Christmas Abbott becomes first NASCAR female pit crew member – NASCAR news
Over the years, a few female drivers have tried their skills at stock racing with NASCAR but it is the first time a female has joined NASCAR as a pit crew member. She is Christmas Abbott.
30-year-old Christmas Abbott has been made responsible for the front tyre position. Her duty is to remove all five lug nuts on the tyre, at times starting before the car comes to a complete halt, pull off the old tyre replacing it with a new one and then
replacing the five lug nuts after which she must repeat the whole process for the other front tyre. And she must do all this in less than 12 seconds.
The importance of Abbott’s job can be realised from the fact that the more time a driver spends at a pit stop, more likely it becomes that the driver will lose the race. In a multi-billion dollar business, pit crew members hold pivotal importance in winning
races.
Shaun Peet, Abbott's pit crew coach, also had his doubts about Abbott at the start.
“To be honest with you, I thought it was a publicity stunt, you know what I mean, and I wanted no part of it. But my view point about her changed when I saw her. She ran a 6.8 [second] right side the other day, which for as long as she's being doing it is
exceptional,” Peet said while talking to ABC news.
Other pit crew members in the team do not give her much of a chance at succeeding, but she does not care too much and determined to make the best of the chance that she has got. All Abbott cares about is the upcoming NASCAR season and how she is going to
go with the task at hand.
In her interview with ABC news, Abbott said, “I feel like I'm bringing something huge to the sport, but this ultimately is much bigger than me. I find that those things that scare you most are most rewarding once you've conquered them.”
Just like other pit crew members of the team, Abbott was also recruited after an audition in January. She is merely five-foot three-inches tall, not an ideal height for someone supposed to be doing intense physical work in the pits, but she has compensated
that factor with the perfect built of her body through intense work outs. Abbott is very confident that she has the agility and physical strength necessary to be a successful pit crew member.
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