Pit crews vital to stock car success

It is no secret to the drivers of the Swift Current Racing Association's stock cars that the members of their pits crews are instrumental to their success on the track.

#21 Bruce Dyck says that he couldn't do it without his pit crew, which generally includes four others besides himself.

"On my team the pit crew is probably what has got us there and is keeping us there. I used to race years ago without a pit crew and I was never in the position that I am in points as I am now. My pit crew is the most important part of the team and they could probably do this better without me then I could without them."

Bruce Dyck's crew meets Tuesday nights to work on the car for a few hours and also rebuilt the car over the winter which likely took over 100 hours of labour.

John Dyck, who is in his fifth year helping out Bruce, says it has been fun watching their car amongst the leaders this season.

"When you are winning it is really nice. When you break down it is not so much fun. It is nice to be in first place but we have a lot of challengers this year and anybody could win, the cars are really close. We are holding on, but there are some really good drivers coming up behind us."

#96 Steve Lee finds himself amongst the leader in the Mini Stock division.

"We typically have three pit guys, Garth Empey, Derrick Empey, and Terry Empey come and help me out every race day," said Lee. "We usually get together at the shop after a race day go through the car and make sure everything is mechanically fine."

After Saturday's race Lee finds himself trailing #0 Tanner Leverson by three points in the Mini Stock standings.

"It is nice to be at the top, we have to make sure the car is working right and that we can finish every race that we start so that is the main thing."

Terry Empey explained that he enjoys helping out Lee in the pits for the second straight season since Lee began racing.

"I enjoy coming out to watch the racing every time it is on anyway. For me just being a part of it is half the fun. You get to spend time playing around with the cars and getting them all ready. Watching to see if it all pays off and it is just an enjoyable pastime."

Empey says that even the pit crews take satisfaction in good results.

"It definitely means a lot. Everybody is out for fun anyway but it is nice to se that you are coming out on top every now and then. We are still waiting to get heat and feature wins but it is bound to happen one of these times."

#70 Kevin Funk won the Hobby Stock division last year and finds himself near the top of the leaderboard once again.

"The pit crew has been phenomenal," said Funk. "We often run into little problems and the pit crew has always come through and got us back on the track."

Funk said that his crew usually consists of four people and also explained why he thinks they volunteer their time.

"I think that they enjoy it and they enjoy the racing scene in general. Once they have been in the pit they don't really want to watch it from the stands, they want to be involved and helping out, and occasionally they get to drive as well."