The Pitstop

Jack Baruth
by Jack Baruth

This isn’t quite in time for Father’s Day, mostly because it took me a little bit of time to get permission to use the photos, but these photos of club racer Mark Domo and his son Tyler working the pitlane at the recent Grand-Am Continental Challenge are timeless examples of how motorsports bring generations of men together.

Mark wrote to me that he and his son

… were given the honor of being part of the pit crew for the Grand Am races at MidOhio Sports Course.

It was a great opportunity to spend time with my son and to share some of my passion. It was my son’s first exposure to a race of this magnitude. While my boys accompany me to club racing events, neither of my boys had ever been to a pro racing event like this. We had Tyler help us with miscellaneous tasks in the paddock and had him operate the “lollipop” which makes the pit space more visible as the car pulls into pit row.

I can’t wait until my son’s old enough to work a pitlane with me… and by “work a pitlane with me” I mean “do tire changes during NASA enduros and help me from my wheelchair to the race car.”

Jack Baruth
Jack Baruth

More by Jack Baruth

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 4 comments
  • Lorenzo Lorenzo on Jun 29, 2013

    By the time your son is old enough to change a tire in the pit, science will have developed an exoskeleton for you to wear that will look like you when you were twenty. At least, that's what the Singularity proponents keep telling me. I keep asking, "I'll be like a twenty year old again - in all respects?" and look down at my crotch. They fall silent.

  • Mcarr Mcarr on Jul 01, 2013

    Nice use of HDR in the photos.

  • Carson D At 1:24 AM, the voyage data recorder (VDR) stopped recording the vessel’s system data, but it was able to continue taping audio. At 1:26 AM, the VDR resumed recording vessel system data. Three minutes later, the Dali collided with the bridge. Nothing suspicious at all. Let's go get some booster shots!
  • Darren Mertz Where's the heater control? Where's the Radio control? Where the bloody speedometer?? In a menu I suppose. How safe is that??? Volvo....
  • Lorenzo Are they calling it a K4? That's a mountain in the Himalayas! Stick with names!
  • MaintenanceCosts It's going to have to go downmarket a bit not to step on the Land Cruiser's toes.
  • Lorenzo Since EVs don't come in for oil changes, their owners don't have their tires rotated regularly, something the dealers would have done. That's the biggest reason they need to buy a new set of tires sooner, not that EVs wear out tires appreciably faster.
Next