Truex’s Team Wins Tissot Pit Crew Award in Darlington
Truex’s crew, out of the Earnhardt Ganassi Racing stable, became the season’s ninth different winner of the Tissot pit road competition. The win came as a result of Truex’s Chevrolet Impala SS spending the least amount of time on pit road – 411.199 seconds.
The No. 1 pit crew’s performance lifted Truex to a sixth-place finish at Darlington’s daunting 1.366-mile track.
“I’m very proud of the guys for working hard at their pit stops," said No. 1 team crew chief Kevin “Bono" Manion. “The Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats team is a very solid group of guys, and they work well together. We aim for perfection, but we ask them to control penalties and mistakes. We can’t go fast if the lug nuts are not on tight or if a wheel is loose, so we work on being smarter when it comes to finishing our stops."
Truex’s pit crew consists of: Dennis Terry (front-tire changer), Shannon Keys (front tire carrier), Coleman Dollarhide (rear-tire changer), Mark Kennerly (rear-tire carrier), Jeff Kerr (jackman), Preston Cordell (gasman) and Eric “Pee Wee" Hoyle (catch can). The pit crew coach is Walt Smith.
Truex’s crew will receive $5,000 for the pit road win. The team with the most Tissot Pit Road Precision Award victories at the completion of the 36-race schedule will earn a $100,000 bonus plus Tissot watches for the crew and driver.
Jeff Gordon’s No. 24 crew leads in the Tissot standings after 11 races with three victories. There are eight teams tied with one win.
Tissot has been the official watch and timekeeper of NASCAR since 2006. The company is also the official timekeeper for a number of other sports, including the MotoGP World Championship, the Ice Hockey World Championship and the Cycling World Championship.
2009 Tissot Pit Road Precision Award Winners
Daytona 2/15 Reed Sorenson Team
Fontana, 2/22 Tony Stewart Team
Las Vegas, 3/1 Greg Biffle Team
Atlanta 3/8 Clint Bowyer Team
Bristol (3/22) Jimmie Johnson Team
Martinsville (3/29 Jeff Gordon Team
Fort Worth (4/5) Jeff Gordon Team
Phoenix (4/18) Ryan Newman Team
Talladega (4/26) Dale Earnhardt Jr. Team
Richmond (5/2) Jeff Gordon Team
Darlington (5/9) Martin Truex Jr. Team