MIAMI (WSVN) – In football route running, we always talk about having clean transitions in and out of breaks; now, for one former NFL player, clean transitions and brakes have a different meaning in his professional arena.
Al Blades Jr. may look like any other pit crew member working for a NASCAR team.
“You know you change tires on the side of the road, but this is nothing like that,” said Al Blades Jr.
Al has gone from playing football at St. Thomas Aquinas High School and the University of Miami to being a rear tire changer for one of the top race teams. When Al transferred to Duke for his final year of college football, the assistant athletic director introduced him to his pit crew coach at Hendrick Motorsports.
“The people around me at Duke all knew I was into and loved cars,” he said. “They knew I was into building up my own cars; they knew I was fascinated with cars. So, the program here, no matter how successful you are at football, they are always looking to kind of push you in a direction they think you’ll really enjoy.”
Blades Jr. was an undrafted player with the Jets and was released after his first training camp in 2024. That’s when all of our efforts turned to working in NASCAR. His football background was a plus.
“Just like the NFL, you come in and watch film of the last practice, and we come in and watch film of our last practice. Every day, you have a coach that’s telling you what you need to do better. I had such good teammates and good coaches that it was never anything major like, ‘Aw man, I don’t think I could do this,’ or anything like that. It was just learning curves and learning how to do it every day.”
This is Al’s first full year of working in the pits in the Cup Series. Being a pit crew member is physically and mentally demanding to work as a team.
“We like to call the pitstop a play,” said Blades Jr. “Because if I don’t do my job, it could affect another man’s job. I see that car coming down; I always give my gun a good stretch two times and make sure my button is switched. I know my air’s on, my button is working, and I time my jump every single time. Once I’m down and I’m in it, it’s like clockwork.”
Consider this: Al had never been to a NASCAR race before he started working in the sport.
“I love hearing the engine roar, I love hearing the downshifts, and I love hearing the cars come in. I love the sound of the brakes and the tires sliding into the box. Everything about it, man. I love cars,” he said. “To know that you’re in it, and you’re doing it, you can’t take it for granted.”
Al worked the pits for driver Katherine Legge in today’s Brickyard 400 at the Indy. She finished 17th in the 39-car field. Next season, Al hopes to work the pits for one of the four main drivers with Hendrick Motorsports.
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