When Bill “stump” Lewis pulls the dump trucks containing No Clint Boyer in No. 14 Ford to the next track at the NASCAR track, he knows there is a very good chance he will never see an actual race.
Lewis is usually busy packing up the KAMMINS-engined tractors during the race to get back on the road as quickly as possible after the checkered flag drops.
Every second counts, both on and off the track, for the Bowyer team, which was sponsored in part by KAMMINS during the 2018 and 2019 racing seasons. It’s just part of the job, says Lewis, who has been doing this kind of work for more than 20 years.
“Sometimes I don’t even know who won the race,” he said with a laugh to briefly break from his duties at Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan (USA).
That’s OK, a friendly Lewis says that truck driving is still one of his favorite parts of the assignment.
FIRST IN, LAST OUT
Dump truck drivers are usually the first to arrive at the track for the NASCAR team and often the last to leave. Some say they have the toughest job on the circuit, and it’s easy to understand by listening to Lewis describe his typical week during the season. He’s even thought about relocate with his family to another city, but his favorite team won’t be there with him.
It starts in the SHR garage in Knapolis, N.C. (USA), where Lewis gets everything loaded into the self-timer-including two cars, almost enough parts to build another, all kinds of tools, and the electronic equipment used to evaluate the car’s performance on the track. Lewis is even in charge of snacks served in the team’s break room, which usually means he makes a trip to the grocery store before he leaves town.
By the time the self-saver hits the road, he’s either at or near the legal limit of 80,000 pounds. When he gets to the track, Lewis’ job is just beginning. He gets everything, and is positioned so the crew can get right to work the minute they arrive at the site. Even at 66, Lewis can work laps around many of his younger peers in the NASCAR circuit.
Providing a CUMMINS car for key races
For select races during the 2018 racing season, the CUMMINS logo appeared on Clint
Boyer’s (No. 14 Ford) hood for the Stewart-Haas race.
THE IMPORTANCE OF SELF-CERTIFICATION
It’s a tough job, agrees Gary “Bear” Geissman, who is fleet manager for SHR and has been involved in the race transportation business in various capacities for several 40 years. He oversees all of the team’s dump trucks and 16 to 18 drivers. Sometimes more than one driver is required if the trip takes longer than the legal time limit before the driver must rest.
SHR team dump trucks are typically on the road more than 220 days a year, each covering about 70,000 miles a year, crossing the United States in all driving conditions. There are rarely any “empty miles” that other truck drivers experience headline home after delivery.
Ensuring that the dump trucks are clean and as conditioned as possible is paramount. First, they each carry about $1.5 million worth of equipment, Geissman said. If that’s not enough, the dump trucks make Rolling Promotional Shields for the teams and their partners.
In some places, the dump trucks even have their own rabid fans. After a NASCAR stop at the Watkins Glen International Arena in upstate New York, Lewis said people lined the sides of the road for miles to see the dump trucks heading south in Pennsylvania.
Stuart Haas Samosweeper on the Bristol (Tennessee) Freeway in Bristol, Tennessee (USA) earlier this year.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CUMMINS
No one wants to be stuck on the side of the road, the drivers of self-driving cars probably least of all. They know the race has never been delayed or cancelled because someone had an engine problem to get on the track.
Lewis says torque and reliability are key to his job, and the Bowyer dump trucks have had a 600-horsepower KAMMINS big-car engine for three years.
“We’re at maximum capacity with our trucks,” said Geisman, who has worked with KAMMINS engines for most of his career. “With the Cummins engine, we get the power we need to get all the equipment out. We can get to and stop at the speed limit, and our CUMMINS engines are really good on fuel. “
Samoswa drivers have enough to worry about. They don’t have to worry about their engines, either.