Ryan Newman’s No. 12 Alltel Dodge pit crew excelled in speed and agility Wednesday night to edge Bobby Labonte’s No. 43 Dodge team for their first NASCAR NEXTEL Pit Crew Challenge title at Charlotte Bobcats Arena.
The 24 crews competing in the Pit Crew Challenge were selected based on whether they were a previous race winner, a past champion, the previous Pit Crew Challenge champion and the team’s ranking in the current owners’ points. The No. 12 team was in the competition as a result of Newman’s victory in the 2002 All-Star race.
The top-eight teams in the owners’ point standings competed in a “seeding round” to determine where they would compete during the competition’s second round. Kurt Busch’s No. 2 Miller Lite team participated in the “seeding round” and ended up eighth after costly penalties.
Once the top eight were set, the remaining 16 teams competed against each other to see who would advance to the competition’s second round. The No. 12 Alltel Dodge team went up against Dale Jarrett’s No. 44 UPS Toyota team in the first round. After finishing with a time of 23.80 seconds - the first stop under 24 seconds for any team - it looked as if the Alltel team might be eliminated when a 5-second fuel penalty was assessed to the team. However, the UPS team also faced a fuel penalty, which meant the Alltel team would last one more round.
Jeff Gordon’s No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet team was the next obstacle for the Alltel crew. It was no comparison as the 12 team crossed the finish line way ahead of Gordon’s team; with no penalties, the No. 12 Alltel Dodge team moved on to the “Call-Out Round”.
In the third round, the highest seeds chose who they competed against. While the No. 12 Alltel Dodge team was the fourth-highest seed, by the time it was able to choose its competition, there was only one team left - Brian Vickers’ No. 83 Red Bull Toyota team, which had not had a penalty the entire night.
With the two teams going head-to-head, the Alltel Dodge team was clearly the faster organization and with another penalty-free stop, the seven-member crew advanced to the semifinal round.
Again, there was little doubt as to who had the faster team as the Alltel Dodge organization took on Kyle Busch’s No. 5 Kellogg’s team. When there were no penalties for the Alltel team, the crew members celebrated, knowing they were taking on Labonte’s No. 43 team for the championship.
The final round seemed like it might be a little harder for the Alltel team, which had to compete immediately after its win over the No. 5 team. The No. 43 team had a few minutes to rest while the No. 12 team went right back to work. It was time for the Alltel Dodge team to show how tough it was by returning to the floor without showing signs of fatigue.
Jackman Britt Goodrich had a problem on the second side of the car and was slower getting over to the car than the 43 team, but gasman George Whitley and catch can Bryan White helped get the No. 12 Alltel Dodge rolling and when the rest of the crew reached the car, it had a short lead over Labonte’s Paul Andrews-led team. The Alltel team edged Labonte’s organization by 0.33 second. Both teams waited eagerly to see if any penalties would be assessed and when the NASCAR officials called a clean stop for both teams, jubilation erupted among the No. 12 Alltel Dodge team members who were awaiting the results on the Bobcats’ Arena’s main floor.
The team’s first win in the event netted the crew $70,000, while Newman was given an $11,000 check for the Ryan Newman Foundation, their NASCAR Foundation Charity of choice. With the win, the team gets the chance to pick its pit stall for Saturday night’s All-Star Challenge.
“We’ve been in the first pit stall many times before,” gasman George Whitley explained during the team’s press conference following the competition.
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