#20-Tony Stewart’s pit crew took first-place honors in the McDonald’s Drive-Thru Pit Championship fueled by POWERade in Sunday’s (Sept. 28) EA Sports 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. It was the first victory of the season for the No. 20 pit crew, which earned $20,000 for the win. Stewart’s pit crew also became the 15th different winner of the season to capture the McDonald’s Drive-Thru Pit Championship fueled by POWERade. Stewart’s Home Depot/Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet spent the least amount of time on pit road for participating teams in Talladega – 238.941 seconds. Ken Schrader’s No. 49 BAM Racing Dodge was second with a total pit-road time of 248.257. Third was Dave Blaney’s Jasper Engines Dodge at 257.022. “The crew did a great job on our last pit stop — got us out first of the cars that pitted,” said Stewart, who posted a third-place finish in Talladega. “We restarted 10th and got up to fourth or fifth — something like that – and just stayed around the top-10. Their performance gave us the track position we needed to make our run during those last four laps. They definitely deserved to have won the McDonald’s/POWERade contest.” Stewart’s over-the-wall crew consists of: Mike Lingerfelt (front tire changer), Tom Dean (front tire carrier), Todd Foster (rear tire changer), Jay Barry (rear tire carrier), Brian “Shaggy” Larson (catch can), Jeff “Gooch” Patterson (gas man), Chuck White (jackman) and Scott Geerts (windshield). The team’s crew chief is Greg Zipadelli and the pit crew coach is Paul Alepa. With a strong pit crew performance at Talladega (fourth), Michael Waltrip’s team increased its lead in the season standings for the McDonald’s Drive-Thru Pit Championship fueled by POWERade. Waltrip’s team has 1028 points and leads by 44 over the No. 97 crew for Kurt Busch’s team, which moved into second place following Talladega. Dale Earnhardt Jr’s team dropped to third, 47 points behind the leader. The season pit crew champion will earn a $200,000 bonus. (DMF Communications PR), see top 10 results and full season standings on my Pit Crew News page .(10-1-2003)
