NASCAR Daily News Headlines * May 6, 2008

Gil Martin Wins Crew Chief Award

Some say it was being in the right place at the right time, but cautious instruction from Martin is what empowered Bowyer to drive the No. 07 BB&T Chevy to victory in Saturday night’s race. After starting deep in the field, (31st) Bowyer carved his way up to 16th on lap 129 resulting from a successful pit stop by the Martin-led team. Increasing track position and then maintaining that spot was Martin’s main concern, coaching Bowyer to be patient as he steadily made his way to the front. Bowyer eventually took over the lead following a collision between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch with two laps to go and sailed to the victory.

“He [Martin] kept them in position the whole second half of the race, and it worked out that they were in position when it counted,” said Todd Berrier, crew chief of the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet, and WYPALL Wipers crew chief representative.

The 2008 WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief Challenge is a season-long contest that will determine the best crew chiefs in the NASCAR Sprint Cup garage. Following each Cup race, a panel will vote to determine which crew chief demonstrated the most outstanding strategy and leadership during the race. It isn’t necessarily the crew chief that goes to Victory Lane, but the crew chief that makes the biggest difference for his team.

Representatives from WYPALL Wipers, together with FOX/SPEED television analyst Jeff Hammond, and three of NASCAR’s top crew chiefs who represent WYPALL, including Berrier of Richard Childress Racing’s No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevy team, Bob Osborne of Roush Fenway Racing’s No. 99 Office Depot Ford team, and Kenny Francis of Gillett Evernham Motorsports’ No. 9 Budweiser Dodge team, make up the panel of judges.

In addition to the $1,000 check, the winning crew chief will receive signage to announce the win on their pit box the following week. The crew chief with the most weekly top wins will be honored as the WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief of the Year and will be presented a $20,000 check at the season finale in Homestead, Fla.

Martin In No. 5 At Darlington

The No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet was designed by GoDaddy.com spokesman Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and is a sleek black, orange and green Monte Carlo SS. Earnhardt was the first to drive the car at the Texas Motor Speedway Nationwide Series event last month. The month of April was a great one for Go Daddy and its auto racing sponsorships. Go Daddy Girl Danica Patrick made history as the first female ever to win in IndyCar with the Japan 300 victory.

“We are ecstatic to be a part of both NASCAR and IndyCar racing,” said Go Daddy CEO and Founder Bob Parsons. “How lucky are we to have outstanding drivers like Danica, Dale, Jr., Mark Martin and Ron Fellows all representing Go Daddy?”

Martin will have his work cut out at Darlington’s legendary egg-shaped oval – the track is nicknamed “Too Tough to Tame.” -- Go Daddy has a reputation for being “too tough to tame” when it comes to advertising. The company is known for its edgy advertisements and controversial Super Bowl commercials that push the limit. In fact, the term GoDaddy-esque has come to mean advertising that is edgy, fun and a touch inappropriate.

The company is best known, though, for being the world’s top Internet domain name registrar. It was recently voted “Best Registrar” by Web users worldwide and is nearly three times the size of its closest competitor. Go Daddy is also one of the world’s top Web hosting companies and can help novices or experts enhance their online presence with fast, friendly customer support.