COLUMBIA — JaMarcus King knows about speed. He spent two years covering South Carolina teammate Deebo Samuel in football practice, then had to face the likes of star receivers Christian Kirk, Mecole Hardman and Mike Williams on Saturdays.
His new job redefines speed. And it has nothing to do with a 10-step backpedal or playing the ball, not the man.
“I’m from Mobile, and I grew up a lot around drag racing,” said King, a South Carolina cornerback from 2016-17 who is on the developmental pit crew team for NASCAR’s Joe Gibbs Racing. “I didn’t think it would be much of a difference from drag racing to NASCAR, but it’s a lot different.”
King is practicing four times a day in a five-day week to be part of a pit crew someday. Pit crew members are responsible for servicing a car in the pit — changing tires, cleaning windshields, pumping gas — in 14 seconds or less, every time.
“My top time changing a tire is about three seconds,” King proudly said. “We really only had three or four full practices. That’s kind of fast for guys that haven’t used those tools or drills before.”
Former South Carolina cornerback JaMarcus King, who played from 2016-17, is on the developmental pit crew team for NASCAR’s Joe Gibbs Racing. File/AP
He isn’t able to go to actual races yet, even in an observational role, due to COVID-19, but may be able to attend races at Charlotte Motor Speedway when they come around. Until then, he’s practicing at Gibbs’ shop in Huntersville, N.C., waiting for next year when the team will have two full pit crews and he can be assigned to a car.
Running to each wheel well with the lug gun and removing/replacing each nut isn’t that much of a switch from playing corner in the SEC. “It’s not really a difference because everything is between 5 to 10 yards and using the same lateral movements,” King said. “Using the tools as you’re moving is the hard part.”
How did this start? Gibbs obviously has an athletic background, after winning three Super Bowls coaching the Washington Football Team. That carried over into his next venture.
“Coach and the entire Gibbs family is constantly trying to improve performance, whether that’s car or personnel, but we’re in a competitive business,” said Chris Hall, Gibbs’ Director of Player Development. “Coach tells us all the time we win with people. So we look at the top 1 percent of athletes out there that can take us to the next level on pit road.”
Gibbs Racing refers to its crews as “athletes” and the men who oversee them as “coaches.” Hall was a pit crew athlete for 17 years, winning a championship in 2017 with driver Martin Truex Jr. before he retired and began overseeing the new program.
The pandemic actually created a new opportunity to get the program started, as Gibbs Racing could start contacting universities that were suddenly on pause athletically. The company reached out to over 100 schools, figuring athletic directors and other administrators had a lot of time on their hands to catch up on emails and return phone calls.
Former USC cornerback JaMarcus King is learning a new trade as a developmental pit crew member for Joe Gibbs Racing. Provided photo
Caroline Neil, USC assistant director of student-athlete development, contacted King about the program. King liked what he heard and “made a push” to make sure Hall chose him.
Surrounded by former football players (Joel Bouagnon was a running back at Northern Illinois, Ed Watkins played offensive line at East Carolina), King reported to work and began learning what to do and how to do it faster. He’s also getting ready for a big change in racing as the cars switch to tires with just one lug nut instead of five.
“By 2022, by the time the developmental guys start pitting, we’ll be on one-lug tires,” King said. “One lug will jump seven seconds off the time. A pit stop will be 8 to 9 seconds vs. 14 seconds.”
A typical day begins at 7 a.m., where the cars are prepared and the tools cleaned and organized, then the first practice starts at 8. There are two practices from 8 to noon, then two more from 1 to 4 p.m..
“We can get extra reps as far as using the gun, taking on and off the one-lug tires,” King said. “You can practice with rain tires or the certain tires we use on certain tracks.”
There’s a lot of guidance from the Sunday pit crew. Think of it as the varsity helping the JV team.
“We went through a lot of learning curves and watching the guys in front of us,” King said. “The guys that are on cars are actually a big help, they help us with what they struggle with. They started from the bottom, too.”
And within a year, King may be one of them. With perhaps some help from another former Gamecock.
“They’ve taken interest in (former safety) D.J. Smith. I think he’s coming soon,” King said. “I talked to him. He’s excited.”
Follow David Cloninger on Twitter @DCPandC.