Athletes in action: Pit road littered with all sports stars

Drivers aren't the only athletes whose performances are under scrutiny each week at the track. The over-the-wall gang can make or break a team's raceday.

And these guys aren't your run of the mill tire carriers, gas-can men or car-jacker-uppers; these guys are athletes in the truest sense.

Among the conventional athletes who now make their living in the NASCAR ranks:

All-Star Race

SPEED will again broadcast the Sprint Showdown and All-Star Race. Tune in at 7 p.m. ET on May 17 to watch rivals race for $1 million -- and the fireworks!

• All-Star coverage

No. 24 Chevrolet

There is plenty of athletic firepower each time Jeff Gordon's pit crew goes over the wall:

• Gas man Caleb Hurd (Pulaski, Va.) is a former special-teams standout at Virginia Tech (as the place-holder for kicker Shayne Graham, now with the Cincinnati Bengals).
More: Hurd relates special teams to pit duty

• Jack man Jeff Cook (from Charlotte, N.C.) played football at Winthrop College.

• Front-tire carrier Mike "Tiny" Houston (Concord, N.C.) played football at Western Carolina and later wrestled in the NWA.

• Rear tire carrier Jeff Knight (Matthews, N.C.) played Rookie League baseball in the Kansas City Royals system.

No. 12 Dodge

The reigning Daytona 500 and Pit Crew Challenge champions pit their driver, Ryan Newman, with four former college athletes and three guys over age 40 among their ranks:

• Rear-tire carrier Trent Cherry (Charlotte, N.C.) was a quarterback at Lenior-Rhyne. He's also the team's pit-crew coach.

• Catch-can man Britt Goodrich (Gastonia, N.C.) was a linebacker at the University of North Carolina (and the jack man until last fall).

• Jack man Bryan White (Knoxville, Tenn.) was a linebacker at the University of Virginia (in fact, the New York Jets had just cut him in training camp three years ago when he got the pit-crew tryout call from Cherry).

• Front-tire changer Ben Brown (Charlotte, N.C.) played baseball at Davidson College.

• Goodrich, gas man George Whitley (Chocowinity, N.C.) and rear-tire changer Joe Piette Jr. (Wausaw, Wis.), all are over age 40. Whitley is 41, Goodrich is 40 and Piette is 41.
More: Piette continues to see success
Also: No. 12 team wins Pit Crew Challenge

No. 07 Chevrolet

Clint Bowyer's new pit-crew coach Matt Clark (North Haven, Conn.) and team trainer Ray Wright (Charlotte Hall, Md.) are making a big difference at Richard Childress Racing. So is a new shop gym with tons -- literally -- of new equipment.

Bowyer's crew has targeted the Pit Crew Challenge on May 15 as a short-term goal; Clark and Wright's long-term is upgrading the performance of all RCR pit crews.

Clark comes to RCR from Hendrick Motorsports.

Wright, a NASCAR newcomer, played baseball at Louisiana State University and won a College World Series. He trained pro athletes (baseball, football and basketball) in Maryland before coming to North Carolina, where he most recently worked as a strength and baseball coach at Forsythe Country Day School.

Team owner Richard Childress' grandsons were among his Forsythe pupils, helping to lead Wright to RCR.