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OFF SEASON STAYS BUSY TIME FOR RACE CREWS

NASCAR crewmen aren’t like normal people.

Most people have jobs. NASCAR crewmen have racing. That means you don’t punch a clock, you don’t keep an eye on your watch and you don’t go home at 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

And, of course, NASCAR has a racing season that each year stretches from early February until the weekend before Thanksgiving. It’s a grueling exercise that, at the Sprint Cup level, typically involves 38 weekends of racing over a 41-42 week period. In theory, that leaves a 10-11 week “off season,” when exhausted crew chiefs and the road warriors who travel with them can relax, refresh and recharge their batteries.

Well, sort of.

These days, there’s precious little “off” in the off-season. There’s simply two months or so when you’re not going to the track every weekend. And, yes, the off-season is when crew guys try to get a little bit of down time and reconnect with their families.

But whatever off time there is, it isn’t a whole lot.

“Not anymore, the way we look at it,” says Steve Addington, a longtime crew chief with Joe Gibbs Racing. “We ended at Homestead, then it was Thanksgiving. And then it’s not that long until Christmas. You get fired back up again in January.

“People will slip off for three, four days at a time with their families, but there’s not a whole lot of down time in this deal anymore.”

These days, NASCAR Sprint Cup teams aren’t just race teams; they are miniature automobile factories. For a three-team Cup operation, the normal-size fleet is 13-16 cars per team. Figure a couple of them get crashed each year or are otherwise uncompetitive, and pretty soon you’re up to 50-60 cars annually, a rate of production of roughly one per week.

That’s enough to keep everybody busy, even with NASCAR’s testing ban.

There are other challenges as well. Pat Tryson, one of the most respected crew chiefs in the Sprint Cup Series, has helped Kurt Busch put together an outstanding season at Penske Racing, climbing to fourth in the points standings.

Tryson’s contract with Penske expires at the end of December, and on Jan. 1, 2010, he’ll officially join Michael Waltrip Racing as the crew chief for Martin Truex Jr. and the No. 56 NAPA Toyota. But because he’s under contract with Penske until Dec. 31, he can’t move to MWR now. And because he’s leaving Penske, he’s no longer working in the shop there. For the month of December, Tryson is a man without a country.

“This December, we’ll be off,” Tryson says with a chuckle. “Or at least I will be.”

But as soon as January rolls around, he’ll be flat out at MWR, getting to know his new team and making final preparations for the start of the 2010 Sprint Cup season at Daytona in mid-February.

“January will be real busy,” he says. “I’ll try to get acclimated, getting ready for a new year of racing. It’ll be good to get to know everybody.”

But busy isn’t necessarily bad. Remember, racing and competing is what these guys love to do and, come January, the urge to get back out there and doing it will be as strong as ever.

“I love what I do. I really do,” says Brian Vickers, driver of the No. 83 Red Bull Racing Toyota. “I love racing and it’s like you get to Homestead and you’re just so excited about taking a few weeks off. Then, three weeks later and you’re like, ‘Okay, I’m ready to go race again!’ But we have a long season. It’s not just for the drivers and the people in the sport, but I think it’s a long season for the fans and I think everybody is enjoying a little break after an exciting year.”

So for now, it’s catch a break when and where you can – January’s just around the corner…

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