NASCAR drivers always keep their heads in the game—literally, there’s no room to turn around! If you ever take a close look at drivers when they are inside the cars, you’d know. They have tunnel vision and can only see what’s ahead of them the best. But what about the rest of the directions? That’s when spotters come in. They act as a driver’s eye, offering them real-time information during the race.

From upcoming turns to hazards and information on the cars around them, spotters are essential for safety and strategy on track. They are perched up on a high stand where they get an eagle-eye view and convey to drivers. But what if that view is constricted or all the cars look the same? This is what happened on the Gateway track with Bubba Wallace and his spotter.

Spotters are the eyes of drivers on track

Spotter’s role is crucial as it requires one to make split-season decisions and they need to be great with their communication skills. And Freddie Kraft certainly has the craft for it! He knows his job well and has been doing it for years now. But it all failed at the Gateway track, and that’s not what we are saying, but what he is confessing. At the recent Door Bumper Clear podcast the Bubba Wallace spotter confessed that in all his time spotting around 10 to 15 years, that was easily the worst job he’d done. But this isn’t the first time he has faced this, in fact even last year a similar situation did arise.

Kraft said that a major part of his job is to anticipate the moves before they happen and not essentially react after. But at Gateway visibility was a major issue and maintaining that clear line of sight got challenging. Freddie Kraft said, “In turn one is you lose kind of sight of your car. It’s just you’re looking at tail panels and all that. I mean, I felt like yesterday all of them were black and they drive down into one and they start splitting each other and you can’t see the runs coming because they’re driving straight away from you. And you can’t see who’s got momentum and you can’t see who’s kind of getting ready to peak out.”

This confusion and the visibility issue he was in led to an extremely haphazard and unclear communication with Wallace. He said, “I sounded like an idiot” admitting that he clearly didn’t fulfill his role. And just to clear the air that he was truly sane and not intoxicated he said, “I promise you, I wasn’t hungover from the bachelor party, I didn’t have a sip of alcohol all weekend.”

After the race, he even apologized to Bubba Wallace for his lack of performance. While he might feel guilty, everyone messes up once in a while. And he can always redeem himself. And what’s better to do it in one of the toughest tracks to spot for in NASCAR? 

Sonoma: Another Challenge for Spotters

The Sonoma Raceway is no walk in the park! It is as challenging for spotters to do their job as it is for drivers. Sonoma is a road course and hence, unlike oval tracks, it has a lot of twisty turns, elevation changes and tricky corners. It essentially demands a lot from everyone involved. Scooters have to be literally on their toes so that they miss nothing and communicate everything clearly to their driver. Sonoma has a total of 12 turns each with its own challenges, but the turn 11 is the most dreaded.

It is difficult because the drivers are staring head-on at a wall coming their way and it is quite flat, making it visually difficult to pick out markers. Spotters have to be extra vigilant and make these split-second decisions. 

They also have a difficult time at hand because given the hilly terrain and the many turns limited visibility can be a major issue. That way Kraft surely did get in some practice in Gateway! Also passing in Sonoma is tricky, so to clench the opportunity when it best presents itself will matter the most. And spotters need to put their skills and strategy to the max!

For Freddie Kraft, the next race is an opportunity to redeem the hold he lost in Gateway. He can use the lessons from last weekend to prepare and help Bubba Wallace navigate the tricky tracks.