Matt Kenseth caught a bad break in this weekend’s Sylvania 300, literally. Following a routine stop for service, Kenseth’s front brake locked up as he was exiting the pits and the driver of the # 17 DeWalt Ford was forced to plow around the track until he could reenter his stall. With crew chief Robbie Reiser calling the shots, the crew fixed the problem and put Kenseth back in the hunt for a win. The team’s rebound brought Kenseth a third-place finish and moved him ninth to fifth in the championship standings. For orchestrating his team’s comeback, Reiser was awarded the Wypall Wipers Crew Chief of the Race award.
“We got a lug nut caught between the hat and the rotor,” said Reiser. “The guys do an awesome job each week and today was no different. They never gave up. They fixed the problem and got him (Kenseth) back in it. We followed that up with a two tire pit stop to get back the track position we lost and everything fell into place from there. The crew had stellar stops all day. Hopefully we can keep this string going over the next nine weeks.”
“The DeWalt guys did a great job,” said Reiser. “We had great pit stops. Came back from that problem and didn’t really tear anything up and were able to work our way back through there through pit strategy and having a good car. It feels good to come here and get a good finish and I look forward to going to Dover.” The panel of voters; including Chuck Givler of the Easton Express-Times, a Wypall Wipers representative and Tony Eury Sr.; voted for Reiser as the crew chief who did the most outstanding job.
Doug Richert leads the Wypall Wipers Crew Chief of the Year standings with five wins. Alan Gustafson is in second place with three wins. Bob Osborne, Jimmy Fennig, Greg Zipadelli, Robbie Reiser and Robbie Loomis are tied for third place with two wins. Tommy Baldwin, Scott Miller, Fatback McSwain, Steve Hmiel, Greg Erwin, Slugger Labbe and Pete Rondeau are in a tie for fourth place, each with one win. At the end of the season, the crew chief with the most weekly wins will receive $20,000. Fans can also vote for their choice at wypall.com.(SMC 500)(9-19-2005)
