#18-Bobby Labonte may have received two speeding tickets in this week’s Subway 500, but they never slowed him down. With help from crew chief Steve Addington, Labonte overcame his pit road infractions to land a top-five finish, his best since the Coca-Cola 600. For leading his driver from the back to the front, Addington was voted the Wypall Wipers Crew Chief of the Race. “We had a really good car today,” said Addington after the race. “Bobby (Labonte) knows how important track position is here (Martinsville) and was trying to get as much as he could on pit road. It ended up costing us twice. Fortunately our car was strong enough to get it back. We had the longest green flag run of the day after one of our penalties and that was a huge help. Our car was great on long runs and that allowed us to make up a lot of distance. If we didn’t have to start in the back, we probably could have been battling the leader.” The panel of voters, including Mike Mulhern of the Winston-Salem Journal, a Wypall Wipers representative and Robbie Reiser, split their votes on the crew chief of the race. Mulhern cast his vote for Pat Tryson, who overcame a brake problem on the #6 Ford. The Wypall representative and Reiser both voted for Addington.
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, Chad Knaus, Steve Addington and Robbie Loomis are tied for third-place with two wins. Tommy Baldwin, Scott Miller, Fatback McSwain, Steve Hmiel, Greg Erwin, Slugger Labbe, Pat Tryson and Pete Rondeau are tied 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)(10-24-2005)
