COLOMBIA – JaMarcus King understands speed. He spent two years covering South Carolina teammate Deebo Samuel in football practice, and then had to face names like star recipients Christian Kirk, Mecole Hardman and Mike Williams on Saturdays.
Your new job redefines speed. And it has nothing to do with a 10-step retreat or throwing the ball, not the man.
“I’m from Mobile and I’ve grown a lot around drag racing,” said King, a 2016-17 South Carolina cornerback who is on the development team for NASCAR’s Joe Gibbs Racing boxing team. “I didn’t think it would make a big difference from the drag race for NASCAR, but it is very different.”
King is practicing four times a day for a five-day week to be part of a pit team someday. Team members are responsible for maintaining a car in the box – changing tires, cleaning windshields, pumping gas – in 14 seconds or less, every time.
“My best time to change a tire is about three seconds,” said King proudly. “In fact, we only had three or four complete trainings. This is kind of quick for guys who have never used these tools or drills. ”
Former South Carolina cornerback JaMarcus King, who played from 2016-17, is on the development team for NASCAR’s Joe Gibbs Racing boxing team. Archive / AP
He still can’t go to the real races, even in an observational role, due to the COVID-19, but he might be able to watch the races on the Charlotte Motor Speedway when they show up. Until then, he is practicing at the Gibbs workshop in Huntersville, NC, waiting for the next year, when the team will have two full boxing teams and he can be assigned to a car.
Running to each wheel well with the lug gun and removing / replacing each nut is not much of a change of game corner at the SEC. “It’s not really a difference because everything is between 5 and 10 yards and using the same lateral movements,” said King. “Using the tools while you move is the difficult part.”
How did it start? Gibbs obviously has an athletic background, after winning three Super Bowls coaching the Washington Football Team. This was taken for your next adventure.
“The coach and the entire Gibbs family are constantly trying to improve performance, whether by car or personal, but we are in a competitive business,” said Chris Hall, Director of Player Development at Gibbs. “The coach always tells us that we win with people. So we look at the 1% of the best athletes that can take us to the next level on the pit road. “
Gibbs Racing refers to its teams as “athletes” and the men who supervise them as “coaches”. Hall was a boxing athlete for 17 years, winning a championship in 2017 with pilot Martin Truex Jr., before retiring and starting to oversee the new program.
The pandemic, in fact, created a new opportunity to start the program, as Gibbs Racing was able to start contacting universities that were suddenly on an athletic break. The company reached more than 100 schools, finding that sporting directors and other administrators had plenty of time to receive e-mails and return calls.
Former USC cornerback JaMarcus King is learning a new trade as a member of the Joe Gibbs Racing development team. Photo provided
Caroline Neil, assistant director of student-athlete development at USC, contacted King about the program. King liked what he heard and “gave a little push” to make sure Hall chose him.
Surrounded by former football players (Joel Bouagnon was a running back in Northern Illinois, Ed Watkins played on the offensive line in East Carolina), King reported that he worked and started to learn what to do and how to do it faster. He is also preparing for a major change in racing, as cars change to tires with just one wheel nut instead of five.
“In 2022, when the development guys start driving, we’ll be on lug tires,” said King. “A lug will jump seven seconds out of time. A pit stop will be 8 to 9 seconds against 14 seconds. “
A typical day starts at 7am, where cars are prepared and tools are cleaned and organized, so the first workout starts at 8am. There are two workouts from 8am to noon, then two more from 1pm to 4pm.
“We can get extra repetitions when it comes to using the gun, putting and removing one-lug tires,” said King. “You can practice with rain tires or the tires that we use on certain tracks.”
There is a lot of guidance from the Sunday pit team. Think of it as the varsity helping the JV team.
“We went through a lot of learning curves and watched the guys in front of us,” said King. “The guys in the cars are really a big help, they help us with what they struggle with. They started from the bottom too. “
And within a year, King could be one of them. With maybe some help from another ex-Gamecock.
“They became interested in (ex-security) DJ Smith. I think he will come soon, ”said King. “I spoke to him. He is excited.”
Follow David Cloninger on Twitter @DCPandC.