NASCAR Busch Series
Chris Rice

Crew Chief No. 23 Stacker 2 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Owner: Gail Davis

"You always back up before you go forward."

Questions and story by Dwight Drum
Web work by Gary Larsen

Crew Chiefs must possess special skills that require them to know all about the car and all about people too. No book will show them how to be technician, psychologist and manager and no person can show them either. They mostly learn as they go and while that "go" in NASCAR is always speedy, earning the position takes years. All that takes hard work and patience. Chris Rice, crew chief for Bill Davis Racing, driver Scott Wimmer, Busch Series Stacker 2 Chevy Monte Carlo, shows that he has the skills and the patience to make snappy calls.

Dwight chats with Chris Rice:

"Oh Yeah, every week. All the guys and everything you do in racing is speed. Whether it's getting the car out there or just getting to the race track. Theses days, it's all about speed, how fast that car will run and how quick you can get stuff turned around."

"All my life I've worked at communicating. I've never studied it growing up, but I guess I come from a good family. My mother is general manager of a race track so obviously she has communication skills. I guess I inherited it. All my life I've been an outgoing, talkative person, so it's given me good communication skills."

"I think every pit call is different. So everything you do every week is a challenge. I probably got comfortable back in 95 doing pit calls for Elliott Sadler when he won a lot of races. Then you go through stages of learning a new division and it takes a little longer. I probably get more and more comfortable every race this year."

"Probably, just to get out there and get in and learn as much as they can. The earlier they start the faster they'll get to be a crew chief. The more they watch and listen and learn. My dad always told me you got to crawl before you walk not try to walk before you crawl. You'll get somewhere. You always back up sometimes before you go forward."

"The challenge of making the race car run every week…when it runs fast each and every week in practice. My favorite part of my job is making that race car run as fast as it can every week."

"It's keeping all the guys focused and then keeping the communication between me and the driver really good. Learning every week what he's saying and what he means by it is probably the most important part of my job.

It goes fast during the race, and it's a lot of pressure, especially when things go bad, when you're so good in practice and then all of a sudden during the race something goes wrong. It's a lot of pressure, but when it's going good it looks like it goes buy real fast, but when it's going bad, it looks like it goes by really slow. It's like when the President said we're going to war. It's probably that difficult when things are going bad. When they're going good it's like getting up in the morning and brushing your teeth. It's a big mix, one way or another."

"When I'm not at the track I miss watching the car go around the race track. I really enjoy seeing the car go around the track each and every lap. I try to watch it every lap. I miss that and my guys. You become family when you've been together so long. I probably miss the guys as much as the car."

"If you're looking to get into racing make sure you know that it is going to be a goal for you, because you spend a lot of time away from your family. You don't get to see your family as much. I've got two little girls and a beautiful wife that endure with me every week. They take good care of me when I'm home and they understand when I leave. If you're going to get into racing you need to know your goals, what you really want to do because you are going to miss a lot of free time."