Patience was the word of the day for crew chief Stave Letarte and the No. 24 Pepsi/DuPont Chevrolet team during the running of the UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. While most of the field jostled at the front, providing 42 lead changes during the 188 lap race, Letarte kept his driver, Jeff Gordon, at the back of the pack turning the laps as the race ran down. Throughout the race, Gordon and Letarte kept to their strategy, only hindered by a penalty on lap 140. Gordon was requested by NASCAR to make a pit road pass through after an equipment violation during a circulation of yellow flag pit stops. The penalty was served and Letarte kept Gordon and his crew calm, knowing there was still plenty of time remaining. As the final laps were run Gordon shuffled to the front. It was not until the white flag that Gordon lead his first lap of the day keeping up front to take the checkered flag. For his patient strategy and cool head, Letarte was awarded the WYPALL* Wipers crew chief of the race.
At the conclusion of the race, Letarte commented on the team’s sixth win of the season. “I am so proud of this DuPont/Pepsi team," said Letarte. “They never gave up, they never panicked and we pulled it out. Jeff [Gordon] drove a patient, smart race and this was a team effort for us."
A panel of judges including a member of the local media, Robbie Reiser, Kenny Francis and a WYPALL* Wipers spokesmen, all agreed Letarte was a deserving crew chief of the race winner. “When you are racing in Talladega it is always a tough decision to either stay up front to avoid any crashes or keep at the back and be patient," said Francis. “Steve really planned and executed everything well. Nobody saw or heard from that team until the end when it really counted."