Last year, Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) boasted one of the quickest pit crews, particularly adept at tire changes and refueling. But in order to reduce the pit stop durations even more, JGR has recently implemented a specialized tablet and software designed to indicate precisely when the vehicle has been sufficiently refueled. However, William Byron has expressed skepticism about the significant benefits of this new fuel tablet technology.
Advertisement
With the tablet, during refueling pit stops, a crew member positions themselves in front of the car, tablet in hand. The tablet displays a timer visible to both the driver and the refueler.
Once the predetermined fuel level is achieved, the screen illuminates green, signaling that the car is ready to resume the race. The car’s fuel tank doesn’t need to be completely filled during these mid-race stops.
The software on the tablet, managed by race engineers, calculates the required fuel amount by considering factors such as track position, throttle usage, and other dynamic race conditions. Meanwhile, the timer adjusts continuously throughout the race, allowing engineers to determine precisely the volume of fuel needed to complete the race.
Denny Hamlin gave his take on his podcast and said that during the tight pit durations, where drivers vie for tenths of a second, precision timing during pit stops is crucial. Typically, the crew chief oversees the process, carefully monitoring the moment the fuel hose connects. He counts the seconds or waits to observe fuel bubbles in the tank before signaling the driver to proceed.
This communication process consumes more than the required time, which led to the development of the fuel tablet. The technology aims to streamline the procedure and reduce delays. Yet, Byron of Hendrick Motorsports #24 viewed the innovation with admiration and surprise, remarking,
“It looked nifty by them, for sure. Pretty crafty! I’m surprised, I guess. Just never thought about that one. But yeah, it looks really cool. So, you know, it’s a copycat sport, right? I’m sure you’ll see more of it if it works well.”
Nevertheless, he also noted, “Right now for us, I think we’ve got a good system, but who knows, right? If we figured that out, it might be better. But so far, it’s not looking like a huge advantage or anything. It’s just more accurate, probably.”
Yet, highlighting the potential benefits of the tablet, Byron noted that its use in refueling could reduce human error. Currently, the process relies on a stopwatch and radio communication, which can introduce delays between the crew chief’s command and the driver’s response.
For instance, there might be a delay from when he tells the drivers to go versus when they see a light. It’s essentially about removing human error from the equation, but it’s also faster because the driver sees the instruction directly in front of them rather than waiting to hear it.
