Penske Crew Still Standing Tall In The Pit

Back in 1993 there wasn’t much doubt among Winston Cup regulars that the Penske Racing South team had the fastest pit crew in the stock car sport.

Time after time, Rusty Wallace would drive out of the pits in a better position than he had been in before the stop.

Led by pit boss Buddy Parrott, who has since left the team, the Penske crew started something of a physical fitness revolution among the NASCAR teams after crediting daily workouts in their race shop gym for the improvement.

By 1994, just about everybody was on a physical fitness kick, and Jeff Gordon’s Hendrick Motorsports crew even got a pit coach. Other teams caught the Penske crew, although few have been able to upstage it.

“I think we’re as good as we were back then; maybe even better,” said Bill Wilburn, a member of the 1993 Penske unit that showed its superiority by winning the annual pit crew contest at Rockingham.

“Several things have changed since we won that pit crew contest,” Wilburn said. “We lost a couple of guys and plugged new people in. Then NASCAR eliminated one air gun and the left-side tire position last September, so we moved some of the guys around.

“I guess what I’m so proud of is that the consistency that we had back then is evident again.”

Wilburn, who is a tire-changer on the pit stops, pointed to the May 26 Coca-Cola 600 in which Wallace made up 19 positions, in large part due to quick stops, before he was taken out in a crash.

“We were getting better and better during the 1995 season,” said Shawn Parker, another tire-changer for Wallace. “I think we probably were third-best behind the 24 car (Gordon) and the 3 car (Dale Earnhardt) until the final third of the season.

“When our whole program got strong and we were really laying some numbers on the board, that’s when the pit crew really gelled and we really got the consistency going. We’re back up there at the top again now, and we plan on staying there, too.”

Hendrick heaven

Rick Hendrick, happy with the basic structure of his very competitive three-car team, has taken steps to keep his key people on through the turn of the century.

After announcing several weeks ago that Labonte, crew chief Gary DeHart and sponsor Kelloggs all have extended their contracts through the year 2000, Hendrick went after the other key elements of the powerful team.

Now he has persuaded Gordon and third driver Ken Schrader, as well as team manager Ray Evernham and Schrader’s sponsor, Budweiser, to extend as well. Engine builder Randy Dorton and car builder Eddie Dickerson are also in the fold for an extended period.

Gordon, still only 24 and the defending series champion, picked up the 13th victory of his budding career at Dover, tying him for 37th on the all-time win list with Dick Rathmann and Tim Richmond.

Labonte, the 1984 Winston Cup champ, has been reborn with Hendrick, contending for another title. Schrader, who is on an extended victory drought, nevertheless is a solid pro capable of running up front consistently.

“The right team chemistry and continuity are the key ingredients to success in this extremely competitive environment,” Hendrick said. “We’ve found combinations of people and sponsors that work, and we are very excited about the future.”

Pole cats

Despite the fact that the banked one-mile oval at Dover Downs International Speedway is one of the most difficult on the circuit to pass on, Gordon’s victory last Sunday marked only the seventh time in 51 Dover races that a Winston Cup event has been won from the pole.

In fact, it was only the third time in 26 spring races that the pole-sitter has won - and the first time it has been accomplished since David Pearson in 1976.

Pearson remains the only driver to have won more than one race from the pole at Dover. He won from the pole at both Dover races in 1973.