No. 9 Pit Crew finishes first in Talladega

Bill Elliott's Pit Crew wins again in Talladega.

For the second time in the last three races, the crew of Bill Elliott's No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Intrepid captured the McDonald's Drive-Thru Pit Championship fueled by POWERade.

Elliott's crew took first place honors and the $20,000 check for eligible teams in Sunday's (April 6) Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway -- Round 8 of the McDonald's Drive-Thru Pit Championship. Elliott's team, owned by Evernham Motorsports, also came in first at the Food City 500 -- March 23 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Elliott's car spent the least amount of time on pit road in Talladega -- 310 seconds, 18 less than the second place car of Sterling Marlin's No. 40 Coors Light Dodge.

Elliott's over-the-wall crew consists of: Todd Colburn (jackman), Nick Bailey (front tire carrier), Jim Pohlman (front tire changer), Eric Wakeland (rear tire carrier), Joe Kruschek (rear tire changer), Rodney Rhodes (gasman) and Mike Goins (catch can). Mike Ford is the team director and Brady Turner handles the driver services.

In the point standings, Elliott's team, which joined the program at the fifth race of the season in Darlington (March 16), is ranked 26th with 124 points.

During each 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup points event, the participating team whose car spends the least amount of aggregate time off the race track will be named the weekly winner provided the team's driver takes the green flag at the beginning of the event and the checkered flag at the conclusion of the event. A timing line at the entrance and exit of pit road triggers the car's transponder and records the total time spent off the race track.

The team that records the most standing points during the season will receive a $200,000 bonus at the end of the year. The point distribution per race is: 43 points for first place, descending in increments of one. In order to obtain points at each race, a team must take the opening green flag and the closing checkered flag.

The McDonald's Drive-Thru Pit Championship fueled by POWERade is the largest monetary contingency program in NASCAR history and the first to reward pit crews for performance at each race.

<pre> Top 10 Pit Crews For Participating Teams In Sunday's (April 6) Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway

1. Bill Elliott Team            310 seconds
2. Sterling Marlin Team         328
3. Tony Raines Team             488
4. Elliott Sadler Team          559
5. Dale Jarrett Team            640
6. Robby Gordon Team            687
7. Kurt Busch Team              850
8. Kyle Petty Team              946
9. Michael Waltrip Team         1321
10. Steve Park Team             1366

2003 Winners of The McDonald's Drive-Thru Pit Championship fueled by POWERade:

Race                            Team Winner
Daytona (Feb. 16)               Michael Waltrip Team
Rockingham (Feb. 23)            Dave Blaney Team
Las Vegas (March 2)             Dale Earnhardt Jr. Team
Atlanta (March 9)               Dale Earnhardt Jr. Team
Darlington (March 16)           Jeff Green Team
Bristol (March 23)              Bill Elliott Team
Texas (March 30)                Robby Gordon Team
Talladega (April 6)             Bill Elliott Team

Top 10 Point Leaders McDonald's Drive-Thru Pit Championship fueled by POWERade (following Talladega race, 4/6/03)

Pos.    Car#      Team                          Points
1       15        Michael Waltrip Team          289
2        8        Dale Earnhardt Jr. Team       277
3       31        Robby Gordon Team             275
4       30        Jeff Green Team               252
5       16        Greg Biffle Team              235
6        1        Steve Park Team               233
7       97        Kurt Busch Team               230
8       88        Dale Jarrett Team             229
9       42        Jamie McMurray Team           218
10      40        Sterling Marlin Team          215

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