The weekly McDonald’s/POWERade Drive-Thru Pit Championship was won by Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s crew at the Pocono 500. Earnhardt spent 240.375 seconds in the pits, the least amount of pit time among teams competing in the program. Michael Waltrip’s crew still leads the competition over Earnhardt’s second-place crew, while Robby Gordon’s crew overtook Bobby Labonte’s to move into third place by 12 points. In addition, the Mechanix Wear Pit Crew Championship second quarter voting took place last weekend with Raybestos Rookie candidate #74-Tony Raines team collecting the most votes. Matt Kenseth’s crew won the first quarter voting in the Mechanix Wear Pit Crew Championship. Both teams are now eligible to win the $75,000 year-end award.(NASCAR PR)(7-30-2003) UPDATE – Pit Crew For Earnhardt Jr. Wins In Pocono: The pit crew for Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the McDonald’s Drive-Thru Pit Championship fueled by POWERade at Sunday’s (July 27) Pennsylvania 500 at. Pocono Raceway. It was the third time this season the No. 8 crew captured first-place honors. The team’s other victories were at Las Vegas and Atlanta. Earnhardt’s pit crew remains in second place in the McDonald’s Drive-Thru Pit Championship standings with 687 points, 73 behind Michael Waltrip’s No. 15 pit crew. The season pit crew champion will receive a $200,000 bonus. Earnhardt’s pit crew captured the Pocono win and the $20,000 first-place prize as a result of the team’s Budweiser Chevrolet spending the least amount of time on pit road – 240.801 seconds. Second was Sterling Marlin’s No. 40 Coors Light Dodge (253.308) and third was Waltrip’s NAPA Chevrolet (260.860). “We’ve never been better on making the right calls and the right changes in the pits as we were today,” said Earnhardt following the Pocono race. “The yellow flags helped us on gas mileage, but we had a great day in the pits.” Earnhardt’s over-the-wall crew consists of: Jeff Clark (gasman), Kevin Pennell (jackman), Phil Drye (front tire changer), Danny Earnhardt (front tire carrier), Jay Guarneri (rear tire changer), Troy Prince (rear tire carrier), Bill Snyder (catch can). The team’s crew chief is Tony Eury and the car chief is Tony Eury Jr. For the season standings, who has won each week, the top 10 last race, see my Pit Crew Page .(7-31-2003)
