No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet Pit Crew Members Bring Home Record-Breaking Individual Awards at NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge
[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″]
[/media-credit]WELCOME, N.C. (May 19, 2011)- Four members of Clint Bowyer’s No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet “Helping Hands” pit crew took home individual awards by breaking two competition records at the NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, N.C on May 19th.
Richard Childress Racing’s 2011 individual award winners include front-tire carrier Austin Craven, front-tire changer Jason Pulver, rear-tire carrier Matt Kreuter and rear-tire changer Dustin NeCaise. Each award victor took home a check for $10,000 and commemorative ring.
Kreuter and NeCaise, already defending champions of their respective division, fired off a record-breaking time of 13.846 seconds while Craven and Pulver’s 13.901-second stop broke the record set in 2010 by .002 seconds. Pulver is now a two-time individual winner, adding a 2011 trophy to go along with his 2006 award.
“It was a great night for our guys on the No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper team tonight,” said director of human performance Matt Clark. “We really wanted to get another team championship banner to hang up at the shop, but their individual performances tonight showcased their hard work and dedication they put in each and every day. I couldn’t be more proud.”
“Man, what a great night for all of the crew guys and their families,” said Bowyer, driver RCR’s No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet. “I always tell everyone that I have the best pit crew in the business and these guys proved me right once again tonight. I am just really proud of them. They deserve this recognition.”
The NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge, in its seventh year, is the only indoor event sanctioned by NASCAR that pits 24 top pit crews against one another in a head-to-head competition. Each crew member performed his respective duty in one of four different stations before pushing their respective race cards 40 yards from one side of the arena to the other.
RCR has claimed six pit crew competition championships. The legendary No. 3 team took home the trophy four consecutive years, 1985-1988, before the No. 31 team captured the bragging rights in 2009 – the first time an RCR pit crew has captured the championship in the seven years of its current structure.
NASCAR Sprint All-Star Week festivities move to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the annual NASCAR Sprint Showdown and Sprint All-Star Race on Saturday, May 21. Live coverage of the events will be televised on SPEED, beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time and will also broadcast worldwide on the Performance Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the second and final non points-paying event on the Sprint Cup Series tour will be televised on SPEED Friday, May 20, beginning at 6 p.m. EDT.
About Richard Childress Racing Richard Childress Racing has earned more than 190 victories and 12 NASCAR championships, including six in the Sprint Cup Series with the legendary Dale Earnhardt. RCR was the first organization to win championships in the Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series. Its 2011 Sprint Cup Series lineup includes Paul Menard (No. 27 Menard’s Chevrolet), Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet), Jeff Burton (No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet) and Clint Bowyer (No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet). Its Camping World Truck Series program includes 2010 Rookie of the Year Austin Dillon (No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet) and Joey Coulter, Jr. (No. 22 RCR Development Chevrolet). Tim George Jr. (No 31 RCR Development Chevrolet) and Ty Dillon (No. 41 Chevrolet) will compete in the 2011 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards. For more information, visit www.rcrracing.com.
