Crew chief Chad Knaus, who made countless, crucial, bold and successful calls throughout the season for his #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship points leader Jimmie Johnson, was named the 2008 Wypall Wipers Crew Chief of the Year during a press conference today at Homestead-Miami Speedway. With his team’s dominance in last weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in Phoenix, Knaus secured his fifth “Wypall Wipers Crew Chief of the race” honor during the season. It bolted him ahead of Steve Addington (#18 M&M’s Toyota & driver Kyle Busch) and Bob Osborne (#99 Office Depot Ford & driver Carl Edwards). Each had four wins entering the final race of the competition at Phoenix International Raceway. Knaus and his team have a 141-point lead over Edwards and needs to finish 36th or better in Sunday’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway to capture their third consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship. The 2008 Wypall Wipers Crew Chief Challenge was a season-long contest, sponsored by Kimberly-Clark Professional, which determined the best crew chiefs in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series garage. Following each Cup race, a panel voted to determine which crew chief demonstrated the most outstanding strategy and leadership during the race. It wasn’t necessarily the crew chief that went to victory lane, but the crew chief that made the biggest difference to his team. Representatives from Wypall Wipers, together with FOX/Speed television analyst Jeff Hammond and three of NASCAR’s top crew chiefs who represent the Wypall brand, made up the panel of judges. The Crew Chiefs included Osborne, Todd Berrier of the Richard Childress Racing #29 Shell Pennzoil Chevy team and Kenny Francis of the Gillett Evernham Motorsports #9 Budweiser Dodge team. The weekly winning crew chief received a check for $1,000 as well as signage on the team’s pit box the following week to announce the win. While Knaus gets to celebrate his coveted title, Myra Cochran of Concord, NC, is experiencing an all expenses paid vacation this weekend where she will be an honorary “crew chief for a day” and will shadow one of the Wypall Wipers crew chiefs during pre-race ceremonies Sunday. Cochran, an avid NASCAR fan, participated in Wypall Wipers first annual online Ultimate Crew Chief Fantasy Game where she competed against hundreds of other fans, voting every week for the crew chief they believed would win the upcoming race. For more information, log onto www.Wypall.com.(11-15-2008)
