At this point, the sequence arrives at one of the moments that define the success — or otherwise — of the entire stop: how accurately the driver hits their marks.

TREVOR LACASSE: Oh my God, that is everything.

JOSH JUNGE: Working with a veteran is… I don’t want to say it’s a breeze, but it is definitely a luxury compared to working with somebody that you have to constantly work on as far as them hitting their marks, or the speed at which they come in. I fully appreciate Graham (Rahal) as the seventh member of our pit stop team, because he truly is. He’s the seventh guy that’s over the wall, and everything that he does is just as important as what we do out there.

TREVOR LACASSE: For a driver to be a bit long on his marks, that’s OK because you can follow him through. But a driver that’s short that costs you time, because you’ve got to basically reset. Going long, you can try to pull it with you a little bit, because for the most part both front tire changers and the inside rear changer are usually on the nut before the car’s actually stopped.
A driver who stops right on their marks is a driver with a happy chief mechanic. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images

SIMON PAGENAUD: You see your board, the team counts you down “5, 4, 3, 2, 1” — which doesn’t do much, really, it’s just a reminder that you’re getting close — and then it’s all about carrying enough speed into the box, because there’s a lot of lap time there, too. Going from 45 to zero, or 60 to zero… it’s very important. You could lose half a second right there. But you could also lose a lot if you slide, so again, a big balance adjustment.

It’s easy to fail the process. There’s a list of things that you need to go through. I like the team to remind me of everything like we do in sports cars, because I think it’s the best way to avoid a mistake. But, you know, pit lane speed, a reminder that pit lane is slippery, a reminder to go into neutral…

FELIX ROSENQVIST: They talk to you a bit on the pit lane – “think about your marks, think about your brake bias, your tools…” – but in the pit stop they try to be quiet because you’re focused on just reacting and looking at your guys. So they don’t really want to talk too much.

I always look at my fueler in the mirror, so when I see he pulls (the probe) out, I’m getting into first gear and getting ready to go, just to react a little bit quicker. So that’s a very tense moment. But when you’re just driving in pit lane you can breathe a little bit. It’s the only time in the race where you can’t really make any lap time.

SIMON PAGENAUD: I’m looking at my crew chief, basically. You can have lights on your steering wheel to tell you when the fuel probe is in and out, and that helps you to react quicker.

Mike Shank talks to me and tells me to stay in neutral, rev the engine, select first gear, go, watch your outside or stay inside. We use two lanes, so if someone is on the outside you’ve got to stay on the inside, so you’ve got to be aware of your environment. And the timing stand helps you with that.

WILL POWER: You’re holding the clutch with your hand close to first waiting for those fuel lights to go out so you can grab first and go. And the strategist will talk you through whether someone is on your outside, or if you’re clear.

TREVOR LACASSE: It’s a lot going on there, because you’re on an open intercom system with the timing stand, so you got those guys talking; you know, like Ron will tell me, “It’s a slow outside rear,” or whatever. “We had a bad plug-in there so it’s going be a second,” you know, keeping his eyes on you as well, telling you the play while you’re working. So when you stand up, you’re not surprised by something, or you know the area to look for or whatever. So there’s a lot that goes on in those six seconds, from the strategist talking to you, making sure everybody’s done and you got a clear hole to merge into…

FELIX ROSENQVIST: It’s actually one of the most tense moments of the race focus-wise, but physically… these cars are heavy to drive, and every lap out there you’re fighting the car a lot. So physically, you get to rest a little bit. But not mentally. The focus is always there.

TREVOR LACASSE: You put a lot of trust in your jack guy. He’s your eyes on the tires. So my cue… If the car’s on the ground we’re good to go there, and then I’m watching the fueler; kind of bouncing the eyes between the fueler and having a gander down pit lane to make sure you’re not sending (the driver) into anybody or into traffic. But as soon as I see the fueler pull, that’s usually my cue to send him.