"I can plan to lose somewhere around 12 pounds during the course of the race," Jarrett said, explaining the loss of water weight. "There was one time when I lost 14 pounds under extreme conditions. It's just one of those things you know is going to happen and you prepare for it the best you can. It's one of the reasons that it's important to develop a body conditioning routine and good diet."

Jarrett has explained that the process for preparing for extreme heat begins early in the race week. Rather than waiting until the night before, Jarrett said it is important to start preparing prior to the race weekend.

"I start drinking extra water and POWERade before I ever get to the race track on Thursday," Jarrett explained. "It is a continual process. The night before the race I'll even wake myself in the middle of the night to drink a bottle of water just to properly prepare for the extreme loss of water that we experience on Sunday."

While the drivers are exposed to extreme heat conditions inside the race car, race team personal also deal with extreme heat during race weekends where temperature and humidity levels combine to create heat indexes in the 100 degree range. The team members that have the most to contend with outside the race car are the seven team members that are required to pit the race car.

Depending on the race and track conditions, pit crew members will be required to perform anywhere from four to 10 pit stops during the course of a race any given weekend. During the month of August, pit crews were forced to deal with extreme heat index conditions during events at Bristol and California where the heat index was well over 100 degrees.

Greg Osborne is the car chief for the #44 UPS Toyota Team and also is a member of the UPS Team pit crew where he is the rear tire changer on race day. With more than 10 years experience of dealing with the heat, Osborne is well versed in what he needs to do to prepare for the hot race day events.

"You definitely have to drink lots of fluid throughout the day on Friday and all throughout the day Saturday," Osborne said. "Then on race day, you've got to drink a combination of water and POWERade during the race to stay hydrated."

While the pit crew members stay hydrated, there are also a few other tricks that can help to combat the extreme heat associated with the track and the mandated apparel they were during the course of a race.

"As far as the firesuit, it can definitely get hot," Osborne explained. "You try to stay in the shade as much as you can and that actually can help a lot. A lot of the pit boxes now have canopies that help you stay out of the direct sun. After a pit stop, we'll usually run and hide in the shade and just exert the least amount of energy as possible to stay fresh for the next one."

While hot weather isn't going to go anywhere during the summer portion of the NASCAR schedule, Osborne did say that there research has been conducted and continues to take place to develop methods that help drivers and team members to counter the heat.

"There were a few things a couple years ago such as a shirt that you ran cool water through," Osborne said. "You would plug into a machine in between pit stops. Some guys tried it, but it just sort of faded away really and hasn't been used that widespread but we're always working on it."