Mind of Montgomery
A NASCAR BLOG BY Lee Montgomery
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Precision is key to success
Mar
19
Have you ever accidentally snapped off a key on the keyboard of your laptop computer? And then have you tried to put the key back in the empty hole?
Well, I spent an interesting 30 minutes doing the very thing earlier today. I learned what “support scissors” are and how to snap a key back in place. The instructions I found online made it sound much easier than it was, and you need to be some sort of watch repairman to be able to get the microchip-size scissors into the right slots.
The scissors, by the way, are the plastic pieces hooked together under the keys. It’s almost magical when they work correctly, and more frustrating than leading 499 laps before blowing up on the last lap when they don’t.
Finally, after experimenting with many wrong ways to get the scissors together and into the right spot, I hooked them in correctly. And the caps lock key worked once more. I looked a little foolish with my glasses off – being near-sighted, it’s easier to see small objects close-up without them - and my arms raised in triumph, but that’s fine.
While I was trying, unsuccessfully, to get the pieces in the right spot, I thought of a quote Nationwide Series driver Mike Bliss used about the mechanics on his Nationwide Series team. Bliss said crew members would not “let a bolt hang an inch over. They’ll cut it off.”
In other words, they’re meticulous about their work. And my guess is they wouldn’t let a bolt hang over a 32nd of an inch. There are some real craftsmen in this sport, and it always amazes me that nearly every vehicle in all three series makes it through inspection.
Of the thousands of hand-made pieces and moving parts, these teams are able to put them all together in orderly fashion and pass NASCAR’s stringent inspection process.
You’d think somewhere along the way, a piece of metal would be a half-inch too long or a screw would be out of place or … you name it.
But no, these teams piece all the pieces together and make it work.
Where were they when I needed a key fixed?
Well, I spent an interesting 30 minutes doing the very thing earlier today. I learned what “support scissors” are and how to snap a key back in place. The instructions I found online made it sound much easier than it was, and you need to be some sort of watch repairman to be able to get the microchip-size scissors into the right slots.
The scissors, by the way, are the plastic pieces hooked together under the keys. It’s almost magical when they work correctly, and more frustrating than leading 499 laps before blowing up on the last lap when they don’t.
Finally, after experimenting with many wrong ways to get the scissors together and into the right spot, I hooked them in correctly. And the caps lock key worked once more. I looked a little foolish with my glasses off – being near-sighted, it’s easier to see small objects close-up without them - and my arms raised in triumph, but that’s fine.
While I was trying, unsuccessfully, to get the pieces in the right spot, I thought of a quote Nationwide Series driver Mike Bliss used about the mechanics on his Nationwide Series team. Bliss said crew members would not “let a bolt hang an inch over. They’ll cut it off.”
In other words, they’re meticulous about their work. And my guess is they wouldn’t let a bolt hang over a 32nd of an inch. There are some real craftsmen in this sport, and it always amazes me that nearly every vehicle in all three series makes it through inspection.
Of the thousands of hand-made pieces and moving parts, these teams are able to put them all together in orderly fashion and pass NASCAR’s stringent inspection process.
You’d think somewhere along the way, a piece of metal would be a half-inch too long or a screw would be out of place or … you name it.
But no, these teams piece all the pieces together and make it work.
Where were they when I needed a key fixed?
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