|
 The
#17 DeWalt Roush Racing team defended their 76/Rockingham
World Pit Crew Championship title Saturday at North Carolina
Speedway, topping 25 other top Winston Cup teams taking part
in the competition, cranking out a four-tire pit stop in
16.823 seconds.
The crew, led by crew chief Robbie Reiser, broke their 2001
record by .862 seconds to set a new world record. The
two-time champions are also the first team to break the
16-second mark since the competition evolved to a four-tire
stop, earning the team a $10,000 bonus in addition to the
$30,000 first place prize.
“It’s pretty cool to win again,” said Matt Kenseth, driver
of the No. 17 Ford Taurus. “I don’t have that much to do
with the pit crew deal obviously, but it feels good to have
the guys do this. It feels good to have the confidence that
when Robbie is calling the race to know that when you come
in and need four tires you have the best in the business
doing it. They do a good job every week.
“Robbie has assembled a great group of guys and we’ve been
able to keep them together. It’s not just a race team, we’re
all friends and we have a real good time together.”
The team became the first repeat champions since 1987-1988
when crew chief Kirk Shelmerdine and Dale Earnhardt won
back-to-back titles.
“One day of practice is all we really did to prepare for the
competition, said Robbie Reiser, Crew chief of the No. 17
team. “We spend the whole year doing this program. One day
of practice to make sure we got all the lug nuts tight is
really all we did for this deal.”
In addition to Reiser, and pit crew coordinator Andy Ward,
the #17 crew includes Phil Drye (front tire changer), Bryan
Dunaway (rear tire carrier), Benjy Grubbs (gas man), Justin
Nottestad (front tire carrier), Dave Paronto (catch can
man), Dave Smith (rear tire carrier), Russ Strupp (jack
man), Jeff Vandermoss (car chief) and Mike Calinoff
(spotter).
Teams from the Roush Racing stable made up the top three in
Saturday’s competition, with Mark Martin’s Viagra crew, led
by crew chief Ben Leslie, putting up a second-place time of
17.005 seconds, and Kurt Busch’s Rubbermaid team, led by
Jimmy Fennig, taking third with a stop of 17.556.
Joe Gibbs Racing #20 Home Depot team, who service current
Winston Cup point’s leader Tony Stewart, placed fourth with
a time of 18.208. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s Budweiser crew
rounded out the top five with a stop of 19.265.
Only nine of the 25 teams managed to complete their pit
stops without any penalties, which are assessed for
infractions such as loose lug nuts and spilled fuel.
The author can be contacted nascar@autoracing1.com
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