Robby Gordon’s Pit Crew Pockets Win In Atlanta; Stewart’s crew takes over first in point standings:
March 18, 2004 at 12:00 AM
The #31 pit crew for Robby Gordon squeaked by Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s crew to capture the McDonald’s Drive-Thru Pit Championship fueled by POWERade in Sunday’s (March 14) 500-mile NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. While Gordon’s crew grabbed the $20,000 weekly prize, the pit crew for Tony Stewart moved into first place with 154 points. Kurt Busch’s crew stands second, one point behind at 153. Earnhardt’s crew, the reigning McDonald’s/POWERade champion, is third with 148 points. Last week’s point leader – Elliott Sadler’s crew – dropped to fourth with 143 points. Though Earnhardt’s No. 8 Chevrolet found its way to winner’s circle in Atlanta, it was Gordon’s Cingular Wireless Chevy that spent the least amount of time on pit road. Gordon’s pit road time of 281.691 seconds was just over a second quicker than Earnhardt’s time of 282.864. Jeff Burton’s Ford was third at 284.833. “The guys work hard at the shop and at the track,” said Chris Andrews, crew chief of the No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet. “Between working on cars, spending time in the gym and at pit stop practice, they’ve managed to bang out 13 to 14-second, and sometimes even 12-second stops every weekend. “We made seven stops Sunday and gained track position every time we came down pit lane. Our over-the-wall crew is a competitive group of guys. I don’t think this will be the last time I will be asked to comment about their performance this year for the McDonald’s/POWERade championship.” Gordon’s over-the-wall crew consists of: Ira-Jo Hussey (front-tire changer), Kevin Nervegna (front-tire carrier), Timmy Ladyga (rear-tire changer), Matt Kreuter (rear-tire carrier), Ron Liddell (gasman), Mike Moore (jackman) and Coy Hedrick (catch can).(DMF Communications PR), see my Pit Crew News Page for top 10 at Atlanta and the season standings.(3-18-2004)
