The pit crew for Dale Earnhardt Jr. edged Sterling Marlin’s crew to claim first place in the McDonald’s Drive-Thru Pit Championship fueled by POWERade at Sunday’s NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race in Rockingham, N.C. The Rockingham victory paid $20,000 and lifted the No. 8 pit crew into the points lead. Being in first place is nothing new for Earnhardt’s crew. The #8 team, part of DEI’s multi-car operation, collected the $200,000 bonus for winning the inaugural McDonald’s/POWERade pit crew season championship in 2003. The 2004 pit crew champion will also collect $200,000 at the season-ending Awards Banquet in New York. Earnhardt’s Chevy was a hair quicker on Rockingham’s pit road than Marlin’s Dodge. The No. 8 Budweiser machine spent 301.939 seconds off the track compared to 302.233 seconds for Marlin’s Coors Light Dodge. Third was Jamie McMurray’s No. 42 Texaco Dodge with a time of 302.613. Dale Jr., who leads in the Nextel Cup driver standings, was quick to give credit to his team for his fifth-place finish in Rockingham. “We feel like a top-five here at Rockingham is almost like a win,” said Earnhardt in post-race interviews. “We didn’t have a great car, but we made changes during every stop and the car got better and better. If your crew can’t make the right changes and get you in and out fast, you have no chance at Rockingham. We had great strategy all day and took advantage of the yellow flags. I told (car chief) Tony Jr. on the radio to ignore me if I started begging to come in and change tires. It’s so hard here to hang onto the car when the tires go away, but the guys in the pits made the right calls. It paid off for us.” Earnhardt’s over-the-wall crew consists of: Bill Snyder (gasman), Kevin Pennell (jackman), Phil Drye (front tire changer), Danny Earnhardt (front tire carrier), Shannon Myers (rear tire changer), Troy Prince (rear tire carrier), Craig Lund (catch can). Tony Eury Sr. is the crew chief and the car chief is Tony Eury Jr. The pit crew coach at DEI is Walt Smith.(DMFCommications PR), see top 10 at the Rock and standings on my Pit Crew Page.(2-26-2004)
