NASCAR Daily News Headlines * November 10, 2009

No. 1 Team Penalized

The team was penalized for violating Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-I (any determination by NASCAR officials that the race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules); and 20-12.8.1B (front of the car did not meet the required height specification; too low in post-race inspection).

Crew chief Kevin Manion was fined $50,000 and remains on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31, 2009. Car owner Teresa Earnhardt and driver Martin Truex Jr., were penalized with the loss of 50 championship owner and 50 championship driver points, respectively.

Crew Chief Of The Race: Pat Tryson

Tryson's pit and fuel strategy, along with solid coaching to Busch on the radio, enabled the No. 2 team to capture its second win of the season.

The final 121 laps of the race were caution free, and Tryson was already in fuel mileage strategy mode. He called Busch to the pits under caution on lap 207 and instructed his driver to start conserving fuel.

As the next round of fuel stops began to take place, Kurt's brother Kyle was in the lead and came in for four tires and fuel on lap 269. Tryson wanted to stretch it a couple more laps in hopes of making it the rest of the way without another stop. After his stop on lap 271, Kurt was in fifth, and by lap 320 of the 334-lap showdown, he was second to his brother.

"Don't worry about Kyle (Busch)," Tryson said to his driver on the team radio when there were 13 laps remaining. "He's three laps short, we're about a lap short and if you can save us some fuel, we'll win this thing."

Sure enough, Tryson's prediction was right on as the No. 18 car ran out of fuel with just 3 laps to go, allowing his brother to cruise his way across the finish line in victory. "It came down to the crew chief, Pat (Tryson) putting in the right calls and getting us the fuel mileage to bring it home," said Busch. "We had good solid pit stops and good pit strategy, a very solid team."

"Pat's carefully planned strategy worked to their advantage," said Jeff Hammond, WYPALL Wipers spokesperson and SPEED/FOX television analyst. "He put the No. 2 car on fire, keeping him up in the front of the pack all day long."

This is the second time this season that Tryson has been named the WYPALL* Wipers Crew Chief of the Race. It's now down to Chad Knaus and Darian Grubb, who are tied for the lead as the WYPALL* Wipers Crew Chief the Race, with four wins and both are in contention to become the WYPALL* Wipers Crew Chief of the Year. The winner will be determined following the race in Phoenix this weekend.

WYPALL* Wipers Crew Chief Results
Bob Osborne, crew chief for the No. 99 Aflac Ford and driver Carl Edwards were caught up in an accident on lap 175 which ended their day early with a 39th-place finish. In his second week as the crew chief for Jeff Burton and the No. 31 CAT team, Todd Berrier guided his team to a second consecutive top-10 finish coming home in the ninth position. WYPALL Wipers' support the men behind the machines and you can find out more about Todd and Bob at http://www.wypall.com/Bios.asp.

WYPALL* Wipers Crew Chief Team
Osborne, Berrier, and Hammond, along with representatives from the WYPALL Wipers brand, all serve as the panel for the WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief Challenge and vote for the weekly crew chief winners. 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 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.

Each week through Homestead, Hammond will interview the WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief of the Race from the prior race during Trackside Live on SPEED every Friday evening.

Former winners of the WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief Challenge include Tony Eury, Sr. (Dale Earnhardt, Jr.), Robbie Reiser (Matt Kenseth), Doug Richert (Greg Biffle), Mike Ford (Denny Hamlin) and Chad Knaus (Jimmie Johnson).

Kevin Harvick’s Crew Wins Tissot Pit Road Precision Award

Harvick’s Chevy Impala SS spent the least amount of time on pit road (221.751 seconds) during the Dickies 500. The winning effort by the No. 29 crew helped Harvick post a fifth-place finish in Texas.

"The No. 29 crew did an unbelievable job on pit road this past weekend,” said Matt Clark, human performance director at Richard Childress Racing. “The Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet crew epitomizes the essence of teamwork and performance. It is awesome to see a group of individuals come together and work hard in the gym as well as on pit road, too.

“To do what they did in Texas this past weekend showed up in the results as Kevin Harvick was able to gain positions on pit road and on the race track. Thanks to Tissot for sponsoring this award and rewarding pit crews for their hard work."

Harvick’s over-the-wall crew, which earned $5,000 for the Tissot win, consists of: DJ Richardson (front-tire changer), Erik Pringle (front-tire carrier), Jonathon Billy (rear-tire changer), Mike Hodges (rear-tire carrier), Corey Wimbish (jackman), Mike Morrison (gasman) and Cruz Gonzales (catch can). The team’s crew chief is Gil Martin.

With two races remaining in the 2009 season, three teams are in contention to capture the Tissot Pit Road Precision Award season championship which carries a $100,000 bonus plus Tissot watches for the crew and driver.

Greg Biffle’s crew leads the competition with six wins, followed by five wins for Jeff Gordon’s crew and four wins for Jimmie Johnson’s crew.

If there’s a tie in the Tissot competition after the final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway (Nov. 22), the team which finishes the highest in the Sprint Cup driver point standings will be awarded the Tissot season title.

RAB Racing Fires Brad Parrott

Turner Motorsports Signs Ricky Carmichael

Carmichael, a 29-year-old of Clearwater, Florida, is the most successful rider in American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) history. No other competitor has won fifteen championships or over 150 races, accomplishments which earned him the nickname “GOAT” (Greatest of All-Time). Carmichael made the switch from two wheels to four in 2007, competing in a partial schedule in the Florida FASCAR Series before joining Ken Schrader Racing in the NASCAR Camping World East Series the following year. During the current 2009 NCWTS season, Carmichael has driven on a part-time basis for Kevin Harvick Inc., while challenging for the Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors.

“I’m very excited about having the opportunity to compete full-time in the Truck Series next season for Turner Motorsports,” said Carmichael. “To compete every week and gain as much seat time as possible is the only way that I will be able to get better as a driver. The Truck Series is a great place to learn and the racing is very competitive, no matter which track we go to. On top of the Truck schedule next year, we will run 10 ARCA races and possibly some Nationwide Series races which will give me some extra time in these stock cars. The two races that we will run this year at Phoenix and Homestead will definitely give us a chance to start getting everything ready for 2010 and I’m pumped about the future.”

“To have a driver with as much talent as Ricky is something that every owner wants to have,” said Steve Turner, co-owner of TMS. “Ricky has accomplished a lot in his motocross career and he has the determination and passion to have just as much success in his stock car career. It’s an exciting addition for our Turner Motorsports team and the two races this season will give us a head start heading into 2010.”

Sponsorship details, truck number and personnel will be released at a later date.