In an ideal world, tyres would never wear out, and you wouldn’t need to refuel. 
But in IndyCar Series racing, tyres only last about 60 laps or less, 
and the 675-horsepower V8 engines burn up about two gallons of fuel a lap!
So during the course of a race, you have to pit. 
And the quicker you can get in and get out, the more chance you have to beat the competition.
This guy’s about to make a pit stop. 
He’s going to pit under a green flag, while the race is in full swing, so he must be at the end of his pit window. 
You have several pit windows during a race. 
You don’t need to know exactly when these are as your pit crew will let you know when it’s time to come in.
Luckily for this guy, he’s leading the race, and the general rule is to follow the leader.
If the leader pits and you’re on the same lap then you should pit also, 
regardless of whether you’re in a pit window or not, 
because if you don’t, you’ll be out of sequence with the race leader, and this is bad.
The only time you don’t pit when the race leader comes in is when you’re a lap down or more, 
as this gives you the chance to catch up. 
However, this is risky because you’re gambling on there being another caution period in the near future 
so you don’t have to pit next time under a green. 
When you enter the pits, you need to make sure that you don’t break the speed limit. 
You won’t save yourself any time by speeding because you’ll be black-flagged, 
and this will cost you more time when you return to the pits to serve your penalty.
When approaching the pit lane, focus on your speed, making sure you slow down in time, 
just as you enter the pits and see the pit speed-limit line. 
But make sure you don’t slow down too soon. 
You want to hit that pit speed limit line just right to get the quickest pit stop.
While traveling down the pit lane, before you get to your pit stall, 
you can tell your crew what you want done to your car.
You can specify how much fuel you want to take onboard,
whether you want to adjust your front wing and whether you want a fresh set of tyres.
As a general rule, you should always change your tyres, 
but if you want to shave vital seconds off your time, you could choose not to. 
Remember: The more your team does in the pits, the more time it will take for your stop to be completed.
Your pit crew also can perform minor repairs if you’ve taken some damage. 
But be careful, if you smack up your car too bad, then you’re out of the race.
Once you’re finished in the pits, you’ll want to get out and onto the track as fast as possible. 
After leaving the pits, you can speed up. 
Feed in the throttle gently or you’re likely to spin, as you’ve just got a fresh set of cold tyres. 
Also, you need to stay in the safety lane until you’re up to race speed. 
Keep an eye out for the blend line, 
where you merge on to the racetrack, and be careful of any rapidly-approaching cars.
Dummy
OK, for this test we are going to simulate a full pit stop. 
Just like before, the race leader is going to pit under a green flag. 
You’ll start in the middle of the pack, 
and your aim is to get into the pits as fast as possible remembering not to speed. 
Set your pit options and then get out of the pits as fast as you can once your crew has finished.
To pass the test, you must not lose any positions by the time you rejoin the race, so you need a good, quick pit stop.
Dummy
Dummy
Three, two, one, GO!
That’s an OK pit stop, and you didn’t lose any places. Bronze award.
Good pit stop, good time. Silver award.
Excellent pit stop, and that’s an excellent time! You win the gold.
That’s a bad pit stop – that time would have cost you dearly in a real race.
Your fuel is low you should pit on the next lap.
Ideally you want your pit window to coincide with a caution period, 
as pitting under yellow may lose you positions but not laps, which are harder to make up. 
However, sometimes you just can’t help it, and pitting under the green is necessary.
It’s all a game of precise strategy that can mean the difference between winning and losing.