Jimmie Johnson Says Pit Crew Earns Their Spot Each Week

One of the only kinks in the armor that has shown on the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team over the past two seasons has been the over-the-wall crew pitting the car.

During last year’s Chase, crew chief Chad Knaus made the call to use teammate Jeff Gordon’s pit crew halfway through the race at Texas. During the off-season Knaus restructured the majority of the crew, something that has been an ongoing process thus far in 2011.

“We’ve taken our lumps as this year has started,” Johnson said. “We’ve been off on speed at times, we’ve had bad stops on pit road, but it’s still the same group of people, it’s still the same race cars and we’re just working hard to refine the cars and refine pit road.”

Part of that process of refining pit road is having the over-the-wall crew earn their spot on race day at the shop during the week. Instead of having a first and second string team, Knaus has implemented a situation where the crew guys compete for their position, with the fastest guy getting the spot that week.

“You earn your position during the week in practices and prove that you’re the fastest guy that week and can do the best job that week going over the wall,” Johnson said. “I know every guy on the team; I train with them now and am in there on Tuesday’s working out with them so that we can form a tighter bond together. I see a lot of good things happening and I know that they’re working very hard for that coveted position to go over the wall and change or carry or jack the car.”

Johnson said the team is working hard to find more speed both in the cars and on pit road, but pointed out he was optimistic about what he has seen. Explaining the team has more developments that will debut in the “near future” the ultimate goal for the five-time defending champions is to peak at the right time in the Chase.