No. 11 Pit Crew Wins Second Consecutive Sprint Pit Crew Challenge

Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR

On Thursday night, the pit crew of the No. 11 FedEx Racing Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing defended their 2010 title by defeating the No. 48 Lowe’s Racing Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. This marks the first time that a team has won back-to-back Pit Crew Challenge events. Driver Denny Hamlin was on hand for the event, cheering on his team for their second consecutive victory in the Sprint Pit Crew Challenge.

“We’ve got a really good athletic group of guys, obviously,” said Hamlin. “We have some really strong jack man and catch can guys. That’s kind of the key to the push of this thing is to have really strong guys in those positions. It’s just really amazing with the consistency that they had. If you look at all their times, it’s there within a tenth of a second. So they did a great job.”

The No. 11 crew defeated the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports crew to advance to the finals. The win gives the team a chance at the first pit stall at the exit to pit road, a strategy that could prove to be helpful in a late race pitstop.

Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR

The crew consists of Nate Bolling (jack man), Scott Wood (gas man), Justin White (second gas man), Nick Krizmanich (front tire changer), Brandon Pegram (front tire carrier), Mike Hicks (rear tire changer), and Heath Cherry (rear tire carrier). Jessica Torok was behind the wheel. 

The winners of the individual positions came from two separate teams. The No. 14 team—driven by Tony Stewart—saw their jack man Mike Casto and gas men Rick Pigeon and Ryan Flores each set a new individual record at 5.071 sec and 8.652 sec, respectively. The No. 33 team driven by Clint Bowyer had their front tire changer Jason Pulver and carrier Austin Craven set an individual record at 13.901 sec while rear tire changer Dustin Necaise and carrier Matt Kreuter set their own individual records at 13.846 sec.