No. 31 Pit Crew wins Bristol II

Robby Gordon's Pit Crew Wins at Bristol; Fourth Win of Season For No. 31 Team

The pit crew for Robby Gordon won the McDonald's Drive-Thru Pit Championship fueled by POWERade in Saturday night's Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

It was the fourth victory of the season for the No. 31 Cingular Wireless crew, which has amassed $80,000 in season prize money. The record of four McDonald's/POWERade victories ties Elliott Sadler's crew for most pit crew wins in 2004. The victory also lifted Gordon's crew from eighth to sixth in the season point standings.

The crew for Dale Earnhardt Jr. continues to lead in the title chase that will pay $200,000 to the season pit crew champion. Earnhardt's crew has a 12-point lead over Sadler's crew - 868 to 856.

Gordon's Cingular Chevrolet spent 207.043 seconds on pit road in Bristol. Greg Biffle's National Guard Ford was second with a time of 211.289 and Earnhardt's Budweiser Chevy was third at 264.916.

"Saturday night was tough," said Chris Andrews, crew chief for the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Team. "The long green-flag run was brutal on the drivers and pitting the car without losing too much ground is always a challenge at Bristol because of the track's short distance.

"Robby and the guys really worked hard all night to get the job done. I knew they were doing pretty good when we actually gained two positions after everyone was forced to make green-flag pit stops approaching the midway point of the race. We were 12th and then we were 10th. That doesn't seem like much, but Bristol is one place it is not easy to gain position when you come down pit road."

Gordon's over-the-wall crew consists of: Ira-Jo Hussey (front-tire changer), Kevin Nervegna (front-tire carrier), Timmy Ladyga (rear-tire changer), Matt Kreuter (rear-tire carrier), Ron Liddell (gas man), Mike Moore (jackman) and Coy Hedrick (catch can).

<pre> Top 10 Pit Crews in Saturday's (Aug. 28) Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway

                                Time                    Car#    Points
1. Robby Gordon Team            207.043 seconds         31      43
2. Greg Biffle Team             211.289    "            16      42
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Team      264.916    "             8      41
4. Jeff Burton Team             267.133    "            30      40
5. Elliott Sadler Team          267.441    "            38      39
6. Kurt Busch Team              268.451    "            97      38
7. Jamie McMurray Team          272.217    "            42      37
8. Sterling Marlin Team         317.745    "            40      36
9. Kenny Wallace Team           370.172    "           100      35
10. Bobby Labonte Team          464.373    "            18      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
Bristol (3/28)          Sterling Marlin Team
Texas (4/4)             Michael Waltrip Team
Martinsville (4/18)     Kurt Busch Team
Talladega (4/25)        Robby Gordon Team
California (5/2)        Robby Gordon Team
Richmond (5/15)         Dale Earnhardt Jr. Team
Charlotte (May 30)      Jamie McMurray Team
Dover (6/6)             Tony Stewart Team
Pocono (6/13)           Casey Mears Team
Michigan (6/20)         Elliott Sadler Team
Sonoma (6/27)           Elliott Sadler Team
Daytona (7/3)           Michael Waltrip Team
Chicago (7/11)          Elliott Sadler Team
N. Hampshire (7/25)     Kurt Busch Team
Pocono (8/1)            Greg Biffle Team
Indianapolis (8/8)      Elliott Sadler Team
Watkins Glen (8/15)     Tony Stewart Team
Michigan (8/22)         Greg Biffle Team
Bristol 8/28)           Robby Gordon Team

Point Standings for NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Teams Competing in The McDonald's Drive-Thru Pit Championship fueled by POWERADE: Following Bristol (8/28); pit crew wins in parentheses

Pos. Car#       Pit Crew of                     Points  Prize Money
1      8        Dale Earnhardt Jr. Team (2)     868     40,000
2     38        Elliott Sadler Team (4)         856     80,000
3     20        Tony Stewart Team (3)           840     60,000
4     29        Kevin Harvick Team              826
5     97        Kurt Busch Team (3)             823     60,000
6     31        Robby Gordon Team (4)           794     80,000
7     88        Dale Jarrett Team               784
T-8   18        Bobby Labonte Team              783
T-8   42        Jamie McMurray Team (1)         783     20,000
10    15        Michael Waltrip Team (2)        781   40,000
11    30        Jeff Burton Team                780
12    41        Casey Mears Team (1)            768  20,000
13    40        Sterling Marlin Team (1)        756   20,000
14    01        Joe Nemechek Team               754
15    16        Greg Biffle Team (3)            749  60,000
16    99        Carl Edwards Team               748
17    21        Ricky Rudd Team                 730
18    49        Ken Schrader Team               697
19    43        Jeff Green Team                 690
20     0        Ward Burton Team                664
21    45        Kyle Petty Team                 646
22    50        Arnold Motorsports              580
23    09        James Finch Team (owner)        405
24   198        Todd Bodine Team                353
25    89        Morgan Shepherd Team            286
26    02        Hermie Sadler Team              274
27    72        Kirk Shelmerdine Team           175
28     1        DEI Team                        168
29   280        Andy Hillenburg Team            152
30   172        Ted Christopher Team            107
31   251        Kevin Lepage Team               105
32    91        Bill Elliott Team                88
33   194        Stanton Barrett Team             80
34   100        Kenny Wallace Team               77
35    14        Larry Foyt Team                  72
36   133        Kerry Earnhardt Team             54
37     7        Jim Smith Team (owner)           48

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