Thanks for the Pit Crew video post
General
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.