Photo: Brian Neudorff
Just like Santa has his little helpers, every racing driver has his pit crew. Denny Hamlin's pit crew is the best in NASCAR for 2015, as voted by crewmen themselves.
The Pitty Awards, as these things are called, also recognized the efforts of Kurt Busch's pit crew. NASCAR Crew Chiefs voted the Stewart-Haas Racing #41 pit crew to be the best in the Sprint Cup in 2015. Busch grabbed two wins in the series this season, while Hamlin had two as well and placed just behind Busch in the final standings.
There were also some stranger - and therefore much more attention-grabbing - accolades. For example, the Most Athletic Pit Crew award went to the #46 crew of H Scott Motorsports, tied with the #48 crew of Hendrick Motorsports. How exactly is the crews' athleticism measured? That's easy. They just count the ex-college athletes! Both winners have five of them, each with four ex-football players and one ex-baseball player.
There was also a poll for the most fashionable crewman, if you can believe it. Dion Williams, Jeff Gordon's Front Carrier, was voted by his peers as most stylish. Williams used to be an NFL linebacker with the Vikings before an injury forced him to switch careers. Eleven years later, he's better known for his fashion sense than for calling out defense plays.
Most Popular Crew is also among the stranger awards, simply for the criteria on which it's based. The people at PitTalks added up the Twitter followers of all crewmen. It turns out Jimmy Johnson's #48 crew - in addition to being tied for the most athletic - has the largest number of followers: 9,769.
We honestly appreciate the efforts to bring to attention the work put in by the unsung heroes in NASCAR. And what better way to do this than an award for the most unsung among them? The award for "best pit crew that never got any attention" went to Chip Ganassi Racing's #1 crew. There's only enough screen time on TV for drivers fighting at the front of the pack. Jamie McMurray is rarely one of them, so his crewmen don't get to be seen by the millions at home.
There were also some stranger - and therefore much more attention-grabbing - accolades. For example, the Most Athletic Pit Crew award went to the #46 crew of H Scott Motorsports, tied with the #48 crew of Hendrick Motorsports. How exactly is the crews' athleticism measured? That's easy. They just count the ex-college athletes! Both winners have five of them, each with four ex-football players and one ex-baseball player.
There was also a poll for the most fashionable crewman, if you can believe it. Dion Williams, Jeff Gordon's Front Carrier, was voted by his peers as most stylish. Williams used to be an NFL linebacker with the Vikings before an injury forced him to switch careers. Eleven years later, he's better known for his fashion sense than for calling out defense plays.
Most Popular Crew is also among the stranger awards, simply for the criteria on which it's based. The people at PitTalks added up the Twitter followers of all crewmen. It turns out Jimmy Johnson's #48 crew - in addition to being tied for the most athletic - has the largest number of followers: 9,769.
We honestly appreciate the efforts to bring to attention the work put in by the unsung heroes in NASCAR. And what better way to do this than an award for the most unsung among them? The award for "best pit crew that never got any attention" went to Chip Ganassi Racing's #1 crew. There's only enough screen time on TV for drivers fighting at the front of the pack. Jamie McMurray is rarely one of them, so his crewmen don't get to be seen by the millions at home.
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