No. 40 Pit Crew wins Bristol

Marlin's Pit Crew Takes Bristol Win

Sterling Marlin's pit crew won the McDonald's Drive-Thru Pit Championship fueled by POWERade in Sunday's (March 28) Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Marlin's crew earned $20,000 for the victory and became the sixth different winner in the first six races of the 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season.

Kurt Busch's No. 97 crew, which finished second to Marlin's crew in Bristol, remains in first place in the McDonald's/POWERade standings with 236 points. Elliott Sadler's crew is second (220) and Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s crew is third (219). The season pit crew champion will receive a $200,000 bonus.

Marlin's fourth-place finish at Bristol was helped by his Coors Light pit crew. His No. 40 Dodge spent 250.170 seconds on pit road, six seconds fewer than Busch's Sharpie Ford. Michael Waltrip's NAPA Chevrolet was third with a time of 315.650.

"I think it is great that McDonald's and POWERade put on a program that allows the pit crews to compete against other pit crews and show what they do every weekend," said Lee McCall, crew chief for the No. 40 team. "We had some good stops at Bristol and I am really proud of the guys. The Coors Light pit crew works hard every week and this time we were able to get a top-five finish."

Marlin's over-the-wall crew consists of Steven Wolfe (front-tire changer), Trent Davis (front-tire carrier), Randy Cox (rear-tire changer), Tim Shore (rear-tire carrier), Mark Jacobs (jackman), Randy Hildreth (gasman) and Mike Motil (catch can). The team's pit crew coach is Lorin Ranier.

<pre> Top 10 Pit Crews For Participating Teams in Sunday's (March 28) Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway

   Team                         Time                    Car# Points
1.  Sterling Marlin Team        250.170 seconds         40   43
2.  Kurt Busch Team             256.152      "          97   42
3.  Michael Waltrip Team        315.650      "          15   41
4.  Ken Schrader Team           321.233      "          49   40
5   Kevin Harvick Team          371.937      "          29   39
6.  Greg Biffle Team            373.377      "          16   38
7.  Elliott Sadler Team         379.060      "          38   37
8.  Dale Earnhardt Jr.          381.177      "           8   36
9.  Johnny Sauter Team          432.111      "          30   35
10. Derrike Cope Team           438.422      "          50   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

Point Standings For NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Teams Participating in The McDonald's Drive-Thru Pit Championship fueled by POWERADE: Following Bristol (3/28); pit crew wins in parentheses

Pos.  Car# Pit Crew of                  Points  Prize Money
1     97   Kurt Busch Team (1)          236     20,000
2     38   Elliott Sadler Team          220
3      8   Dale Earnhardt Jr. Team (1)  219     20,000
4     20   Tony Stewart Team (1)        214     20,000
5     29   Kevin Harvick Team           208
6     30   Johnny Sauter Team           203
7     40   Sterling Marlin Team (1)     202     20,000
8     01   Joe Nemechek Team            201
9     18   Bobby Labonte Team           199
10    16   Greg Biffle Team (1)         194     20,000
11    21   Ricky Rudd Team              180
12    41   Casey Mears Team             176
13    88   Dale Jarrett Team            175
14    31   Robby Gordon Team (1)        173     20,000
T-15   0   Ward Burton Team             171
T-15  42   Jamie McMurray Team          171
17    49   Ken Schrader Team            167
18    45   Kyle Petty Team              165
19    43   Jeff Green Team              162
20    99   Jeff Burton Team             158
21    50   Derrike Cope Team            155
22    15   Michael Waltrip Team         150
23    09   Johnny Benson Team           115
T-24  72   Kirk Shelmerdine Team         86
T-24  02   Carl Long/Hermie Sadler Team  86
26   280   Andy Hillenburg Team          80
27     1   John Andretti Team            59
28   198   Todd Bodine Team              56
29    14   Larry Foyt Team               47
30    23   Dave Blaney Team              37
31    89   Morgan Shepherd Team          36
32    33   Mike Skinner Team             33
33    91   Bill Elliott Team             31
34     7   Jimmy Spencer Team            30
35   194   Stanton Barrett Team          23
36    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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