About Stooge Expertise 8 year crew member, 25 year NASCAR historian with VAST collection of
NASCAR data (stats, photos, old magazines, books, programs). I know all
or can find all about NASCAR Winston Cup trivia, including stats, driver
facts, race records, pit & inspection info, pics of old cars and
drivers, etc.
Experience Almost 40 year fan, 8 years on pit crew, high traffic NASCAR website, hundreds of old info sources including pics
Education/Credentials Life: lived it for 8 years, been following it for almost 40 years, been to more than 200 races, worked shoulder to shoulder with many of the drivers and crewmen of the present and past, been quoted in magazines and newspapers, website listed in a book, had picture published in Nextel Cup Scene (was Grand National Scene back then). *Just quoted in a Las Vegas magazine last month (Feb/March '07) about the Vegas race*
Question Question I've always had but never had the opportunity to ask anyone who might know.....
During pit stops where do all the loose lug nuts go?? Sometimes you see them flying around so my thinking is, with a potential for some 840 loose lug nuts lying all over pit road along with 43 cars burning rubber out of the pits, seems that lug nuts would be flying around like bullets on the front line not to mention damage to tires sooooooooo, (whew!) Whats the deal??
Thanks for helpful knowledge, inquiring minds wanna' know!
Answer Yes, the lugnuts go flying everywhere during a pitstop. Yes occasionally they will get thrown by a tire as a car leaves pit road. As far as I know the "no sharp edges" keeps tires from being cut and the flying lugnuts, I guess, would have to be considered a hazard of the job. I don't recall ever being hit by one. Crew members will clean them up after the pit stops (something you don't see, not very exciting).
