'DRIVEN -- Michael Waltrip Racing: Life in the Pits' goes inside race within the race
The No. 55 Michael Waltrip Racing car comes careening to a halt on pit road and Wes Evans is in place, operating his 20-pound hydraulic jack -- which requires fitting a jack post the size of a quarter under a plate that's not much bigger than a softball.
The tire carries and changers are waiting, but nothing can happen until Evans has the car properly lifted. It's a mix of safety and precision, a six-man dance that at its best can look almost robotic as teams try to gain tenths of seconds in the race within the race of NASCAR, the pit stop.
"It's definitely a huge thing and it looks so choreographed because we've done it just repetitively over and over again to shave seconds off, watching film to make everything right, moving hands half an inch one way or an inch the other way to shave tenths of a second off," said Evans. "It's very finely tuned."
FOX Sports South's EMMY Award-winning original programming series DRIVEN presented by Toyota will take viewers into the world of a pit crew with 'Michael Waltrip Racing: Life in the Pits', which debuts Friday, May 15 at 11 p.m. ET.
The show follows the crews for MWR's No. 15 and 55 cars, exploring the corroboration competition between the two teams, and the genesis of the pit stop. Teams have gone from crew members comprised of middle-aged mechanics in slacks and short-sleeved shirts to collections of former athletes and military personnel.
"To get to the point where we are today, from totally just random guys changing tires or jacking the car because they looked like they could do it to specifically trained athletes for each position over the wall, it's been an amazing evolution," said Michael Waltrip, co-owner of MWR.
Evans is part of that new breed.
A 6-foot-3, 267-pound former tight end and defensive end at Arizona State, Evans has kept competing in a world where fearlessness and preparation are of the utmost importance as 3,400-pound machines jockey for position on pit road.
"When you're on pit road it's not only like you're facing one bull coming at you, rather 42 other bulls around that one bull as well," Evans said. "I think there's definitely an added level of fearlessness and that comes with experience and guys doing it so much it's almost as if you don't see the cars as cars anymore. It's like a task you're trying to accomplish."
Said Allen Steele, front tire carrier for the No. 15 team and an Army veteran. "I love jumping out in front of a car and knowing another one is coming right in after it, two inches off your heels, ready to hit you."
'DRIVEN -- Michael Waltrip Racing: Life in the Pits' looks at all that goes into getting a crew ready for a race, including prepping tires, setting up the pit box and the anatomy of the perfect stop.
Perfection is cause for celebration, but even that doesn't last long as teams immediately turn their attention to the next stop.
"I mean we definitely all high-five each other after those, it's just you've got to get right back to work and focus on the next one," Evans said. "It's definitely a short-lived celebration, just like our job's done in such a short time."
The episode also focuses on the crews' lives away from the track, the physical conditioning, the dual roles of members in the Michael Waltrip Racing office, but more than anything the drive to gain an edge.
"We are the blue-collar workers. We're the grunts. We're the guys that get in there and do the hand-to-hand combat," said Shannon Myers, rear tier changer for the No. 55 team, who was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in 1995.
