NASCAR tire changers depend on feel to tighten lugs, making it easy to get wrong. The new socket could swallow your fist, and it grips the heavy reusable lug in between loosening an old wheel and tightening a new one. The old one weighed 7 pounds, spun at 10,000 rpm, and torqued each lug nut to around 60 lb-ft, while the new one weighs 11, spins at 15,000, and torques to around 600 lb-ft. Tire changers could loosen or tighten five lugs in about a second on the old car. Hicks’ job-and that of his teammates-transformed with the introduction of the new-for-2022 “Next Gen” Cup car with wheels fastened by a single lug nut instead of five smaller ones. (They turned my arms purple, and I traded 20-pound dumbbells for 5-pounders during bicep curls.)Įdwards, meanwhile, could probably bicep curl me. He thus uses inflatable cuffs that restrict blood circulation, letting him lift lighter weights but get the results of heavier ones. Jake Holmes, who sprints around the car with a tire in each arm, is so strong that lifting weights can be hard on his joints. He does Crossfit in his garage after he leaves pit training for the day, and he makes handstand-walks look easier than walking on foot. Hicks, now 36, is thin, machine-fast, and pure muscle.

That meant I’d become a temporary part of Hamlin’s crew, training with them and replacing Hicks at practice. I planned to spend two days shadowing the daily routine of Hicks, the person I’d watched change tires 10 years earlier. Each day, they cycle through warmup, pit practice, strength and conditioning, physical rehabilitation, and film review. on weekdays along with two from 23XI Racing, a Gibbs-aligned team owned by Hamlin and Michael Jordan. The four Gibbs Cup crews train from 7 to 11 a.m.

Saw 7 full movie letmewatch