No. 31 Pit Crew wins Talladega

Robby Gordon's Pit Crew Notches Second Win of Season; Earnhardt Jr.'s Crew Takes Over Points Lead

The pit crew for Robby Gordon's Chevrolet won the McDonald's Drive-Thru Pit Championship fueled by POWERade in Sunday's Aaron's 499 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

The $20,000 victory was the second time Gordon's Cingular Wireless pit crew took top honors this season. The other was at the March 4th race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The pit crew for Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second in Talladega and moved into first place in the McDonald's/POWERade season standings with 344 points, 10 more than the second place crew for Kurt Busch's team. Elliott Sadler's team is third with 329 points. The season champion will receive $200,000.

Gordon's No. 31 Chevrolet spent the least amount of time on Talladega's pit road -- 255.107 seconds. Earnhardt's Budweiser Chevy was close behind with a time of 264.364.

"I remember saying after their first McDonald's/POWERade win this year the Team Cingular pit crew would be back on top more than once this year," said Chris Andrews, Team Cingular crew chief. "Thank goodness they didn't make a liar out of me. I suspected they were going to win or be real close to first by the end of the day Sunday because they really hit their marks all day long.

"I know there were three times Robby came down pit road outside of first place, but was in the lead by the time the guys sent him back out on the track. I didn't make it easy on those guys either, because there was more than one time Sunday I didn't make the final pit call for four or two tires until Robby was driving down pit road and those guys responded every time, not fumbling once. "

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 (gasman), Mike Moore (jackman) and Coy Hedrick (catch can).

<pre> Top 10 Pit Crews For Participating Teams in Sunday's (April 25) Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway Time Car# Points 1. Robby Gordon Team 255.107 seconds 31 43 2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Team 264.364 " 8 42 3. Michael Waltrip Team 268.162 " 15 41 4. Jamie McMurray Team 298.633 " 42 40 5. Ricky Rudd Team 314.689 " 21 39 6. Jeff Burton Team 327.320 " 99 38 7. Jeff Green Team 345.854 " 43 37 8. Ken Schrader Team 389.535 " 49 36 9. Tony Stewart Team 401.401 " 20 35 10. Casey Mears Team 424.852 " 41 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

Point Standings For NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Teams Participating in The McDonald's Drive-Thru Pit Championship fueled by POWERADE: Following Talladega (4/25); pit crew wins in parentheses

Pos.  Car# Pit Crew of                  Points  Prize Money
1     8    Dale Earnhardt Jr. Team (1)  344     20,000
2     97   Kurt Busch Team (2)          334     40,000
3     38   Elliott Sadler Team          329
4     20   Tony Stewart Team (1)        315     20,000
5     29   Kevin Harvick Team           306
T-6   18   Bobby Labonte Team           301
T-6   30   Johnny Sauter Team           301
8     40   Sterling Marlin Team (1)     294     20,000
 9    42   Jamie McMurray Team          284
10    21   Ricky Rudd Team              281
T-11  31   Robby Gordon Team (2)        278     40,000
T-11  01   Joe Nemechek Team            278
13    88   Dale Jarrett Team            272
14    15   Michael Waltrip Team (1)     269     20,000
15    16   Greg Biffle Team (1)         268     20,000
16    41   Casey Mears Team             267
17    49   Ken Schrader Team            262
18    99   Jeff Burton Team             261
19    43   Jeff Green Team              259
20    45   Kyle Petty Team              252
21    0    Ward Burton Team             240
22    50   Derrike Cope Team            221
23    09   Johnny Benson Team           176
24    02   Carl Long/Hermie Sadler Team 109
25    72   Kirk Shelmerdine Team        104
26    280  Andy Hillenburg Team          97
27    198  Todd Bodine Team              93
28    89   Morgan Shepherd Team          85
29    14   Larry Foyt Team               72
30    1    John Andretti Team            59
31    91   Bill Elliott Team             52
32    194  Stanton Barrett Team          41
33    23   Dave Blaney Team              37
34    33   Mike Skinner Team             33
35    7    Jimmy Spencer Team            30
36    133  Kerry Earnhardt Team          23
37    100  Kenny Wallace Team            20
38    146  Carl Long Team                18
39    84   Kurt 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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