Are driver changes becoming a thing of the past?

[jowoog]

and if you change drivers ,less need for or no catheters = win

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[michael_loomis]

Well.. its kind of a case by case basis.

Sure it can make your team faster... but not necessarily fast enough for the win. If Bryce changed drivers with himself per se... He loses the 2012 Baja 500 to a driver whom solo'd.

[wideopendesert.com]

I have lost a race due to doing a driver change but that was more of a function of a bad change and not the actual change itself. And if we hadn't done the change, who is to say that I would have been fresh enough to carry on to the win.

I think if you have a better day than the next guy you are going to win. Driver changes or not.

[Wayne_Nosala]

I did a MORE race back in 2004, It was a 400 miler. I had a drivers changed planned, but there
was somebody hot on my heals all day. It happened to be Mike Malloy. And had I stopped long enough
to make that change, we would of handed the overall trophy to him, So I elected to stay in the car

Thats how close it was, Good pits and radio contact with the pit club at the time played well

I just had to keep telling myself to breath, stay calm, and stay focused.

I since sold the car to Rick Poole, and now Mike is driving the darn thing for Rick and continuing to
win

It all depends how good of physical and mental shape you are in. These days, Im not in as good
of physical shape and doubt I could do 400 miles in that 12 car, boy I will tell ya, It was fun, but
the last 2-3 laps I was getting tired and looking forward to the end of the day

Wayne

[B-Dub 1020]

exactly .. the "fresh legs" theory seems to be successful. kinda like bike teams

I M O. I think how much seat time you receive on a consistant basis is key along with the length of the race. Bryce and BJ both run more than one series whether its short course and desert or all SCORE and BITD races etc. If you only race SCORE or just hit different orgs races here and there your driving stamina, alertness and focus is less than someone that races every month or more. Obviously it was no problem for these guys to race 450 miles solo and out perform teams time wise that changed drivers. But remember this sport is a hobby, you dont make a living after the cost are paid with or without winning and sponsors. So why not let more than one driver/ vehicle owner get their fix also. Someone is paying big $$$$ to PLAY on every team.

[dan200]

If Bryce changed drivers with himself per se... He loses the 2012 Baja 500 to a driver whom solo'd.

This is not entirely true. Your concept is solid if you mean to say seconds matter however we are really careful to keep deadly accurate notes on how far ahead and behind the rest of the pack is and calculate our position on corrected time regularly and as often as information permits us to. I am willing to bet bryce does the same. If the potential margin of loss is just a dozen seconds or so, you can bet that a guy who is running 12 seconds behind and going for the win will have at least a hundred miles of dirt to make up those 12 seconds if he needs to.

Also, like was mentioned, we only change drivers and or co drivers at pre determined locations we were pitting at anyway. If we're fueling and doing rears, the driver and co driver change does not add one second to our pit stop time...

[BajaFand]

This is not entirely true. Your concept is solid if you mean to say seconds matter however we are really careful to keep deadly accurate notes on how far ahead and behind the rest of the pack is and calculate our position on corrected time regularly and as often as information permits us to. I am willing to bet bryce does the same. If the potential margin of loss is just a dozen seconds or so, you can bet that a guy who is running 12 seconds behind and going for the win will have at least a hundred miles of dirt to make up those 12 seconds if he needs to.

Also, like was mentioned, we only change drivers and or co drivers at pre determined locations we were pitting at anyway. If we're fueling and doing rears, the driver and co driver change does not add one second to our pit stop time...

This is exactly what I was getting at when I made the thread. When you are one of the top teams in the field capable of winning any race, you most likely have the best equipment there is. With gravity fed or pressurized dry breaks and doing rear tires only that should put your pit stop at about 1 minute, maybe a minute and a half? Is a minute enough time for drivers to trade places, adjust belts, get comfy, and go by the time the tank is full and the jack is down? It doesn't seem like enough time to me, I guess that means practice.

The top teams nowadays aren't like 6 or 7 years ago. This is getting more like the 90's where there were big sponsors and professional drivers. Sure, there isn't factory backing now, but between General, Toyo, BFG, and all of these energy drink companies there are big sponsors that want wins and they know they need the best drivers. As I recall Ivan Stewart, Larry Ragland, and Rob Mac didn't have driving partners in the 90's, accept maybe at the 1000.

I do think that at the Baja 1000 doing a driver change is an advantage. Pit stops are longer and the pace is slower due to trying to save the vehicle and distance between vehicles is also greater. But it's not impossible to win without doing changes, Ivan did it a few times.

With so many good unlimited teams, better communications and tracking systems, this is the new golden age of desert racing.

[SF@DERTCO]

Andy/Scott McMillin


/thread

Bj Baldwin < Mcmillin ????

[bajaford]

[500 miles or less...... driver change cost you the win nowdays (in trophy truck). and no you cant change a driver as fast as a crew can fuel and change rear tires.

[dan200]

and no you cant change a driver as fast as a crew can fuel and change rear tires.

we can and so can andys crew...