Cingular crew win Sonoma pit challenge..no contest

Call it a double win for the No. 31 Cingular Wireless team during last Sunday's Dodge/Save Mart 350 NASCAR Winston Cup race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California.

Driver Robby Gordon won the race on the twisting 11-turn road course and his pit crew won the McDonald's Drive-Thru Pit Championship fuelled by POWERADE. While Gordon's win on the track created a fair deal of controversy, his win off it was un-questioned.

"It took the entire Cingular Wireless team to win at Sonoma and the pit crew played a huge role in our victory," said Gordon. "Pit strategy and pit stops are huge at Sonoma and the guys came through for me when it counted. They've been awesome all year long and they were really on top of their game Sunday. They helped pull the Cingular car into Victory Lane."

Thanks to fast and accurate work by the Cingular Wireless pit crew, Gordon's car, owned by Richard Childress Racing, spent the least amount of time of pit road during Sunday's 110-lap race on the 1.949-mile road course. The total pit road elapsed time for the No. 31 Chevrolet was 104.101 seconds.

Finishing second was the yellow No. 1 Pennzoil Chevrolet, driven by Ron Fellows, with a time of 107.361. Michael Waltrip's NAPA Chevrolet was third at 108.861.

It was the second time this season that Gordon's pit crew collected the $20,000 first-place check for winning the McDonald's Drive-Thru Pit Championship fuelled by POWERADE. The team also won at Texas Motor Speedway in March.

Gordon's over-the-wall crew consists of: Josh Yost (jackman), Shane Westerberg (front-tire changer), Mike Barry (front-tire carrier), Ron Otto (rear-tire changer), Jason Fowler (rear-tire carrier) Larry Hartle (gasman) and Rich Burgess (catch can). The team's crew chief is Kevin Hamlin.

The No. 31 Cingular Wireless team is in third place in the McDonald's/POWERADE season pit crew standings. Michael Waltrip's pit crew continues to lead in the point standings and Dale Earnhardt Jr's team is second.