Matt Johnson
NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin won Sunday’s race at Darlington Raceway in the final laps thanks to having one of the best pit-stop times in the Goodyear 400. One of the biggest reasons for the quick pit stops is a move being used by jackman Joël-Alexandre Bouagnon, which is making a huge impact this season.
The move really came into the spotlight during last week’s episode of Actions Detrimental, when Hamlin interviewed IMSA pit crew member and motorsports writer Bozi Tatarevic. After witnessing it first-hand near the pit boxes, Tatarevic highlighted how Hamlin’s jackman used the behind-the-back move with the jack to cut fractions of a second off the pit stop.
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“When he comes across the car, he does a behind-the-back move. He picks up the jack as he drops the right side, throws the jack behind his back as he’s starting to run across the front of the car and the way he grabs it, it turns the handle automatically…They’re not only doing it one time during the race, they’re doing it every single stop. They’re just averaging pit stops in the 8-second range for the whole race now.”
Bozi Tatarevic on the behind-the-back jack move by Denny Hamlin’s jackman Joel-Alexandre Bouagnon
Tatarevic noted that the Hendricks Motorsports teams have used a fairly similar move, but not as fast, last fall. However, he’s seen it much more this season being executed consistently by the Joe Gibbs Racing and the 23XII teams. It’s why they have some of the fastest pit-stop times in NASCAR this season.
The move has already paid off this season. FOX released its NASCAR pit crew rankings during Sunday’s race with Hamlin’s team in second behind 23XI’s Bubba Wallace. It’s made a huge difference with restarts coming off pit road, per Auto Racing Analytics, as Hamlin’s team had the third-best pit crew coming into the weekend by maintaining position on 80.8 percent of restarts this year.
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It was on display Sunday, as highlighted by Tatarevic, with a four-tire change pit stop taking around just 8.3 seconds. It also made a massive difference on the final pit stop, when Hamlin gained multiple spots to lead the field for the white checkered.
During Sunday’s race at Darlington, Fox Sports 1’s broadcast captured the very move done by Bouagnon during one of Hamlin’s pitstops in the Goodyear 400.
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Bouagnon, a former NFL player, was asked during the broadcast how long it took to figure out the hand-eye coordination and get the timing down consistently. Unfortunately for any teams hoping to adopt the move, it is a lengthy process to master.
“It’s a long proceess, it took about every bit of the offseason, Just every rep, you’re gaining a little bit more confidence enough to take it out to the track…Yeah, I’d say about the entire offseason.”
Joël-Alexandre Bouagnon, Denny Hamlin’s jackman, on how long it took to learn the jack move
The 30-year-old’s path to NASCAR started as an undrafted free agent in the NFL, spending time on practice squads with the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions and New York Jets from 2018-’19. Just a few years later, he’s found a new home in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Bouganon’s quick work with the behind-the-back move and the fractions of seconds it saves helped decide Sunday’s race, giving Hamlin his second consecutive win. The showcase of jackman’s athleticism also shows why NASCAR teams went to the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis to potentially scout future pit-crew members for future years.
While fans might not love races ultimately being decided by who has the best pit crew, it’s great to see other members of the team who play an integral part in a car’s success receiving the credit and attention they’ve earned. Now we’ll just have to see what the next move will be to cut times down even further.
