Roswell, Ga. (September 21, 2010) – Shane Wilson, crew chief for the No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet and driver Clint Bowyer, has been named the WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief of the Race for a second consecutive time following Sunday’s Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Coming out of Richmond last weekend, where Clint and the No. 33 team clinched the 12th spot in the Chase, the Wilson-led team did everything right at New Hampshire – qualified second, led the most laps (177) and ran in the top-five all day. They had solid pit stops, Wilson made the right call near the end of the race on a pit stop, and won the race.
Bowyer rocketed out front on lap 31 and began to dominate, but adversity struck when an ill-functioning carburetor came into play and forced him to play catch up after restarts. Late in the race and running second to Tony Stewart, Wilson had played his hand on fuel mileage and Bowyer was in the right position when Stewart’s fuel cell ran dry.
“We overcame some adversity and a few guys beat us on those restarts,” said Bowyer, whose car was completely out of gas at the end as well. “I really thought I could run Tony Stewart back down, but Shane came on (the radio) and told me I needed to start saving fuel. I knew in the back of my mind I needed to do that, but it’s hard to run somebody down and save fuel at the same time.”
“This just feels good,” said Wilson. “I’m just proud of all the No. 33 guys that worked through it. We are still a pretty new team and we are some 50 odd races into this deal as a group working together. They work hard and do what I ask them to do and just want to give them a lot of credit.”
“This is a continuation of last week’s effort to make sure his driver was safely in the 2010 Chase,” said WYPALL Wipers crew chief representative Jeff Hammond. “This week Shane made the critical call to reign his driver back so he could go farther than Tony Stewart and outlast Denny Hamlin for the win. This call helped the No. 33 team make a major jump in the points and challenge for the top position.”
WYPALL* Wipers Crew Chief Results
Jeff Burton and the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevy led by Todd Berrier rolled off the starting grid in 13th.
Berrier called his driver to pit road for the final time on lap 208. Following 4 cautions, teams were starting to wonder if they were going to make it to the end on fuel. As the laps were winding down, the No. 31 team thought they had it, but with just two laps to go, the CAT machine ran out of gas. Luckily Burton was able to cross the finish line in 15th.
“We weren’t very good yesterday and the Cat Racing team did a great job of making the car better,” said Burton, who was running sixth at the time he ran out of gas. “We just came up a little short. We thought we were good (on fuel). We saved some under all the cautions and, during the first three quarters of that run, I was saving, too. We just didn’t get as good of fuel mileage on the last run as we had been getting. Our finish certainly doesn’t reflect how well the Caterpillar Chevrolet ran all day. If our cars stay this strong in these last nine races, we’ll put on a show.”
Marcos Ambrose and the No. 47 Kroger Toyota Camry, led by Frank Kerr took off from the 23rd position and finished a disappointing 30th.
WYPALL* Wipers Crew Chief Team
Berrier, Kerr and Hammond, along with representatives from the WYPALL Wipers brand, serve as the panel for the WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief Challenge and vote for the weekly crew chief winners. In addition to the $500 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 season’s end.
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 (Johnson).
About WYPALL Wipers
WYPALL is a brand of Kimberly-Clark Professional. Since 2004, WYPALL Wipers has been affiliated with some of racing’s top teams. Offering heavy-duty to versatile light-duty towels, WYPALL Wipers provide race teams with a number of products that demonstrate 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 2010 season and spotlight the men behind the machines. For more information, log onto www.wypall.com.
