Flawless Red Bull Team Walks Off With NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge

[DebWilliams-GFN]

By Deb Williams

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 15, 2008) – Brian Vickers' Red Bull crew posted record-breaking performances throughout Thursday's NASCAR Sprint Crew Challenge at Time Warner Arena to emerge as this year's championship team.

The team, coached by Greg Miller who guided Evernham Motorsports to the title two years ago, clearly was the quickest from the beginning of the two-hour event. In the first round, it reeled off a 22.760-second performance, then followed with times of 22.572, 22.655, 22.865 and 22.902 seconds in the all-Toyota final round.

“Words can't describe these guys,” Miller said about the crew that doesn't work at the race shop, but concentrates solely on its over-the-wall duties. “I picked this crew on character, not performance. Actual talent was the last thing I looked at when I picked this group.”

When comparing this year's championship team to the one two years ago, Miller said the primary difference was Red Bull's decision to allow him to have a pit crew department. That, Miller said, allows them more time in the weight room, to practice, and to do drills.

However, none of the Red Bull team members won individual titles. Those went to Caleb Hurd and Jamie Frady, gasman and catch can man, respectively, for Jeff Gordon's DuPont team; Nick Odell and Brad Donaghy, front tire changer and front tire carrier, respectively, on Kyle Busch's M&M's team; Dave Smith and Jason Binger, rear tire changer and rear tire carrier, respectively, on Matt Kenseth's DeWalt team; and Eric Wilson, jackman, on Kasey Kahne's Budweiser crew.

Hurd and Frady set a record with a 10.031-second performance. That broke the old record of 14.20 seconds set in 2006 by Jeff Patterson and Brian Larson of Tony Stewart's Home Depot team. Wilson also set a record, completing his jackman duties in 5.431 seconds. That broke the record of
5.94 seconds set by UPS team jackman Mitch Lash in 2007.

“I was Mitch's coach last year because I wasn't in this thing,” said the 38-year-old Wilson, who first participated in the annual pit crew competition at Rockingham, N.C., in 1996 for a Junior Johnson-fielded team. “He returned the favor this year.

“When I did this in 1996, we spent our Saturday nights drinking Budweiser, but those days are gone. Then, we did 17-second pit stops. Now, they're in the 11-second range. The caliber of athlete has increased. I'm probably the most out of shape gasman here. I'm glad to be able to stay with them.”

The individual champions were determined in the first round, and it was then that it became clear the Red Bull team was the crew to beat. The last team to qualify for the competition, which takes the top 24 teams in the car owner standings, knocked off flawless rounds. The championship crew, which had been favored throughout the week, said they knew the key to winning the title was to avoid beating themselves with penalties.

Penalties assessed by NASCAR officials proved the undoing of several teams in the two-hour competition.

In the semi-final round, the Red Bull team appeared to have trouble getting its car rolling, but edged Kevin Harvick's Pennzoil team at the line by a mere 8/100 of a second. A 5-second penalty was assessed Harvick's team, allowing the Red Bull crew to advance to the finals with a 22.865-second to 27.945-second performance.

The other semi-final match pitted Joe Gibbs Racing teams against each other with Denny Hamlin's FedEx team emerging the victor – 22.955 to
23.945 seconds over Kyle Busch's M&M's crew. Neither team was assessed any penalties.

In the quarter-final round, which was the “Sprint call-out round”, the highest-seeded remaining team had the opportunity to select its opponent from the remaining reams in the competition. That pitted the Pennzoil team against Jimmie Johnson's Lowe's/Kobalt Tools crew; Red Bull against Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s AMP Energy/National Guard team; the FedEx crew against Kurt Busch's Miller Lite team; and the M&M's crew against Carl Edwards'
Office Depot team.

A 3-second penalty on the rear proved costly for Johnson's team. That left the Hendrick operation with a 25.640-second performance, while Harvick's team was flawless at 24.626 seconds.

In the battle of the energy drinks, Vickers' Red Bull team defeated Earnhardt Jr.'s AMP crew, 22.655 to 23.569 seconds.

Hamlin's crew advanced to the semi-final round with a 22.960-second to 23.564-second defeat of Kurt Busch's crew. Busch's jackman reached the No.
2 Miller Light Dodge first, but three crewmen reached the No. 11 Toyota at the same time, and that extra push made the difference at the finish line.

Despite a problem encountered by M&M team jackman Jeff Fender, Kyle Busch's crew still emerged the victor over Edwards' Office Depot team –
22.887 to 23.536 seconds.

In the second round, Johnson's team advanced with a flawless performance of 23.040 seconds. A 3-second penalty on Martin Truex Jr.'s Bass/Tracker team left it with a 26.685-second performance.

Clint Bowyer's Jack Daniel's team, which had a bye in the first round, lost in the second round due to a 5-second penalty for spillage by gasman Mike Morrison. That gave the team a time of 28.155 seconds. Harvick's team was defeated at the line on pit lane, but received no penalties and produced a 24.039-second performance.

Edwards' team defeated Newman's Alltel team by four-tenths second, sending the competition's defending champions home. Both were flawless, even though Newman's team had trouble on the rear tire. Edwards' team turned in a time of 23.238 seconds, whiles Newman's team recorded a time of 23.623 seconds.

One of the closest pit lane competitions in the second round occurred between Jeff Burton's AT&T Mobility crew and Kurt Busch's Penske team.
They were fender-to-fender as the crews pushed their cars down their respective pit lanes. Both crews were flawless, with the Miller Lite team edging the AT&T crew, 23.800 to 23.851 seconds.

Bobby Labonte's Cheerios/Betty Crocker team also was edged out of the competition – 23.319 to 23.356 seconds – by Hamlin's crew.

Earnhardt Jr.'s crew eliminated Jamie McMurray's Crown Royal crew, 23.720 to 28.431 seconds. McMurray's front tire changer received a 3-second penalty.

Kyle Busch's team defeated Jeff Gordon's crew on pit lane – 22.738 to
23.511 seconds. Neither team received a penalty.

Vickers' Red Bull team continued its march through the brackets, edging Stewart's crew, 22.572 to 22.995 seconds.

In the first round match that kicked off the competition, Truex's team easily defeated Juan Pablo Montoya's Juicy Fruit team, 23.072 to 25.135 seconds.

Harvick's team and Dale Jarrett's UPS team each received 3-second penalties, but Harvick's Richard Childress operation advanced to the second round.

Newman's team defeated Kenseth's Roush Fenway Racing crew at the line.
Both received penalties, but Kenseth's team received a 9-second penalty, while the Alltel team was docked 3-seconds.

Kurt Busch's Penske Racing team also advanced to the second round, defeating David Regan's crew at the line and in the penalty department.
The Miller Lite crew escaped penalty free, while the front-tire carrier on Regan's team was penalized 6 seconds.

Kahne's crew was out of the box first on its pit lane, but penalties cost the Gillett Evernham Motorsports team a chance to advance to the second round. Instead, Labonte's Petty Enterprises team moved on in the competition.

McMurray's team narrowly edged Greg Biffle's team at the line on pit lane.
Biffle's front tire carrier received a 3-second penalty, while McMurray's team was assessed a 3-second penalty on the rear. McMurray's team advanced with 27.552 seconds, while Biffle's team went home with its 27.845-second performance.

Gordon's team advanced to the second-round with a flawless performance in its first meeting, completing its duties in 22.934 seconds. Casey Mears'
Kelloggs team was assessed penalties that pushed its total time to 40.911 seconds.

Vickers' team easily advanced to the second round, beating Mark Martin's crew on the pit lane and in time. Vickers' crew produced a flawless 22.760-second stop. Penalties pushed the DEI team's time to 32.975 seconds.