And he is not alone. The tire men have their own jobs, scraping the debris off the spent tires and measuring the wear based on holes they have drilled in the tires before the race. All of that is also recorded and passed upstairs. Meanwhile, the tires are carted out of the pits to the garage area.

After the statistics are taken, there is still more to do. The full crew stands in front of a flat screen and watches a tape of their stop, filmed from high above. They critique themselves and figure out how to improve on their already impossibly fast times.

McMurray's crew watched their first stop, a scorcher that seemed under 15 seconds, at least three times, and some members went back again just in case.

Every second is crucial, considering the lead cars circle the mile and a half oval at the Chicagoland Speedway in just over 30 seconds.

"15 laps to pit, anything you want us to work on?" asks Carter over the radio to McMurray. His race isn't going well. A cut tire earlier in the race caused him to lose crucial spots.

McMurray is happy with the setup of the car, although doesn't care for the radio, a recurring problem he has had over the past few weeks.

Carter promises to fix it and encourages his driver.

"You're running well. You'd be in fourth if it weren't for that [expletive] cut tire," he says.

The next pit stop didn't go so well. Extra time meant that McMurray was beaten out of pit row by a car he was ahead of, though only barely.

Carter was quick to apologize for the crew.

"We had kind of a bad stop," he radios. "We got faith in you. You'll make it up for us."

After the work is done in the pits, spare tires become seats and back rests as the men wait to next be called to duty. Each has his own ritual. Some seem to be keeping at least a cursory eye on the race. Other stare off, lost in their own thoughts. Some take the time to catch a quick smoke, safely (maybe) away from the gas cans.

At Chicagoland, most crews were taking about 50 laps between stops. That gives their men plenty of time to contemplate their next attack on the vehicle.

However, the call to arms can come at any time, sometimes catching men back in the garage, resulting in a fast sprint back to the pits to take their place on the wall.

And just like that, a car slows along the apron and the call goes out. Men down pit row put back on their helmets, taken off only about 13 laps earlier. The sprinters race down the narrow walk behind the pits.

Places on the wall are taken.

The guns fire.