ARCHDALE — For as long as they live, twin brothers Adam and Michael Boyles will remember Friday the 13th as their lucky day.
Last Friday night, Feb. 13, the 19-year-old brothers from Archdale appear to have made history by becoming the first twins to work together changing tires on a NASCAR pit crew. It happened at iconic Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, during the Fresh From Florida 250, a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race.
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“It was awesome,” Michael says. “My brother and I have almost always done things together, but to do something as big as that with my brother was pretty special. It was definitely cool.”
The brothers, whose ultimate goal is to work on a pit crew in the prestigious NASCAR Cup Series, took a step in that direction in the Feb. 13 race, when they were asked to change tires for the No. 22 truck driven by Josh Reaume of Team Reaume.
“It was super-exciting,” Adam says. “I’ll be honest — I was shaking a little bit when we got the call, because we weren’t expecting that at all.”
Here’s how it happened:
Prior to last weekend, the brothers had been tire-changers for drivers in the NASCAR-sanctioned ARCA Menards Series. They change tires for Mooresville-based Pinnacle Racing Group — Adam for the No. 28 car and Michael for the No. 77 — but they hadn’t changed tires on the same car before their Friday-the-13th experience.
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Last weekend at Daytona, they spent Friday afternoon at the speedway for ARCA qualifying. When they were done, they went back to their hotel to shower and rest up for Saturday’s ARCA race.
That’s when they got a phone call explaining that Reaume needed a couple of tire-changers for that night’s Craftsman Truck Series race. Reaume hadn’t brought a crew with him because he hadn’t expected to compete in the Friday night race, but after unexpectedly qualifying, he needed a couple of tire-changers. Would the Boyles brothers be interested?
They didn’t have to think twice — you bet they would. Adam and Michael scrambled to get ready and caught an Uber back to the speedway.
The Craftsman race marked the first time the brothers had changed tires during a “live pit stop,” meaning they had a limited amount of time — ideally no longer than 15 seconds — to change two tires apiece, with Adam on the front tires and Michael on the rear.
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“You’ve got about one second to go over the wall and get to the first lug nut,” Adam says. “You’ve got to be really, really quick.”
That differs from ARCA races, in which drivers take scheduled pit stops, and their crews have longer to do their jobs.
“In ARCA races, you have more time to get it right,” Adam explains. “But in the truck series, it’s a competitive, full-on, live pit stop where you can make or break a race.”
Reaume, who started the race in the 29th position, finished a respectable 20th out of 37 drivers. His fledgling tire-changers were satisfied with their performance, too.
“I thought it went well,” Michael says. “My main thing is just don’t be a problem on pit row — don’t mess anything up — and I think everything went smooth.”
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The Craftsman race may have been a new experience for the brothers, but they’re definitely not newcomers to the sport of racing. Their grandfather, Mike Boyles of Archdale, was a tire carrier for NASCAR legend Richard Petty. Their father, Richard Boyles, was a tire-changer for 20-plus years, working with such drivers as Darrell Waltrip, Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte.
“That’s how they got into it,” says their mother, Emily Boyles. “They wanted to follow in their dad’s footsteps.”
They’ve been going to the racetracks with their family since they were 4 or 5 years old. They tried racing first, but it didn’t work out. About two years ago, they decided to try tire-changing, and they loved it. They landed the positions with Pinnacle last year, and they’re constantly practicing and working out to improve.
“Like with any other sport, you train to be as athletic as you can,” Michael says, explaining that a lot of pit crew members are former professional or college athletes who migrated to racing. “You have to work on being the fastest and the strongest, so we’re training a bunch. We work out probably six times a week.”
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In the meantime, the two High Point Christian Academy graduates are taking online courses through Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, but they’re still dreaming of reaching the NASCAR Cup Series.
“That’s the goal,” Adam says. “It’s going to be tough — it’s going to be a journey — but we think we can do it.”
Michael agrees.
“We realize this is a dream opportunity to have fun with and hopefully make a living at,” he says. “Right now, we’re having fun doing what we love.”
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