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knute2
03-08-2010, 01:09 AM
Hey Guys!
So after a slow start on pit road to start off for the season things have picked up, last I told you was that the truck deal we had fell through the last week before Daytona and we were kind of left with nothing but a 1 race ARCA deal. Even with nothing for the first week we kept our hopes up and continued to work hard at practice and on our own at OTW (over the wall) crew.
It looked like me might have had a Nationwide deal for 4 races starting at California, but that deal didn’t happen, the team pulled from the race the day before haulers entered the track so it was a no go. I didn’t get left with nothing to do because the ARCA series raced in West Palm Beach the next week and OTW crew sent 3 teams down there. I pitted for Eddie Sharp Racing #6 car driven by Blake Koch in his first ever ARCA race. This race was on a road course and for the first time in my pit road experience it rained. However no rain delays here, for the first time in ARCA history we slapped on some Hoosier rain tires and races in the wet stuff. The rain wasn’t very heavy for most of the race into it started to down poor with about 7 laps to go and they called the race. Blake did a great job and we finished 3rd!
Eddie Sharp had nothing but good things to say, our pit stop was very good and the word back at the OTW crew shop is that he wants up back saying we are one of the best pit crews he has seen in a long time. This Eddie Sharp deal is a good one, they are like the Hendricks motorsports of ARCA, winning many races and last year’s championship with Justin Lofton. At Daytona they have Nelson Piquet Jr, (former F1 driver and son on a 3 time F1 champion I believe) drive for them, and Nelson just signed to race more ARCA races with them starting at Texas. Maybe I will get lucky and get to pit for him. I got to briefly meet him and his dad at West Palm and they are very nice and I think Nelson can wheel a race car.
Speaking of his dad, I was talking to him and had no idea who he was, I actually thought he was the dad of a kid getting an autograph from Piquet Jr. and we were just chatting as the kid was wondering around. After he walked away one of my teammates said to me “you know who that is?” I had no clue I was talking to a F1 champion.
That race was fun, I got an awesome escort ride on a golf cart back and forth from the car to the hauler a few times to grab stuff we needed, oh the luxury! The only negative really was the down pooring rain after the race. We got soaked and stopped at the first McDonalds, we pretty much walked in there with all of our stuff and fully changed in the bathroom, then took the long ride back to Mooresville and got home around 4am.
Ok enough of that, here's the good news, I finally went NASCAR racing! Truck style!
Yesterday was my first truck race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and it was a wild day. During the week DJ told us he knew a guy who puts teams together for smaller low budget teams, and they usually need one or two guys. This one guy needed a jack man, changer and gasman. However there were some negatives to it, first off it wasn’t really a well organized deal, but it was a chance to get another race and a few bucks. However we would have to pay for our Truck License, that is something you have to do some time to get in to this sport, sometimes you have to invest a little to crack open the door and will soon hopefully be wide open for opportunities. Usually DJ wouldn’t ask us if we wanted to do this, but he felt pretty confident that we will be doing the next few Truck races and would get our money back, so might as well start 1 race earlier. So with a little help from Mad Finn (dad) because of the tight financial situation, me and two other guys I’ve been with since my start went to Atlanta for our first NASCAR race in the truck series.

knute2
03-08-2010, 01:09 AM
So let me explain this crazy hectic day, I was up at 4am, and meet a bunch of people at a Target around 5am, drove to the track just south of Atlanta, and found registration. There my pal Ethan who has been doing this for awhile really helped me and my two other guys (Devon and Ryan) out with the whole licensing stuff that we were new too. The one hiccup we had way Ryan, he forgot his drug test info that he had to bring and prove that he took a drug test. It took him about 2 hours to get that stuff figured out. His girl friend first tried to fax it from her work, but the fax wasn’t dark enough and they could scan the bar code. So we had a friend go to his girl friend’s work, grab the papers, run to staples, scan it, make it darker, and the fax it.
While all this stuff was going on, Devon and I went into the garage and it took us awhile to figure out what we had to do, once we got that figured out, we started getting ready, however there wasn’t much to do or get, this team didn’t have much stuff. Oh by the way our team was the #6 truck of Rick Ware Racing, our driver was Donnie Neuenberger, thought you may have wanted to know that. The team was basically a two team operation, but all the equipment and pit road stuff was in one pit box, and that was on the other teams pit box, so we had to keep borrowing stuff like tape, lug nuts, glue and so on.
Here is the fun stuff, our pit stops were very different, see the Trucks have that new gas can, however the teams are not forced to use it. The new gas cans and the whole operation is expensive, so some teams like ours still have the old style with the catch can. However you are still only allowed to use 6 guys on pit road, so my job changed drastically and I get the most involved.
We did this in practice just days before and it was fun, they call it a no fuel stop and you see it when a car runs out of gas and comes down pit road. So for the truck race, the jack man (me) runs out to the right side as usual and jacks the right side of the car or truck. There is only 1 carrier and he carries both right side tires out to the car. He leaves the right front to the front changers left, and then continues to the rear. After I jack the right side of the car quickly move to my right and grab the right front tire and then index it onto the hub and the changer hit his lugs. Then I move back to the jack, drop the car and move to the left side and the carrier grabs both old tires and returns them to the wall.
After I jack the left side I again quickly move to my right and grab the left rear tire that is either sitting on the wall or rolled to me depending on how much pit support you have. This truck team had none so I had to run to the wall and grab the tire, then I would index the left rear and the carrier index the left front. After that I grab the jack and drop the truck after the pit stop. A good stop will take about 17 seconds.
So to sum that up, I jack the right side, index the right front, jack the left side, and index the left rear. Something you don’t see much. The reason they call it a no fuel stop is because you will have a carrier spraying the stuff they use to try to fire the engine back up during the stop.
We ended up doing 3 four tire pit stops, and there were a little slow with the other guys, but it wasn’t a big deal. The truck ran in the back for most of the race and every time we came down pit road we did our best with what we had to work with. The truck came down maybe 3 extra times for other adjustments, to clean the grill or to top off on fuel. Also it was very difficult to hear Donnie on the radio; it was pretty much loud static the whole time. The whole day was something different for sure.
At the end of the hectic day I was happy, I got my license and I can see that door in front of me just getting bigger and bigger. I got a good feeling that I will be busy this season and getting a lot more experience on pit road. There are no races in any series this weekend, but maybe I’ll get lucky and do the nationwide race at Bristol, if not hopefully I will be at the next truck race in Martinsville a week later.
So let’s hope for the best and see what happens, I will continue to post pictures of where I go on my facebook, feel free to look me up (Eric Knuuttunen). Pictures and video will also be up on the OTW Crew page on facebook so check that out and become a fan.
If you’re bored this weekend because of no races until Bristol, I suggest you watch some hockey games, greatest sport and most exciting sport to watch I think! GO BRUINS!!!
Until next time guys take care, hope for some good things to start these next few weeks!

knute2
03-08-2010, 01:12 AM
Our #6 Eddie Sharp Racing car with OTWcrew.com at West Palm Beach...finished 3rd with Blake Koch!

TURTLEDOVER
03-08-2010, 08:22 AM
Congrats ! , keep the good work up, you'll get there.

DCNascarFan
03-08-2010, 09:52 AM
Good stuff - thanks for the detailed write up. Keep livin' the dream!

Fundytrail
03-08-2010, 12:33 PM
Once again THANKS, great read and I can't wait for the next one! All the best to you and your "team" mates.

ToyotaFan
03-08-2010, 01:24 PM
If nothing else, it sounds like you are having a great time even if they are long days! Keep up the great work, it will pay off!

Shirley
03-08-2010, 05:10 PM
Good Job as always and Best of Luck to you and the OTW Crew!! But, don't feel bad my friend who changes fronts hasn't got a job yet also. But, he is still hopeful!

web4dale
03-09-2010, 08:17 AM
Wished I had known you were here, would have tried to meet you.... Love your stories, what great memories you are making!

MAGICMILER
03-10-2010, 04:02 PM
Those long days will pay off,you'll see!!Good job and keep you're eye on the Big Picture!!!

BamaChief
03-12-2010, 01:10 AM
Knute have you ever done any pitting or any late model teams during the down times? I know when I was at the Snowball derby back in December there were several guys doing pit stuff there. I know the team I was with John Bolen Motorsports had some hired guys in to pit for them.

knute2
03-12-2010, 03:32 PM
I was about 1 hour away from heading down to the snowball derby and our team wrecked the car, so we didn't head down, even tho we probably could have picked up a deal there. But I knew some guys down there and I'm always looking for something to do on a down weekend like that

Iceman
03-31-2010, 11:19 AM
That's too cool! I have been working with Blake Koch doing fan outreach events since last Summer! Imagine that two board members working with the same driver! LOL, small world this NASCAR is! Sorry I haven't been on in so long, been doing ALOT more races with MRO.

madfinnhockey
04-01-2010, 01:07 PM
Just an FYI, Knute2 will be pitting the Gunbrokers truck in tonights Camping World Series trace in Nashville!!

BamaChief
04-02-2010, 09:03 PM
Hey just saw it before the prayer...Truck 23!! Good Luck!

BamaChief
04-02-2010, 09:07 PM
and may have just seen Knute when the camera ran down the Gunbrokers pit crew!!! Kewl!!! Also they have an in truck camera!

madfinnhockey
04-03-2010, 08:47 PM
Knute got on tv 3 times lol, and yes, during the National Anthem they had a great shot of him!