We were always pretty lucky because Hershel was always a good strong qualifier so he usually started near the front of the pack. Most of the time everybody gets through the first few laps pretty well.
However, sometimes it seems like there is always one guy that wants to win the race on the first lap and causes an accident. That is usually more on the short tracks with the local guys not to much the Winston Cup races that was not the case, those guys knew that it was a long race and it was the last lap they wanted to lead not the first.
Now it is up to the driver to get the car to the front as quickly as possible and stay out of trouble while making his passes, something Hershel did very well. After getting in to the lead now it is our job as the crew to make sure that he stays there. He does the job on the track, now we need to do our job in the pit area. The tire changers have to be flawless, gas needs to always be filled to the top, overflow cannot be permitted to hit the ground or we could be given a penalty, all tires needed to be aired properly and put on the right location during the stops. After the car leaves the pit, we all put everything back in to place at the ready for the next stop. The tire man looks at the tires that just came off the car to determine how the car is wearing the tires down, is it running properly or should there be a slight chassis adjustment to insure that we are getting the best we can out of the tires. We continually check in with the driver given him lap counts and time between him and the next closest competitor. This process is endless throughout he entire race, lap after lap pit stop after pit stop, everything must be perfect.
The goal here is to win the race and if everybody does what they are scheduled to do that should be the end result. Sometimes it is and sometimes it’s not, just depends on how lucky we were that day and if we stayed out of trouble on the track. Racing can be a very gratifying sport or it can be a heart breaker. When racing with Hershel McGriff it usually ended up to be a very positive experience!
Photo: Laurent Elji
