See How Pit Strategy Unfolds for JaguarRSR Race Team this weekend on CBS

Not every pass takes place on the track. Each team has a legion of engineers and strategists toiling behind pit wall to understand every possible pit strategy. Essentially, it's a game of chess at 170 MPH. Among the many variables that we must consider is the distance that the car can complete on a tank of fuel. Starting with 23.7 gallons (the maximum for a GT2 car running E10 fuel), we calculate to the hundredth of a gallon how much fuel the car consumes each lap. This information is then fed into proprietary fuel strategy software to determine the optimum lap or range of laps for a pit stop, writes John Gentilozzi, JaguarRSR Technical Director.

This information alone is valuable, and will be different for each team depending on driver technique, engine configuration and type of fuel. Simply knowing when we can stop is one thing; stopping at the most strategically opportune moment is another issue entirely.

A number of factors must be considered prior to calling Marc Goossens or Paul Gentilozzi into the Jaguar RSR pits for service. First and foremost, we will always try to avoid a green flag pit stop. Pitting under yellow usually means that the field will be bunched together. Instead of making up two seconds on track by chipping away a tenth per lap, we can hopefully have a better pit stop and make a pass in pit lane. Further, due to the multiple different categories of cars on track, we are involved in two races at once; an overall race and a race within our class. We can lose a lap to the overall leader or another car in our class over a two hour and forty five minute race. By staying out an extra lap and pitting after the leaders have performed their service, we may be passed around the pace car, gaining a lap back.

If we must take a green flag stop, the strategy is still daunting. For example, if we are approaching our window for the last stop of the race, we have two possible decisions to make. First, we can stop as soon as the window opens. This will allow us to be one of the first cars to make the last service. That way if a yellow occurs between our stop and before anyone else pits, we get moved to the front as the competition makes their last stop. However, by being the first to pit, you place your driver in the unenviable position of being on cold tires with a heavy load of fuel against cars on a lighter fuel load with hot tires. This can be a dreadful situation.

If we wait as long as possible to pit, we become the car on light fuel and hot tires gradually putting ground between us and any car that stops before us. This is the opposite end of the first strategy and for this option to be successful; we need green flag running without a yellow flag which would make us the unfortunate soul at the back of the line following our last stop.

At Mid‑Ohio, all of the variables and options came together as the Jaguar RSR team faced several difficult decisions during the race. To see how it turned out, tune in to CBS Sports on Sunday, August 15, 2010, at 12:30 p.m. EST.

Last weekend’s Mid‑Ohio Sports Car Challenge was one of the greatest races in the history of the American Le Mans Series, if not its best of all‑time. The traffic, the battles, the drama, the action – it should all make for fascinating TV.

“Road Warriors” is a unique and special look at the American Le Mans Series. This race broadcast will be unlike any other race coverage show you have seen before, and if it is your first, you are in for a real treat. The docu‑dram style will take you behind‑the‑scenes, capturing drivers, teams and drama from inside the pits and cars. You will learn all about the series, the competition, and of course, see all the racing action you missed last week if you weren’t able to attend the event in Lexington, Ohio.