NASCAR Daily News Headlines * November 17, 2009

Knaus Named Best Crew Chief

The focus and determination, along with the positive coaching from Knaus, equipped the No. 48 team with the right tools to dominate and leading 238 of the 312-lap event, taking their seventh win of the season.

The first 116 laps were caution free as Johnson battled with last week's winner, Kurt Busch for the lead, eventually claiming the first position on lap 57.

Knaus called his driver in for the first time of the day on lap 74 for a wedge adjustment and four fresh tires. Although he returned to the track in third it didn't take him long to regain the lead on lap 90 where he stayed for most of the race.

Johnson headed for the pits once more on lap 117 during the race's first caution of the day. "Once [Chad] called for the second set of tires, we were set," said Johnson.

"The team did a great job today," said Knaus. "Fantastic preparation on the car, I could not be more proud of the entire team's efforts all weekend."

"Chad displayed a championship performance," said Jeff Hammond, WYPALL Wipers spokesperson and SPEED/FOX television analyst. "The Knaus-led team is nothing short of phenomenal."

WYPALL* Wipers Crew Chief Results
Phoenix proved to be more challenging than what Bob Osborne, crew chief for the No. 99 Aflac Ford and driver Carl Edwards are typically used to. The team struggled to gain track position and the Osborne-led crew made several track adjustments to improve the handling only to finish in the 16th position. Since being named the crew chief for Jeff Burton and the No. 31 CAT team, Todd Berrier has led his team to two top-five and three consecutive top-10 finishes after coming home a close second in Phoenix after starting from the 36th 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 this Sunday at Homestead Miami Speedway.

The presentation will take place live on NASCAR Raceday on SPEED, Sunday, beginning at 11:30am EST. 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 Knaus (Jimmie Johnson).

Bowyer's Crew Best On Pit Road

It was the third Tissot win of the season for Bowyer’s crew and the second straight win for a Richard Childress Racing (RCR) team. Last week’s Tissot winner was the RCR teammate of the No. 33 – the No. 29 crew for Kevin Harvick.

Bowyer’s No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet spent the least amount of time on pit road – 170.217 seconds -- during the Checkers O’Reilly Auto Parts 500. The quick stops lifted Bowyer to a seventh-place finish.

Bowyer's over-the-wall crew, which earned $5,000 for the win, consists of: Jason Pulver (front-tire changer), Austin Craven (front-tire carrier), Dustin Niecaise (rear-tire changer), Matt Kreuter (rear-tire carrier), Nick Terry (jackman), Bryan Smith (gasman), Chad Haney (catch can) and Scott Brewer (eighth man). The team's crew chief is Shane Wilson.

With one Sprint Cup race remaining – Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway – the crews for Greg Biffle and Jeff Gordon are the only teams in contention to capture the Tissot Pit Road Precision Award season championship.

Biffle’s crew leads the competition with six wins while Gordon’s team is second with five wins. If there’s a tie, the team which finishes the highest in the Sprint Cup driver point standings will be awarded the Tissot season title. The season-champion crew will receive $100,000 plus Tissot watches for the crew and driver.

Hendrick Close To 12th Championship

Logano Nears Rookie Title

The Connecticut native at age 19 years, five months, 29 days would become the youngest rookie of the year in the history of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Kyle Busch (No. 18 M&Ms Toyota) was age 20 years, six months, 13 days when he won the title in 2005. Winning the rookie of the year title is a good indication of things to come. NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductee Richard Petty won the award in 1959; David Pearson was top rookie in 1960. Since 1979 six Raybestos Rookies of the Year have gone on to win series titles including seventime champion and Hall of Fame Inductee Dale Earnhardt (1979) and Jeff Gordon (1993).

Top 35 Owner Points Picture

The No. 34 team owned by Teresa Earnhardt currently ranks 35th with 2,667 points. The only team with a shot at taking the position is the No. 82 of Dietrich Mateschitz.

Mateschitz and driver Scott Speed, however, trail by 114 points. Speed, who has a single top five in his rookie season, will at least have to match his best performance of the year (fifth) to overcome the deficit.