After a season of fierce competition, the 2005 Wypall Wipers Crew Chief Challenge has crowned its champions. Doug Richert, of the #16 National Guard Ford, and Kevin “Bono” Manion, of the #8 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, were each awarded Wypall Wipers Crew Chief of the Year honors. At the conclusion of each Nextel Cup event this season, a panel of judges including a member of the local media, a Wypall Wipers representative, as well as Tony Eury Sr. and Robbie Reiser, selected the Crew Chief of the Race. The decision was based on who did the most outstanding job. It wasn’t necessarily the winner of each race, but was certainly the leader who made the biggest difference for his team. Each Crew Chief of the Race was presented with a check for $1,000.
Richert won the award five times throughout the 2005 season to clinch Wypall Wipers Crew Chief of the Year honors among the Nextel Cup garage. “Its an awesome feeling, but I’m not in this position without everyone on this race team,” Richert said, “The team has definitely come full circle, we have all the ingredients; we got the driver, we got the crew, we got the parts and pieces to work with, and the Roush/Yates engine program is second to none.” He managed to hold off Bob Osborne of the #99 Ford, who finished the year strong, amounting four Crew Chief of the Race wins. Richert took home a grand prize of $20,000, courtesy of Wypall Wipers, for his efforts.
Beginning at Daytona in July, Wypall extended the Crew Chief Challenge to the Busch Series garage. At each companion event, Reiser and Eury Sr. selected the most impressive crew chief of the day’s race. Kevin Manion, Newt Moore, and Brad Parrott were each selected twice by the expert panel. A tie breaker was determined based on the point standings, which earned Manion the Wypall Wipers Crew Chief of the Year award for the NASCAR Busch Series. Manion was given a $5,000 grand prize. Wypall will return next year to continue the award, running both a full time Nextel Cup and Busch Series schedule. For more information about Wypall or the Crew Chief of the Year award go to wypall.com.(SMC 500)(11-18-2005)
