Tony Stewart may not have won the UAW-Ford 500 this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, but he performed in award-winning fashion. Stewart led the parade 11 times for a race high total of 65 laps before claiming second-place in one of the season’s most thrilling finishes. Stewart’s big day brought his crew chief Greg Zipadelli the Wypall Wipers Crew Chief of the Race award. Although Stewart made his top-five run look easy, but his finish didn’t come without a roadblock. The Home Depot Chevrolet seemed to battle overheating problems from the start of the race. Despite pulling all of the tape off the grill of the #20 machine, the temperature continued to climb before finally reaching 275 degrees. Water began to leave the engine, which gave Zipadelli no choice but to sacrifice his driver’s track position and attempt fix the problem. The team made an extended stop on pit road to refill the engine and cool the motor. Zipadelli’s plan got Stewart back on the track without losing any laps. Stewart battled back to claim second-place. More importantly, his race day comeback put him back on top of the championship point standings. “The Home Depot Chevrolet was pretty good, but we had an overheating problem,” said Zipadelli. “We probably had a little too much tape on it and in traffic it got too hot. It pushed some water out, so we had to put some water in it. I think we got an air bubble in it. Once we got that worked out, we went to the front and led a bunch of laps afterwards. Everybody on the team did a great job today and we got the points lead back. That’s the most important thing.”
The panel of voters, including a Wypall Wipers representative and Tony Eury Sr., agreed that Zipadelli deserved Wypall Wipers Crew Chief of the Race honors for his incredible comeback.
Doug Richert leads the Wypall Wipers Crew Chief of the Year standings with five wins. Alan Gustafson and Greg Zipadelli are tied for second-place with three wins. Bob Osborne, Jimmy Fennig, 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, Chad Knaus 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)(10-3-2005)
