Power Tools in the pits, what's the deal ? Options

[ArtechnikA]

I know some of you guys are affiliated with pro and serious sportsman racing, so maybe there's something going on in the rules that's not obvious to the observer.

I watched a bunch of work being done in the pits and garage area during coverage of the 24 Hours of Daytona this year, but I've observed the same at many events.

I see the mechanics doing stuff like removing and replacing the gearbox crash bumper (to get access to the tailcone for a gear cluster replacement) and replacing front bodywork/splitter/undertray stuff. Invariably they are using a crank-style 'speed wrench' on maybe a dozen fasteners.

Even in the behind-the-wall and garage areas they will occasionally use a portable battery-powered drill or impact wrench - which really confuses me 'cause i'd be -more- concerned about sparking a fire with an electric tool in the garage - like the Mazda team that was busy drilling out rivets to replace a leaking fuel cell (!).

We know there's pneumatic gear galore (tire-change impact guns, air jacks) presumptively being run with bottled dry nitrogen.

So why aren't the mechanics using air tools for 'other' repairs ?

I can -maybe- see that for installation, you can 'feel' the torque needed for an M6 or M8 fastener and run no risk of stripping or fastener breakage (although there is a reason there are regulators on the air lines...) but for removal, I'm just not seeing it. What am I missing?