Roswell, GA (April 13, 2011) – Jimmy Fennig, crew chief for the No. 17 Crown Royal Black Ford driven by Matt Kenseth, has been named the WYPALL* Wipers Crew Chief of the Race following the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway Saturday night.
Kenseth dominated Saturday’s race from the get-go. After starting fourth, he took the lead early and led 189 of the 334 laps to end the team’s 76-race winless streak. With the exception of green flag pit stops, he ran in the top-five the entire night.
The Fennig-led team made constant adjustments throughout the race to keep Kenseth up front. Fennig made the right calls on when to bring Kenseth in the pits or when to stay out to maintain track position during caution periods. After the final round of pit stops, Kenseth led the final 14 circuits.
“I really want to thank Jimmy and this whole team for working as hard as they do for this victory,” said Kenseth. “I have to thank Crown Royal Black and all the fans up there. We had a packed house up there and it might not have been the closest finish, but it was great racing all night.”
“Jimmy prepared a solid car from the beginning of the weekend,” said WYPALL Wipers crew chief representative and FOX/Speed analyst Jeff Hammond. “He continually made the right adjustments throughout the race to keep Matt up front and in position for the win.”
WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief Results
Steve Addington, Kurt Busch and the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil team finished in a solid 10th place, even leading 24 laps. Addington’s pit strategy allowed Busch to stay in the hunt all evening.
“A little rough tonight,” said Addington. “I didn’t think we would be that much off to start the race. It seemed like when we adjusted on the car, we would get different results. It’s a bit of a mystery. We had to use some different strategy and we really shouldn’t have to do that. We should be up front challenging for wins. We just need to get a handle on this thing right now. I’m proud of everyone on this team who worked so hard on the Shell/Pennzoil Dodge. We did what we had to do to manufacturer a top-10 finish.”
Paul Wolfe and the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge of Brad Keselowski worked their way up to an 18th place finish after starting 26th and battling a tight-handling car for most of the race. Wolfe continued to improve the handling when a vibration started to hinder the “Blue Deuce.”
“We worked our tail off today; got ourselves some track position early in the race, made the most of it and led some laps,” said Keselowski. “That felt really, really good. We just weren’t good enough to stay up there, but we weren’t bad tonight. We were a 10th- to 15th-place car. We didn’t catch any bad breaks, but we didn’t catch any good breaks. We needed to do a little bit better on pit road; we lost some spots there we couldn’t get back. It was a strong effort.”
WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief Voting Team
Addington and Wolfe, along with Hammond and Sirius NASCAR Radio’s Claire B. Lang, serve as the panel for the WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief Challenge and vote for the weekly crew chief winners.
Each weekly WYPALL Crew Chief Challenge winner will be a guest on Lang’s “Dialed In” program on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128 at 8 p.m. EST on Wednesdays throughout the season.
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 $10,000 check during the weekend of the WYPALL 200 Presented by Kimberly-Clark Professional Nationwide Series race at Phoenix International Raceway on Saturday, November 12, 2011.
About WYPALL Wipers:
Since 2004, Kimberly-Clark Professional’s WYPALL Wipers brand has been affiliated with some of racing’s top teams. Offering heavy-duty to versatile light-duty towels, WYPALL Wipers provides race teams with a number of products providing strength and durability. Defeating the toughest of challenges, from absorbing tough grease and oil to wiping down windshields without leaving residue behind, WYPALL Wipers continue to offer performance and versatility.
The WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief Challenge will continue throughout the remainder of the 2011 season and spotlight the men behind the machines. For more information, log onto www.wypall.com.
About Penske Racing
Penske Racing is one of the most successful teams in the history of professional sports. Competing in a variety of disciplines, cars owned and prepared by Penske Racing have produced 332 major race wins, 396 pole positions and 23 National Championships. The team has also earned 15 Indianapolis 500 victories. For more information about Penske Racing, please visit www.penskeracing.com.
