#31 Car Chief to Return: Kevin Gabard, front-tire carrier and car chief of the #31 Loves Chevy of Mike Skinner, will resume his pit road duties at next Sunday’s Pepsi 400 Daytona after recuperating from knee surgery. Gabard underwent anterior cruciate ligament replacement surgery on his left knee on April 16 to repair an injury sustained on April 8 at the Martinsville race. The 35-year-old crewman was injured during a late-race pit stop when a loose tire from another team rolled into the pit and struck Gabard as he stepped off the pit wall. This latest surgery marked the eighth procedure on his left knee since 1991. He had undergone surgery for a torn meniscus in the same knee seven times previously, the most recent in November 1999(Daytona Beach News Journal)(6-28-2001)
