No. 8 Pit Crew wins Richmond

Pit Crew Win Gives Earnhardt Jr.'s Team Double Victory in Richmond

It was a double victory Saturday night for the No. 8 DEI team at Richmond International Raceway. Not only did Dale Earnhardt Jr. capture the Chevy American Revolution 400, but his pit crew also claimed victory in the McDonald's Drive-Thru Pit Championship fueled by POWERade.

It was the second victory of the season for Earnhardt's pit crew, which leads in the McDonald's/POWERade standings with 425 points. Elliott Sadler's crew took over second with 396 points and Tony Stewart's crew moved into third with 390 points.

The prize money for the pit crew championship includes $20,000 to the weekly winner and $200,000 to the season champion.

The No. 8 crew edged its DEI teammate 0x2022 Michael Waltrip's No. 15 pit crew -- for top honors in Richmond. The No. 8 and the No. 15 crews finished first and second respectively in last year's McDonald's/POWERade season championship point standings.

Earnhardt's Budweiser Chevrolet spent 125.128 seconds on pit road in Richmond while Waltrip's Napa Chevy was second with a time of 163.435. Tony Stewart's No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet was third at 165.927.

"It wasn't too bad of a night in the pits," said Tony Eury Jr., car chief for the No. 8 team. "We didn't have our front tire changer (Phil Drye), so I had to do some tire changing. It was kind of like an old-school type deal (Tony Jr. was formerly the full-time front tire changer before relinquishing his over-the-wall duties prior to last year). It's just like wearing an old shoe -- if you can do it, you can do it; if you can't, you can't."

"This pit crew did another great job," said Dale Jr. "And I got to hand it to ol' Tony Jr. He hasn't had to change tires for quite some time, so it was kind of neat seeing him chugging around the car. I had to make sure I hit the brakes early to give him plenty of room! Our pit stops have been real good all year long, and that's a big reason we're leading the (driver) points right now."

The No. 8 over-the-wall crew consists of: Bill Snyder (gasman), Kevin Pennell (jackman), Phil Drye (front tire changer), Danny Earnhardt (front tire carrier), Shannon Myers (rear tire changer), Troy Prince (rear tire carrier), Craig Lund (catch can). Tony Eury Sr. is the crew chief and the car chief is Eury Jr. The pit crew coach at DEI is Walt Smith.

<pre> Top 10 Pit Crews For Participating Teams in Saturday's (May 15) Chevy American Revolution 400 at Richmond International Raceway

Pos Team                        Time                 Car#       Points
1.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. Team     125.128 Seconds       8         43
2.  Michael Waltrip Team        163.435      "       15         42
3.  Tony Stewart Team           165.927      "       20         41
4.  Elliott Sadler Team         202.606      "       38         40
5.  Dale Jarrett Team           204.306      "       88         39
6.  Jeff Burton Team            205.130      "       99         38
7.  Sterling Marlin Team        238.868      "       40         37
8.  Ricky Rudd Team             252.067      "       21         36
9.  Johnny Sauter Team          253.750      "       30         35
10. Bobby Hamilton Jr. Team     266.617      "       09         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

Point Standings For NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Teams Participating in The McDonald's Drive-Thru Pit Championship fueled by POWERADE: Following Richmond (5/15); pit crew wins in parentheses

Pos.  Car#      Pit Crew of                     Points  Prize Money
1       8       Dale Earnhardt Jr. Team (2)     425     40,000
2      38       Elliott Sadler Team             396
3      20       Tony Stewart Team (1)           390     20,000
4      97       Kurt Busch Team (2)             384     40,000
5      29       Kevin Harvick Team              369
6      30       Johnny Sauter Team              367
7      18       Bobby Labonte Team              362
8      40       Sterling Marlin Team (1)        359     20,000
9      21       Ricky Rudd Team                 349
10     31       Robby Gordon Team (3)           346     60,000
11     42       Jamie McMurray Team             344
12     01       Joe Nemechek Team               342
13     88       Dale Jarrett Team               341
T-14   15       Michael Waltrip Team (1)        336     20,000
T-14   99       Jeff Burton Team                336
16     49       Ken Schrader Team               334
17     41       Casey Mears Team                333
18     16       Greg Biffle Team (1)            322    20,000
19      0       Ward Burton Team                309
T-20   43       Jeff Green Team                 301
T-20   45       Kyle Petty Team                 301
22     50       Derrike Cope Team               280
23     09       James Finch Team (owner)        226
24     02       Hermie Sadler Team              143
25    198       Todd Bodine Team                139
26     89       Morgan Shepherd Team            126
27     72       Kirk Shelmerdine Team           122
28    280       Andy Hillenburg Team             97
29     14       Larry Foyt Team                  72
30    194       Stanton Barrett Team             60
31      1       John Andretti Team               59
32     91       Bill Elliott Team                52
33      7       James Smith Team (owner)         48
34     23       Dave Blaney Team                 37
35     33       Mike Skinner Team                33
36    133       Kerry Earnhardt Team             23
37    100       Kenny Wallace Team               20
38    146       Carl Long Team                   18
39     84       Kyle Busch Team                  16

{TX) 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.

-mcdonalds-