No. 16 Pit Crew wins Darlington

Pit Crew For Greg Biffle Captures Win in Darlington

Greg Biffle's pit crew claimed first prize and the $20,000 weekly check for winning the McDonald's Drive-Thru Pit Championship fueled by POWERade in Sunday's (March 21) Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

Biffle's Roush Racing teammate - the crew for Kurt Busch's No. 97 team finished third in Darlington and jumped into first place in the McDonald's/POWERade standings with 184 points, 10 more than Tony Stewart's second-place crew. Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s crew is third with 183 points. The season pit crew champion will receive a $200,000 bonus.

Biffle's crew displayed a superior effort in Darlington with a 35-second margin over last week's winner - the No. 31 crew for Robby Gordon. Biffle's Travel Lodge/National Guard Ford spent 378.315 seconds on pit road compared to 413.964 for Gordon's No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet.

"This pit crew is awesome," said Biffle. "They totally deserve this award for all their hard work and dedication to the team. This is the second year for most of these guys working together. And not only are they fast but they are consistently fast, which is what it takes to have the competitive edge on Sunday."

Biffle's over-the-wall crew consists of Adam Emmert (front-tire changer), Jeff Silver (front-tire carrier), Mike Hillman (rear-tire changer), TJ Hamilton (rear-tire carrier), Jeff Merkel (jackman), Donnie Ratledge (gasman), John Eicher (catch can). The team's crew chief is Doug Richert

<pre> Top 10 Pit Crews For Participating Teams in Sunday's (March 21) Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington Raceway

                                Time                    Car#    Points
1.  Greg Biffle Team            378.315 seconds         16      43
2.  Robby Gordon Team           413.964      "          31      42
3.  Kurt Busch Team             422.808      "          97      41
4.  Elliott Sadler Team         426.639      "          38      40
5   Bobby Labonte Team          428.468      "          18      39
6.  Joe Nemechek Team           430.206      "          01      38
7.  Ken Schrader Team           442.961      "          49      37
8.  Jeff Green Team             446.259      "          43      36
9.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. Team     450.091      "           8      35
10. Johnny Sauter Team          459.514      "          30      34

2004 Winners of The McDonald's Drive-Thru Pit Championship fueled by POWERade:

Daytona (2/15)          Tony Stewart Team
Rockingham (2/22)       Dale Earnhardt Jr. Team
Las Vegas (3/7)         Kurt Busch Team
Atlanta (3/14)          Robby Gordon Team
Darlington (3/21)       Greg Biffle Team

Point Standings For NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Teams Participating in The McDonald's Drive-Thru Pit Championship fueled by POWERADE: Following Darlington (3/21); pit crew wins in parentheses

Pos.  Car# Pit Crew of                  Points  Prize Money
1     97   Kurt Busch Team (1)          194     20,000
2     20   Tony Stewart Team (1)        184     20,000
T-3   8    Dale Earnhardt Jr. Team (1)  183     20,000
T-3   38   Elliott Sadler Team          183
5     18   Bobby Labonte Team           175
T-6   29   Kevin Harvick Team           169
T-6   01   Joe Nemechek Team            169
8     30   Johnny Sauter Team           168
T-9   21   Ricky Rudd Team              159
T-9   40   Sterling Marlin Team         159
11    16   Greg Biffle Team (1)         156     20,000
12    41   Casey Mears Team             154
13    31   Robby Gordon Team (1)        147     20,000
14    0    Ward Burton Team             146
15    88   Dale Jarrett Team            144
T-16  42   Jamie McMurray Team          138
T-16  99   Jeff Burton Team             138
18    45   Kyle Petty Team              136
19    43   Jeff Green Team              134
20    49   Ken Schrader Team            127
21    50   Derrike Cope Team            121
22    15   Michael Waltrip Team         109
23    09   Johnny Benson Team            99
24    72   Kirk Shelmerdine Team         68
25    280  Andy Hillenburg Team          63
T-26  1    John Andretti Team            59
T-26  02   Carl Long/Hermie Sadler Team  59
28    14   Larry Foyt Team               47
T-29  23   Dave Blaney Team              37
T-29  198  Todd Bodine Team              37
31    89   Morgan Shepherd Team          36
32    91   Bill Elliott Team             31
33    7    Jimmy Spencer Team            30
34    146  Carl Long Team                18
35    84   Kyle Busch Team               16

</pre> How it Works
During each 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup points event, the participating team whose car spends the least amount of aggregate time off the race track will be named the weekly winner of the McDonald's Drive-Thru Pit Championship fueled by POWERADE, provided the team's driver takes the green flag at the beginning of the event. A timing line at the entrance and exit of pit road triggers the car's transponder and records the total time spent off the race track.

The point distribution per race is: 43 for first place, descending in increments of one.

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