WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- One axiom in racing is that you can't win a race on the first lap, but you can lose it. At Watkins Glen, the only track on the Cup circuit where the right side of the car is closest to the pit wall, pit crew coaches teach something similar: the risk of throwing away a win with a mistake on pit road here is much greater than the reward of trying to rush.

For Red Bull Racing's Lance Munksgard, practicing pitting from the opposite side of the car is something that's important but not overly stressed, since Watkins Glen is unique.

"We spent a little bit of time on it," Munksgard said. "I found that over the years, the more emphasis we put on it, weeks out before the race, the worse we get. What we try to do, the week prior, we throw in a few stops, just to get everyone out of their rhythm of their regular stops, and also use it as a tool to see how they rebound back to their regular stops."

Instead, Munksgard wants his guys to stay within themselves and focus on doing everything correctly with each stop.

"There's not too many races I've seen [at Watkins Glen or Sonoma] that have been won on pit road," Munksgard said. "Most of the time, all you can do is lose one by having a penalty or having to come back down pit road. So that's our biggest focus, to be solid and let the drivers and the track position do what it should do here. What I've told them, there should be a lot less stress here. All they have to do is try to be simple and under control and not worry about being fast."

That's also the case with drivers Brian Vickers and Scott Speed. If they stay focused and do the little things right, Munksgard said little issues won't become bigger ones.

"You can lose one of these races by speeding, sliding through the box or pinning the guys too close to the pit wall," Munksgard said. "So they'll have to take the same mentality. 'Make sure I'm under the speed limit, make sure I just ease into that box.' Usually, the time you would gain, the rewards aren't that great. Especially in the past, especially in the first couple of stalls when you hit pit road, there's always been the tendency to pit closer to the wall than they should."

In order to keep from pitting too close to the wall, Munksgard said pre-race communication with the drivers, particularly about the location of the pit sign, is a must.

"Normally they line that sign up with their face or whatever they tell the team to do," Munksgard said. "So that's communication before the race to make sure they know that the sign may be right on your right-front headlight. Or if we extend the pole, it'll still be in front of your face but it will be way out there. A lot of that is just making sure we communicate that with the driver ahead of time."

Having everything reversed can make for some unusual situations for pit stop strategy.

"Some teams will change their complete pit crews, from front to rear," Munksgard said. "The basis of that is your front guys always are used to getting around the front and getting the right front first and vice-versa on the back. The thought process is they're always running the same way. Some of the downfalls of that are now your rear carrier and changer are not used to camber, brake dust, brake heat, a lot of those things. Unless you have two tire carriers and changers who are adaptable, that's a tricky deal."

Munksgard said the No. 83 team will switch tire changers but leave the rest of the crew in their normal positions. In addition, the team volunteered to pit Joe Nemechek's Nationwide Series car on Saturday in an effort to get additional in-race experience.