How NASCAR Teams Choose Their Pit Lane Location

Welcome to the Bozi Breakdown.  TTAC Creator Bozidar “Bozi” Tatarević is a Bosnian-American racing mechanic, writer, and technical consultant born in Sarajevo in 1986. After immigrating to the U.S. in 1995, he learned English in elementary school and eventually turned his passion for cars—fostered by his father Slav—into a full-time career. Laid off from a tech job in 2008, Bozi began wrenching professionally, eventually launching a shop and car export business with his family. His technical message board posts led to a writing career with outlets like TTAC, Motorsport.com, Road & Track and Racecar Engineering.

In 2018, he made his pro mechanic debut at Watkins Glen and now works as a tire carrier and mechanic for Vasser Sullivan Racing in IMSA, with 10 wins and a 2023 GTD Pro title. Bozi also consults via his agency Podium Prime, with clients ranging from race teams to media production companies.

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A transcript, cleaned up by AI and edited by a staffer, is below.

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Transcript:

Here’s a cleaned-up, readable version of the transcript with the filler removed, clearer phrasing, and a natural flow, while keeping the original meaning intact:

One of the unique aspects of NASCAR is that pit lane locations aren’t selected until after qualifying. Pit stall selection is determined by qualifying order, which is why teams want to qualify as far forward as possible. The pole position gets first choice, and the number one pit stall at Darlington, like at many other tracks, is often the most desirable because it allows for quicker entry and exit.

There are other variables that come into play as well, such as whether there’s an opening in front of or behind the pit stall. That can make it easier to get into the box or exit it. The location of timing lines on pit road also matters, as they can allow a driver to carry speed into or out of the box and gain a few tenths of a second.

Behind me are the crew chiefs and engineers. What happens next is essentially an auction-style process where teams are called one by one to select from the remaining pit stalls, choosing the option that best benefits their team.

Now that officials have arrived, the crew chiefs and engineers begin negotiating among themselves. They often try to make deals about who they want to pit near. Typically, top-running teams will negotiate with teams further back in the field, since they may not be pitting at the same time if they’re separated on track.

This is where relationships in the garage matter. If you’re friendly with teams that aren’t running near you on track, you can create opportunities for easier entry or exit, even if there isn’t an open space in front of or behind your stall. If another team is 20 or 30 seconds behind you, your stop will be finished before they even reach their box.

Each crew chief and engineer has a ranking sheet listing their preferred pit stalls. As stalls are selected and announced, they cross them off the list and move on to the next available option.

Once most of the stalls have been assigned, crew chiefs and engineers start to disperse. Team members typically record the selections, and even if someone isn’t present, NASCAR sends out a notification with all pit stall assignments once the process is complete.