brought along with me the entire crew as well. It consisted of Mike Hill, who went on to work for Jr. and last I heard he was instrumental in some way with the Chrysler Corp. I would go visit him at Evernhams shop. His office was in the R&D building. Way Cool! Mike and I and Cecil prepared our CAR (one) for 34 races that year. It is impossible to explain to folks how much work that involved. No one believes it when you tell them, so I have quit trying! Our second race was the first NASCAR race in Riverside and the tow truck motor had just been rebuilt. It came back to the shop on the day we were to leave, so we installed it, drove it to the Mississippi river with the timing retarded to break in the motor, advanced it two degrees and finished the trip and the year with no problems.

I do not recall the particulars, but our first race was one held in Roughmont, NC (??). A race that was attended by all but the top three in points. We won that race, and thought we were hot stuff. That didn't too long, LOL.

Does anyone remember the name of that track?, the town?, the date?. I have a VERY funny story about Wendell Scott and his son at that event.

When you see Cecil next time, ask him if he remembers the days when Jr. Johnson would come to the shop to sell us moonshine for our 'medicinal requirements'. Cecil would have him tip out a small puddle on the shop floor, back off a little and toss a match. How it 'popped' and how high and long lasting was the flame determined the price. LOL. Man that was real living. Most people now only live in the reflection of lives past, often not even their own. I am trying desperately to not allow that to happen.

Billy: You are absolutely correct about those mini-fires from the lug nuts. I have experience a few of them. Singed my best fitting pit uniform pants in Phoenix one year. I used to wrap grey tape around my shoes to keep the laces from unraveling, and after that same Phoenix race when I was taking the tape off, there were tire smudges across the TOP of the tape. Do you recall if it was lug nut sparks that set of the large pit road fire in North Wilkesboro? I know we were all heating wind trying to get everything out of the way of the fire as it followed the spilled gas down that little 'ditch' that went down pit road.

We have GOT to get together face to face. I am still trying to recall some of these old memories, and they are best served by those that did the cooking.

Will, Another way to tell if the moonshine is the real deal or not is by the color of the flame when you stick a match to a small amount of it. We used to pour a small amount into a metal bottle cap. Stick a match to it and if it burned a pretty blue flame then it was good stuff.