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Pit Crew Win Gives Earnhardt Jr.’s Team Double Victory in Richmond:

May 19, 2004 at 12:00 AM
  • It was a double victory Saturday night for the No. 8 DEI team at Richmond International Raceway. Not only did Dale Earnhardt Jr. capture the Chevy American Revolution 400, but his pit crew also claimed victory in the McDonald’s Drive-Thru Pit Championship fueled by POWERade. It was the second victory of the season for Earnhardt Jr.’s pit crew, which leads in the McDonald’s/POWERade standings with 425 points. Elliott Sadler’s crew took over second with 396 points and Tony Stewart’s crew moved into third with 390 points. The prize money for the pit crew championship includes $20,000 to the weekly winner and $200,000 to the season champion. The #8 crew edged its DEI teammate – Michael Waltrip’s No. 15 pit crew — for top honors in Richmond. The No. 8 and the No. 15 crews finished first and second respectively in last year’s McDonald’s/POWERade season championship point standings. Earnhardt’s Budweiser Chevrolet spent 125.128 seconds on pit road in Richmond while Waltrip’s Napa Chevy was second with a time of 163.435. Tony Stewart’s No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet was third at 165.927. “It wasn’t too bad of a night in the pits,” said Tony Eury Jr., car chief for the No. 8 team. “We didn’t have our front tire changer (Phil Drye), so I had to do some tire changing. It was kind of like an old-school type deal (Tony Jr. was formerly the full-time front tire changer before relinquishing his over-the-wall duties prior to last year). It’s just like wearing an old shoe — if you can do it, you can do it; if you can’t, you can’t.”
    “This pit crew did another great job,” said Dale Jr. “And I got to hand it to ol’ Tony Jr. He hasn’t had to change tires for quite some time, so it was kind of neat seeing him chugging around the car. I had to make sure I hit the brakes early to give him plenty of room! Our pit stops have been real good all year long, and that’s a big reason we’re leading the (driver) points right now.” The No. 8 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 Eury Jr. The pit crew coach at DEI is Walt Smith.(DMF Communciations PR). See standings, top 10 at RIR and past info on my Pit Crew Page.(5-19-2004)