KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:
There is nothing like being in the pit lane on race day. This Sunday is a big race day. It's the 100th run of the Indianapolis 500. IndyCar pit crews have seconds to change tires and refuel all while cars are flying by. Crews expect to get pretty banged up. NPR's Danny Hajek takes us into a pit box.
DANNY HAJEK, BYLINE: Team manager Ricardo Nault radios to his driver Graham Rahal.
RICARDO NAULT: You ready? You ready?
HAJEK: They're about to start the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, one of the big races in California that leads up to Sunday's Indy 500. Once they wave the green flag, Rahal will unleash his 650 horsepower racecar.
NAULT: You ready? Green, green, green.
HAJEK: Graham Rahal is backed by one of the top pit crews in pit lane - six guys who live and breathe racing. While the drivers get the glory, these crews make it happen.
They're packed tight in the pits. It's close quarters down here. One misstep can cost a race or worse. Heath Kosik changes the inside rear tire. He once had a driver nearly run him over.
HEATH KOSIK: He ran right through our box, ran over our equipment and I had to basically jump on top of the car.
HAJEK: Over the years, cars have swerved, slammed and pummeled crews. At the Indy 500 last year, a collision in pit lane sent a car fishtailing into two guys changing tires. Everyone down here has got a story.
Mark Mason mans the airjack on Rahal's team. He's been in the pits for decades, and he's got the scars to prove it. His favorite story - race day 20 years ago.
MARK MASON: We're all out in the pit lane, and the cars are coming in at a massive speed.
HAJEK: And whoever changed the tire on the other team's car didn't fasten the wheel nut tight enough.
MASON: By the time that car got to us, spat the wheel off and hit me clean on the shin, it was like a bullet.
(LAUGHTER)
HAJEK: This is part of the job. They're here for one reason, to win, even if that means nearly catching on fire.
Mark Bruce is the team's fueler. The hose that he plugs into the side of Graham Rahal's car pumps three gallons of fuel a second. One time that fuel line broke open.
MARK BRUCE: And so it was just pouring fuel out of the side of the car. I was soaked. My legs were soaked.
HAJEK: When it hit the exhaust, the car ignited.
BRUCE: I've - knock on wood - I've never been on fire.
HAJEK: That's why IndyCar has fire teams stationed at each pit box like Edward Ross and Pit Fire co-chief Cathy Shumaker.
CATHY SHUMAKER: Last year, I was at a race where somebody broke his leg. Remember that? We were at Fontana, and somebody broke his leg in the pit where he got hit by his own car.
EDWARD ROSS: Yes.
SHUMAKER: Horrible.
ROSS: It's a part of racing you never want to see. People know the risks. This is a dangerous sport.
HAJEK: Back in Graham Rahal's pit box, Ricardo Nault jumps on the radio.
NAULT: Box, box, box, Graham. Box, box, box.
HAJEK: The call they've been waiting for. Mark Mason crouches against the wall with the airjack. Mark Bruce clutches the fuel line and the wheel guys fire up the guns.
Graham Rahal's pit crew is ready and waiting.
NAULT: Nice and smooth, gentleman.
HAJEK: Showtime.
(SOUNDBITE OF PIT CREW DOING CAR MAINTENANCE)
HAJEK: New tires and fuel in 6.7 seconds. Sunday's Indy 500 is a total sellout event. It will last for hours, but those heated moments in a pitstop could determine the race. And that's exactly how Mark Mason likes it.
MASON: The thing is to do this for as long as I've done it, it has to be something there, a driven passion that you have. That's my role. That's my role in life that I do this.
HAJEK: Danny Hajek, NPR News.
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