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There weren't that many bad calls on timing and pitstops.
Sporting News’ 60 Most Beautiful People: No. 53, T.J. Ford
By Matt McKenzie
Thursday, December 04, 2008
T.J. Ford helps perform a pit stop in the Camping World RV 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Dover International Speedway.
Phil Cavali
NASCAR Scene
In 60 years of NASCAR racing, the sport has been filled with colorful characters. This year, Sporting News decided to craft a list of the sport's 60 Most Beautiful People.
The selections were made as a result of nominations sent in by readers and NASCAR fans to the Sporting News' publications and Web sites.
The list was finalized and published in a special edition, which is now available on newsstands and at the online store at streetandsmiths.com. SceneDaily is running the list, with one person from the top 60 to be featured each day.
Today's installment features No. 53, T.J. Ford.
Although he followed NASCAR when he was younger, T.J. Ford had no experience working on a pit crew or even an idea of how race cars worked. Dirt bikes were his thing. He had been a motocross racer since the age of 10.
But with practice and extensive training, Ford caught on quickly and moved up the ranks to where he was this past season - the jackman and a team leader for Paul Menard's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series crew.
A number of injuries and concussions forced Ford to stop racing motocross in 2003, and it was at a gym where he was approached about a new career.
"A guy I worked out with, Walt Smith (a longtime NASCAR pit-crew coach), told me that they were starting up a Hooters Pro Cup racing team, and they were looking for new guys who had never worked on a pit crew before, so they didn't have to break old habits," says Ford, who also owns a landscaping company in Charlotte, N.C., whose clientele includes NASCAR drivers.
Ford made the team and catapulted himself into the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in just one year. He credits his athleticism (Ford played football, baseball and basketball at Northside Christian Academy in Charlotte) and Smith's tutelage for the quick move.
"The way Walt trained me ... the right way how to do things, it taught me a lot," Ford says. "Training plays a big part of it. There's a lot of things to get done in 13 seconds, and a lot of it is being mentally strong. In that time, you're put in the limelight, and pit stops are where you can win or lose a race."
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Comments
10 responses to "Sporting News’ 60 Most Beautiful People: No. 53, T.J. Ford". Post a Comment.
Meg said:
Dec 4, 2008 at 3:54 PMThis is a farce... DJ and Burton both came in behind TJ ?? I don't think so !!
Patty said:
Dec 4, 2008 at 4:16 PMSure, TJ is nice-looking, but what has he done to deserve this honor? Pit crews are important, but maybe there are some other crew members who have shown inner beauty over a number of years.
Kirk Grosch said:
Dec 4, 2008 at 5:24 PMA NASCAR beauty pageant, who really needs this anyway? Are you really going to do the full countdown? f they can't come up with more relevant news than this, "Hey boys, take some time off over the holidays and come back after the first of the year."
Werner Boehmert said:
Dec 4, 2008 at 5:38 PMwe can speculate on #1... i'll cast my vote for JJ...
Georgia Ross said:
Dec 4, 2008 at 5:43 PMNo personal offense to T. J., but what the H is going on with this so-called list? Ahead of Kelley, D. J. and Jeff Burton??? To quote a famous comedian, "I don't think so, Scooter!"
Patty said:
Dec 4, 2008 at 6:18 PMNot to put a complete SPOILER on it, but there are a few NASCAR wives on the list, and some ESPN/Speed TV reporters. And only one Chaser did not make the list, although his brother did. PS JJ is not #1.
terry ruth said:
Dec 4, 2008 at 8:28 PMWho gives a flying rats Aston Martin......
Jayne Deere said:
Dec 4, 2008 at 10:02 PMAt least this guy has a job with a NASCAR team, wait until you see some of the people in the top ten.
oink jackson said:
Dec 6, 2008 at 1:00 PMWho in the hell is T.J. Ford?
Ashley Manning said:
Dec 7, 2008 at 1:57 AMTJ is every bit as beautiful inside as he is on the outside. The article is misleading in that it makes it seem as if he has only been working in Nascar for one year, but that's not the case. TJ most definitely deserves to be on this list and in all honesty...much, much higher.