Pit Crew for Tony Stewart Grabs Top Honors at Daytona
February 19, 2004 at 12:00 AM
Tony Stewart’s #20 Home Depot pit crew captured first-place honors at the Daytona 500, the opening race for the 2004 McDonald’s Drive-Thru Pit Championship fueled by POWERade. The McDonald’s/POWERade championship is in its second season of rewarding the pit crews, the unsung heroes in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series. The program will award $20,000 per week to the top participating pit crew. In addition, results will be tabulated throughout the season to determine the program’s championship crew, which will take home a $200,000 bonus at the completion of the 36-race schedule. The #20 crew, which is part of the Joe Gibbs Racing stable, edged the reigning McDonald’s/POWERade champions, the #8 pit crew for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Though Stewart finished second to Earnhardt in Sunday’s season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway, the #20 pit crew performed flawlessly in the pits. The Home Depot Chevy registered the least amount of time on pit road during the 500-mile race , 216.397 seconds. Earnhardt’s car was in the pits for a total of 223.435 seconds. Third was Elliott’s Sadler’s #38 Ford with a time of 227.944. “Our pit stops at Daytona were awesome,” said Stewart. “Every one of them was perfect and quick. And that’s important at Daytona, because one slow stop there can really mess up your day. Everyone on the Home Depot team has a lot to be proud of.” Stewart’s over-the-wall crew consists of: Chuck White (jackman), Tom Dean (front tire carrier), Mike Lingerfelt (front tire changer), Jay Barry (rear tire carrier), Todd Foster (rear tire changer), Jeff “Gooch” Patterson (gasman) and Brian Larson (catch can). The team’s crew chief is Greg Zipadelli and the pit stop coordinator is Paul Alepa.(DMF PR), see race results and season standings on my Pit Crew Page [sorry, still no pit crew chart – work in progress](2-19-2004)
