Pit Crew School Week 1

[knute2]

Ok some im starting to write weekly summaries of pit crew school for 3 reasons, 1 for you guys here on Nascarcamping. I know you guys would like to hear what its like. 2 for my friends who are on facebook, im posting them there so they know whats going on down here in NC, and 3 for meself. So I can look back afew years from now, while on a Championship Pit Crew team or siting behind a desk 9-5, while being able to reflect back to my time down here.

Afew things about me first, This has been something I have been thinking about for along time now, and since I just finished college, I decided why not give it a shot now? its only 8 weeks out of my life, just over 2 grand. So all summer I have been working hard, saving money, got accepted, found aplace to live online, and made the move here aweek ago. Im living in Huntersville, NC, just bout 15 minutes from Mooresville and the school, in a nice area called Birkdale Village.

This has been like a dream of mine for awhile now, I have always talked about it in college, saying when im out im coming here, many close friends didn't think I would do it, but it was support from other friends, teachers, and co-workers that motivated me this past year to finally get my butt down here and make it on a pit crew team. Some co-workers have said they are so excited for me, and its like they are living a dream through me knowing how much I have wanted to do this, and how excited I was geting as I was about to leave.

So here it is, week 1 of Pit Crew School

[knute2]

So this week was week 1 of Pit Crew School, The place I am at is actually called P.I.T. for Pit Instruction and Training. The 2 month part of my school that I am in is called “Pit Crew U”. Day one was Monday night; I got there around 5:30 though class didn’t start till 6pm. I wanted to make sure I was there early, and there I meet Cindy at the front desk and gave her my big check to pay for school. She also took my shirt and glove size’s so she could have them ready for the next class.

Class started in a small theater they have there that probably sits around 100 plus. There my class mates and I meet our two coaches. Both coaches previously attended Pit Crew U and currently work on separate Sprint Cup Teams. Monday wasn’t that busy, about an hour long orientation day about the school, its history, currently what they are doing, important names and faces, and what to expect in the next 8 weeks. After the little orientation session I asked for a tour of the facility because I was the only one who hadn’t seen the whole facility inside and out. All the other students have, though the last time I visited the place was being built, and the school was currently a few miles down the road in a small race team garage type setup (about 4 years ago). I got my tour and was really impressed with the place, not that I haven’t already seen pictures online, but just seeing it in person and watching old students of Pit Crew U practice was nice.

On my tour they took me through the weight room, locker rooms, class rooms, and outside where more garages were, along with the 6 pit stalls they have there. There is also a ¼ mile track around the building that the race cars will drive around during live pit stops, to make practice more realistic. Though I won’t be doing “live pit stops” until the last 2 weeks or so, but when I do start doing them we will be doing a lot of them every night, while looking at the tape during in-between every stop. I got to see a lot of the practice cars, along with the Red Bull team cars that are there all the time for the Red Bull teams to practice on. (By the way I believe every pit crew member on Red Bull Teams is from this school, but I’m not 100% sure about that, 1 or 2 may not be. Thought the good news with that is the Red Bull team won the pit crew challenge earlier this year. So you know this school produces great pit crew teams and individuals.) The tour was very nice and we had to exit out of the back because it was late there and the front doors were locked.

Class 2 was on Wednesday night, and on Wednesday we had our fitness test. These tests weren’t to determine if you are able to work on a pit crew team, but to just see where everyone is currently at in their fitness. I was looking forward to this day because for the past year, and especially in the past 6 months, I have worked out hard, 5 days a week, I have been watching what I have been eating, and it’s all been because of this. I wanted to show up in the best possible shape I could be in, and always with room for more. Also to note, there is a big board on the wall of the weight room, and holds all the individual records for all Pit Crew U students, which was a lot of fun to look at and maybe set some goals.

The fitness test first involved in a little meeting with the trainer’s individually one on one. They checked our blood pressure, resting heart rate, and had us give them a brief history of any previous injuries or anything that would bother us while stretching or in physical activity. They would also ask us to perform different movements that involved our head, arms, legs, feet, and my shoulders since I separated my shoulder 6 years ago while playing hockey. After that we would get weighted, our height and arm span checked before starting our fitness test.

The fitness test involved the most curl ups in a minute (mini sit-ups), pushups (the most you can do before losing form), sit and reach, long jump, vertical jump, leg press, chest press, and curling. After doing all of that, we moved outside to do some running and such. We ran a lap around the track there, and then stretched around a little before doing quick running while being timed.

The first event was starting in a low position, and quickly running about 10 feet to our right, stop, and run back about 20 feet, stop, and back to where we started. We did this 4 times, 2 in each direction. Second was just a simple 10 yard dash that we all did twice. Third were suicide sprints, for those who don’t know what suicide sprints are, imagine running 10 feet, stopping and then back, then you go 20 feet and back, then 30 feet and back, then 40 and so on. Real quick sprints back and forth with quick stopping and starting. The challenge with this one was that we had to pick up lug nuts off the ground at each stop, and then place them at the starting line every time we returned. We also did this twice, in-fact one time I dropped the lug nut while trying to pick it up. I kind of got caught with my feet moving faster than my hands if you know what I mean I had to quickly step back and grab it. The last test outside was taking a 6 pound medicine ball, while sitting down in a chair on the side of a wall, with our shoulders back on the wall at all times, and throwing the ball as far as we could, we would also get 3 attempts at this.

What I really enjoyed about the fitness testing, what that the coaches were pushing me extra hard, they knew I came here ready to go, a few of the other students, not so much. For instance, while lifting weights, they challenged me to do a lot more then others, and the others were a little surprised how much I could leg press, every time we kept adding 45 pound weights to the leg press machine. The challenge in the weight room wasn’t how much you could max, but how much you can do between 5 and 10 reps. I did 800 pounds on the leg press at 10 reps and 205 pounds on the crest press for 6 reps. We start with a smaller weight, and kept adding every time to not jump too high so quickly. The coaches were also challenging me in every event, like the ball toss, everyone was getting about 16 feet or so, but when I went up the coach yelled out let see 20 feet here, I hit 20, 21, then 22 feet on my third try. I really like it when the push me and challenge me to succeed as I do in all sports and different styles of work I have done it the past. I perform best that way, and hope the coaches continue to challenge me harder every day I am there.

For the record, remember that board on the wall of the weight room that holds all the records? Well they are going have to make some room to fit my last name on it. It set the Record for the sit and reach ha-ha. I have always been very flexible, and I was able to reach 25 inches, the previous record was 23 inches. I also came close to beating the curl up record, for most mini crunches in a minute, but no cigar there.

So far it has been very fun, life down here is starting to pick up as I am meeting new people, getting out and around, while trying not to spend too much money, because right now I got to be smart with the money I got. (Donations? Donations? Just go to the Eric Knuuttunen Pit School Fund…Just kidding). I actually went to Dale Jr. Bar called “Whisky River” the other night with 8 friends in downtown Charlotte. It is a very cool place, setup mostly as a club, with a big dance floor, stage, mechanical bull, and V.I.P. areas. If you’re into the young crowds, loud music, and a fun atmosphere you should check it out.

So that was my first week of Pit Crew School, should be getting more and more exciting as it continues, it will also be getting harder and harder. I won’t be surprised if 1 or 2 guys decide part way thought the 8 weeks that this isn’t for them and quit, because if you quit before week 4 I think you get some money back. However I could be wrong and it would be cool to see everyone in my class stick it out and do this giving it their best shot, as I am doing myself.


By the way, if there is a different way you want me to post this every week, let me know, because some may be too big for just one post


feel free to ask me anything along the way


Until next time, I hope you enjoyed this


Eric

[Shirley]

Eric, Keep up the good work and Good Luck. I hope to meet you on pit road next year.

[Fundytrail]

Eric, GREAT report. Thanks & keep up the great work!
All the best to you in this endeavor.

[Earl]

Good for you Eric. Sounds like you are enjoying it. Keep up the hard work, it pays off. It's good to see a young man with such drive and ambition.
I think you might be working on being the head of your class.

Make us proud

[takeabreath3]

Rock on Eric. I love the report and can't imagine changing anything about the way you are doing!!!

Just remember your friends here when you make it big time!!

stay safe and have fun

[NITELITE]

So, how many Beer Mug Curls did you do at Whisky River???? Are you keeping track of them too? Are you in the run for any records there?:rolleyes:

Good luck in your endeavor, I'm rooting for ya!!!

[Buddlite]

Eric your report is great keep it up, I will look forward to it weekly

[bigolepig]

Can't wait to hear about next week!! Sounds like you are doing great...and setting the bar for the rest of your class!!! AWESOME!!!

[Shirley]

This is going to be great!! We will have some reading to do during the off season. I know that we will all learn something New each week. I know that I do each weekend that we attend a Race.

[Nascarcamping]

Eric, I saw the post on Facebook and read it last night also!!

Many thanks for posting it here!

You never know you could write a book about this later:)

Keep the reports coming!!

[upsjed]

Eric, between your nascar video production posted earlier in the year and your journalism now I think you'll have a great career in nascar when you retire from pit crewing! Keep up the good work down there. I don't doubt that if there is shining star down there word will get out and the scouts will start snooping around. Keep your eye on the prize...Jed

[knute2]

I got to be honest, my brother makes the videos, thats his thing. I take the photos if your ever on facebook and can check them out. However just before I moved down here my brother taught me afew things on video editing, and I have alot of footage from Bristol when I went there in August and I took his camera. So when I get bored down here I will try to do something with that video and make it a fun cool video

[Shirley]

I got to be honest, my brother makes the videos, thats his thing. I take the photos if your ever on facebook and can check them out. However just before I moved down here my brother taught me afew things on video editing, and I have alot of footage from Bristol when I went there in August and I took his camera. So when I get bored down here I will try to do something with that video and make it a fun cool video

I would love to see the Video. Can you post a link?

[knute2]

http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=1101...PW3M5ALES164QR

thats the NH video my brother did