Bob Osborne was named the Wypall Wipers Crew Chief of the Race in Sunday’s Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, setting up an historical three-man clash for the Wypall Wipers Crew Chief of the Year award during this weekend’s race at Phoenix International Raceway. Osborne gambled Sunday that his driver – Carl Edwards in the #99 Office Depot Ford – could run the final 69 laps (103.5 miles) on a tank of fuel. Osborne hit the jackpot as Edwards pulled off the win and gained 77 points on Sprint Cup Series points leader Jimmie Johnson. So Osborne, along with Chad Knaus, crew chief for the #48 team and driver Jimmie Johnson, and Steve Addington, Crew Chief for the #18 team and driver Kyle Busch, are tied with four “Crew Chief of the Race” NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins with just one race to go (winner decided annually after Phoenix race). As with each week, the Crew Chief panel of Todd Berrier of the Richard Childress Racing #29 Shell Pennzoil Chevy team, Osborne of the Roush Fenway Racing #99 Office Depot Ford team, and Kenny Francis of the Gillett Evernham Motorsports #9 Budweiser Dodge team along with FOX/Speed Analyst Jeff Hammond, will vote on the winner. For this weekend’s race in Phoenix, Wypall Wipers representatives have confirmed that the voting will only be between the three tied at the top so this truly is a Winner-take-all situation for the Wypall Wipers Crew Chief of the Year. Once the dust has settled at Phoenix and the votes are in, Wypall Wipers will hold a press conference in Miami announcing this year’s winner and will be presenting him with a check for $20,000. The event will be held on Friday night, November 14 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The 2008 Wypall Wipers Crew Chief Challenge has been a season-long contest that has strived each week to determine the best crew chiefs in the NASCAR Sprint Cup garage. Following each Cup race, a panel (mentioned above) has voted to determine which Crew Chief demonstrated the most outstanding strategy and leadership during the race. It isn’t necessarily the crew chief that goes to victory lane, but the crew chief that made the biggest difference to his team. For more information, log onto www.Wypall.com.(Wypall PR)(11-4-2008)
