Pit crew members live life on the edge each weekend

After sustaining eight concussions racing motocross, 24-year-old T.J. Ford thought it was time for a career change.

Well, a NASCAR crewman may appear safer, however, injuries are still prevalent and

The original coach

Andy Papathanassiou was a Stanford grad who wanted to work in NASCAR. When he saw pit stops were much like a football play without the coaching, he knew where he could make his mark.

• Complete story, click here

Ford learned last season that he is not immune to the dangers of pit road where 3,500-pound stock cars are speeding past your backside, inches from your head, operated with limited visibility.

During his third year as a jack man for the No. 15 of Paul Menard, under contract with Dale Earnhardt Inc., Ford nearly saw stars when he was knocked off his feet while trying to jack the car in September during the California fall race.

He's fine now -- now, being the key word.

When pit stalls are tight and cars are coming in hot, crewmen faces a range of injuries; some highly publicized and others barely a mention around the garage. From blown knees and back injuries to burns and finger jams, crewmen are increasingly seeing more injuries as the pace and competition increases.

Speaking of burnt fingers ... ask Jon Lucas at Haas CNC Racing about that.

He's all too familiar with burnt fingers when grabbing a literally smoking hot tire rim off the car when the driver has been off and on the brakes for miles on a short track like Martinsville Speedway.

"Yeah, I've been burned through my gloves before, especially at Martinsville. The guys are on the brakes hard and often."

And with new injuries, new safety rules follow.

"It's just part of the job," said Ford who was clipped by the No. 40 car of David Stremme that fateful day at California and had to be replaced by another crewmen. Ford said he jumped off the right side of the wall, as usual, and went down with the jack to the rear tire when Stremme's car made contact.

"He hit me and took me straight off the ground," Ford said.

A week before he sustained his injury, Ford said he tweaked his knee doing squats, typical conditioning for a jack man. That may have caused his knee to be more vulnerable at the time of the incident, but training is vital to a jack man responsible for boosting 3,500-pound machines off the ground in just seconds.

The following Monday, Stremme apologized to Ford and that was the end of it. Although, Ford said more needs to be done.

The sport has improved pit road safety standards; reducing pit road speeds, adding safety equipment, etc., Ford said, but more needs to be done to protect the crewmen of NASCAR, which the sanctioning body often refers to as the "unsung heroes" of the sport.

In the mainstream world where men and women where Dockers and button-ups, not fire suits and helmets, workers compensation laws and unions protect them if and when they are injured and can't work. Compensation funds keep them afloat while on the mend.

As for a crewman in the NASCAR game; pit at your own risk. (Continued)