CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Team Penske confirmed prior to the Chase that it would swap the pit crews on the No. 2 and No. 12 teams. This put the 10th-best crew with Ryan Blaney and gave Austin Cindric a crew that cost Blaney a series-worst 129 positions this season.
Videos by FanBuzz
Blaney was not expecting Team Penske to give him a new pit crew ahead of the Chase, and he certainly didn't request one.
But he will welcome the opportunity to reunite with another former champion. His new jackman is one of three crew members with whom he has spent extensive time.
"Andrew Lackey is the gasman. He was with me in Trucks, and he was with me all the way up to 2019 when Penske switched all the crews around," Blaney said on Wednesday.
"Jesse Mills. I was with him on that 12 car the first couple of years for a little bit. Jourdan Osinskie, the jackman, he was my jackman when we won the championship. He got moved to the 2 car this year, so back working with him."
The other two members of the pit crew — Justin Armwood and Geoffrey Wall — are new to Blaney, so he has to quickly build chemistry before the race weekend at Darlington Raceway.
The media day in Charlotte disrupted this schedule a bit, but Blaney has still taken some steps to take care of this important piece of business.
Specifically, he's tried to figure out exactly how to make this group better.
"The last couple of days just spending time with that group," Blaney said about the process. "'Hey, what do you like? Is there anything specific you like of me?' Whether it's a jackman, the gas man on fuel only stops. Tire carriers. Changers. 'Is there anything specific that you want out of me coming into the stall?'"
"And a lot of them are the same. 'Stop on the sign. Make sure the wheel is where it's supposed to be.' Stuff like that, but there's a lot of little things, I feel like. Everyone has their own quirks, so just talking to those guys has been super helpful to me.
"If there is something that they want differently, then I for sure will adjust to that, but I think that's the big thing is just communication and what everyone's likes and dislikes are."
But while Blaney will reunite with some mostly familiar pit crew members, Cindric will have to adapt. He will enter the Chase as the 15th seed, and he will try to quickly move up the rankings with a crew that has celebrated some highs and lows this season.
Specifically, this current configuration of the crew has celebrated two wins. Some members have celebrated three wins. One of these wins occurred after the crew mistakenly left a wheel loose and buried Blaney in the field for the final stage.
Cindric is aware of these past problems on pit road, but he remains adamant that he is not concerned moving forward. He believes this team will rise to the occasion and keep him in championship contention.
"It's a change and I feel like as far as the guys that we have on our car for the rest of the year, they're obviously super capable and, for me, I think it's a great opportunity for the whole group to go out and have a good 10 weeks," Cindric said.
