Pit Stop Challenge

The Pit Stop Challenge is a single elimination, pit stop competition that has been held on the Carb Day of the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway since 1977. Pit crews face each other head-to-head in single round eliminations for three rounds in which they are mandated to conduct a standard pit stop of switching all four tires on a racing vehicle and simulating refuelling via a fuel hose connection to the fuel tank in the shortest possible time in a drag race style event, beginning with a driver bringing their car into the pit box and stopping there. Previously, tire fitting was restricted to a racing car's right hand side. There is no fuel used during the competition. The winner is determined by the amount of time a team's car is stationary in its pit box, and the quicker team in each pairing qualifies for the following round. Squads maybe assessed time penalties for errors or infractions, which include exiting a pit box with an incorrectly fitted tire, pit crews or equipment leaving their designated area, or a driver running over pit equipment such as an air hose.

Since 2017, the top two teams compete against each other in the three-round final. The quickest semi-final crew selects their preferred lane for the final, and the team with the fastest time in the final can choose their favoured lane for the third and deciding round. A blind draw is conducted to determine the tournament bracket, and the best four teams receive a bye from the first round to the quarter-final with the remaining squads entering the first round. Contest participants are selected from IndyCar Series-registered teams and Indianapolis 500 entrants. Pit stop performance following the preceding year's Indianapolis 500, their current season's IndyCar entrants standings position or are Indianapolis 500 one-off entries are the criteria for qualification to the competition. The winning team receives $50,000 from $100,000 total prize money, and crew members get pit lane equipment from prize donors at a giveway in Gasoline Alley.

The contest enables pit crews to familiarize themselves with their pit lane box, allow them to adjust their routines and practice to eliminate errors before the race. It was not held in 2008 because of rain, with the total posted prize money donated to charity, and in both 2020 and 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Indiana. , the record for the most victories is held by Team Penske with 18 wins since their maiden triumph in the 1981 final. Galles Racing are in second place with six wins, and Chip Ganassi Racing are third with three victories. Amongst drivers, Hélio Castroneves has the most victories with eight, followed by Danny Sullivan in second with four wins. Rick Rinaman has more wins than any other chief mechanic with four. Travis Law, Matt Jonsson, Owen Snyder, and Travis Law are all in second position with three victories each. The inaugural winner was Carrillo ( Jim McElreath) in the 1977 final and the most recent winner was Team Penske (Josef Newgarden) in the 2022 final.

Winners and runner-ups

Statistics

Notes

Bibliography

*

References

External links

{{Indy 500

Indianapolis 500