No. 20 Pit Crew wins in Daytona

Pit Crew for Tony Stewart Grabs Top Honors at Daytona

Tony Stewart's No. 20 Home Depot pit crew captured first-place honors at the Daytona 500, the opening race for the 2004 McDonald's Drive-Thru Pit Championship fueled by POWERade.

The McDonald's/POWERade championship is in its second season of rewarding pit crews, the unsung heroes in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series.

The program will award $20,000 per week to the top participating pit crew. In addition, results will be tabulated throughout the season to determine the program's championship crew, which will take home a $200,000 bonus at the completion of the 36-race schedule.

The No. 20 crew, part of the Joe Gibbs Racing stable, edged the reigning McDonald's/POWERade champion - the No. 8 pit crew for Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Though Stewart finished second to Earnhardt in Sunday's season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway, the No. 20 crew performed flawlessly during the 500-mile event.

The Home Depot Chevy registered the least amount of time on pit road - 216.397 seconds. Earnhardt's car was in the pits for a total of 223.435 seconds. Third was Elliott Sadler's No. 38 Ford with a time of 227.944.

"Our pit stops at Daytona were awesome," said Stewart. "Every one of them was perfect and quick. And that's important at Daytona, because one slow stop there can really mess up your day. Everyone on the Home Depot team has a lot to be proud of."

Stewart's over-the-wall crew consists of: Chuck White (jackman), Tom Dean (front-tire carrier), Mike Lingerfelt (front-tire changer), Jay Barry (rear- tire carrier), Todd Foster (rear-tire changer), Jeff "Gooch" Patterson (gasman) and Brian Larson (catch can). The team's crew chief is Greg Zipadelli and the pit stop coordinator is Paul Alepa.

<pre> Top 10 Pit Crews For Participating Teams in Sunday's (Feb. 15) NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Daytona 500 race at Daytona International Speedway

Pos Team                        Time             Car#   Points
1.  Tony Stewart Team           216.397 seconds  20     43
2.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. Team     223.435 "        8      42
3.  Elliott Sadler Team         227.944 "        38     41
4.  Ricky Rudd Team             231.104  "       21     40
5.  Greg Biffle Team            248.101  "       16     39
6.  Kevin Harvick Team          258.136  "       29     38
7.  Dave Blaney Team            263.551  "       23     37
8.  Joe Nemechek Team           263.867  "       01     36
9.  Kyle Petty Team             315.525  "       45     35
10. Ward Burton Team            338.297  "        0     34

Point Standings for NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Teams Participating in The McDonald's Drive-Thru Pit Championship fueled by POWERADE: (following Rockingham 02/15/04; pit crew wins in parentheses)

Pos.   Car#  Pit Crew of                Points  Prize Money
 1     20    Tony Stewart Team (1)      43      20,000
 2     8     Dale Earnhardt Jr. Team    42
 3     38    Elliott Sadler Team        41
 4     21    Ricky Rudd Team            40
 5     16    Greg Biffle Team           39
 6     29    Kevin Harvick Team         38
 7     23    Dave Blaney Team           37
 8     01    Joe Nemechek Team          36
 9     45    Kyle Petty Team            35
 10    0     Ward Burton Team           34
 11    33    Mike Skinner Team          33
 12    41    Casey Mears Team           32
 13    97    Kurt Busch Team            31
 14    7     Jimmy Spencer Team         30
 15    1     John Andretti Team         29
 16    88    Dale Jarrett Team          28
 17    30    Johnny Sauter Team         27
 18    18    Bobby Labonte Team         26
 19    19    Jeremy Mayfield Team       25
 20    14    Larry Foyt Team            24
 21    09    Johnny Benson Team         23
 22    50    Derrike Cope Team          22
 23    43    Jeff Green Team            21
 24    40    Sterling Marlin Team       20
 25    31    Robby Gordon Team          19
 26    42    Jamie McMurray Team        18
 27    15    Michael Waltrip Team       17
 28    49    Ken Schrader Team          16
 29    9     Kasey Kahne Team           15
 30    99    Jeff Burton Team           14

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

-macdonalds-