Heading into this weekend’s lone street circuit on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule on the streets of Chicago, sports car star Joey Hand has a slight advantage on the field.
While Hand has only contested seven Cup Series races in the last two years, the multi-time Rolex 24 At Daytona winner has driven on a fair share of street circuits while competing in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship for nearly 10 years.
Also to his advantage, Hand, who was tapped by RFK Racing to pilot the No. 60 Ford this weekend, isn’t coming off the couch to compete.
The 45-year-old is in the thick of the GTD PRO title fight aboard Ford Multimatic Motorsports’ Ford Mustang GT3.
“The good thing is I’m doing a lot of stuff right now, so I’m racing all the time,” Hand said. “Luckily, it was only less than a month ago we were racing the streets of Detroit with the new GT3 Mustang, so I’m in the mix and I’m doing stuff anyway.
“Like, we just ran Watkins Glen (N.Y.) last weekend and you come off of that, so my goal was to get through that, stay focused on that and then move forward to this.”
What Goes Into Preparing?
With plenty of time behind the wheel this season, first up on Hand’s preparation list is seat time in the Ford Performance simulator.
“I got some sim time this week, helping some guys out in the sim,” Hand said. “That always helps me also just to understand more of it and a lot of guys, like we already talked about, I haven’t been on Chicago in real life and so there’s some little stuff that the guys can help me with that were there last year.”
While current Supercars drivers such as Cam Waters and Will Brown were thrust into the deep end with no experience when they made their Cup Series debuts last month at California’s Sonoma Raceway, Hand is better suited for the opportunity ahead, due to his prior experience.
“For me, unlike some of these guys that come in and have done these one-off races, this is a one-off for me this year, but I’ve done seven total before, so I have a feeling,” Hand said.
Ready for a first Hand experience in the No. 60. #Stage60 | #NASCARChicago pic.twitter.com/X6NjS0xbNV
— Stage 60 (@RFKStage60) July 2, 2024
Next comes perhaps the most crucial part that often gets overlooked – pit stops.
In IMSA, Hand is used to a pit-speed limiter, which makes speeding nearly impossible to do during events.
However, in the Cup Series car this weekend, Hand will rely on his feet to keep his speed steady and his eyes to monitor the digital dash.
“I literally come to the pit line, hit the button, go wide-open throttle and it just holds it right there for me,” Hand explained. “In Cup, you’re always managing your pit speed with throttle and brake.
“You’re watching the lights, but then there’s a car coming out and a car coming in and you’re still managing the lights yourself, so there’s a big difference on pit lane intensity-wise. And then of course leaving the box.
“I just got done telling my crew chief, I’m like, ‘I’m gonna need you to be saying pit speed, pit speed, pit speed when I’m leaving the box,’ because I’m used to coming out of the box wide-open until it hits the limiter and just driving out,” Hand continued. “So, I have to manage that coming out of the pit box, along with managing the first lane and second lane of traffic.”
Seems easy enough, right?
In his seven previous starts in the Cup Series, Hand has a best result of 20th, which came at Sonoma while driving for Rick Ware Racing in 2022.
While there’s plenty of unknowns regarding Hand will fare in Chicago, he and RFK Racing are ensuring the No. 60 team is well-prepared for the task ahead.
“I would say we’re thinking about the race car and setup and all that,” Hand said. “We do a lot of that in simulation, but as I get closer to the weekend I’m working on this refresher course on pit-lane stuff, some of the small rule things just to make sure I’m spot on.”