Who is really in control of a race team's decisions on pit stops?

I get your thinking, but many of the drivers don't really know much about the car, engine, shocks, suspension, etc. They just drive the car.

Smart drivers listen to their crew chief. That's why Johnson is so good. He listens to Knaus and gives back valuable input.

It had better be the crew chief making that decision, otherwise the team has a big problem. The driver needs to drive the car & give feedback on what adjustments the car needs. The crew chief needs to be running the numbers on fuel mileage; making the decisions based on this info, track position, bonus points, and all other factors involved to make the best pit decision.

This is the primary reason why the 48 team has been so dominant in recent years. The driver drives & provides feedback & the crew chief makes the pit decisions. There can be some give-and-take between driver & chief, but in the end the crew chief has to make that call.

Ya' know, that's a more complicated question than I first thought.. I guess you can say it depends on who leads the team, and what the circumstances are.. The Crew Chief has all of the information about fuel mileage, and what the other teams are doing, or might do.. He knows the race history, and what lap a caution is likely to come out, and how maney green flag laps to expect.. The driver used to the guy who decided everything, but two of the very best we have right now, admit openly that they leave all of the thinking to their Crew Chiefs.. When I raced, I was my Crew Chief (mechanic, tire changer, floor sweeper etc etc).. Racing was a driver thing.. Not really a "team sport", but NASCAR has now turned car maintenance into a spectator sport, so I guess we have teams now.. I think these days, it's important to let each do their job.. If one has an opinion about how the other can improve, voicing that opinion should be mandatory.. I think even Tony Stewart, who wears two hats in his organization, takes advice from the people he pays to give it.. I think the thing that made Dale Earnhardt so popular, was that he was one of the last guys who did it all.. Drove the car, set it up, made the calls, and did the work when he had to.. THAT was racing..

The driver just gives a description of what the car is doing and the crew chief takes that and figures out what to adjust to make the car better.

It goes like this. This is why its so important for the driver and crew chief to work well together and know exactly what the other one is thinking even if they don't have time to get into great detail.

Driver - My car is loose in this place when I do this.

Crew Chief - I'll make make a tire pressure adjustment, wedge, track bar, etc.

There are 2 events - one for the time that the automobile is table sure and the 2d is for as long because it particularly is interior the pit lane - on the and end of the pitlane is a white line (which is likewise a marker for drivers to be interior the fee limit for pits interior those lines),, the time between the two lines is the 2d time that's displayed. Please word that whilst that's the time - say 29 seconds in Singapore, that's shown, it doesnt propose that the driving force has lost 29 seconds in this occasion.. that's since different vehicles ought to do the end as we communicate which additionally consumes time - say 10 seconds.. without problems, the utilising rigidity loses 19 seconds for a pitstop then. the ordinary time - the time that the automobile is table sure is to degree the effectiveness of the pit group - how speedy can they get the utilising rigidity out. The 2d time many times is to furnish a normal indication - frequently the exchange between the 2d time and the 1st time are an comparable for all drivers, as maximum would nicely be on the %. limiter. AM

the driver like you said is in control because he is the one who brings the car down pit road but the decision is usually talked between the both of them until they make a decision or the driver ignores his crew chief

yeah, kind of like the first answer, i will just make mine more clear. It comes down to what the driver tells the crew cheif then the crew cheif works things out and he tells the driver and they work something out and compromise on something so they both are in control of what they do to a car.