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Home Depot Racing: Darlington Team Report

Thursday May 8, 2008

 

TONY STEWART Home Depot Racing Team Report Round 11 of 36 – Dodge Challenger 500 – DarlingtonCar No.: 20 – Joe Gibbs Racing Home Depot Toyota CamryTeammates: Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry and Kyle Busch in the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry Primary Team Members:Driver: Tony Stewart Crew Chief: Greg Zipadelli Car Chief: Jason Shapiro Engine Builder: Mark Cronquist Engine Specialist: Jarrad Egert (pronounced “Egg-ert”) Spotter: Mark Robertson Over-The-Wall Crew Members:Gas Man: Jeff “Gooch” Patterson Front Tire Changer: Ira-Jo Hussey Catch Can: Brian “Shaggy” Larson Front Tire Carrier: Tom Dean Windshield: Scott Geerts (pronounced “Gurtz”) Rear Tire Changer: Kyle Turner Jackman: Jason Lee Rear Tire Carrier: Eric Groen (pronounced “Grow-in”) Other Crew Members:Truck Drivers: Tom “Thumper” McCrimmon and Scott “Scooter” CrowellShock Specialist: Dave Hansen Tire Specialists: Jerold Shires and Bill Byrne (pronounced “Burn”) Engineer: Adam Stevens No. 20 Team History at Darlington Raceway: Year Event Start Finish Status/Laps Laps Led Earnings 2007 Dodge Avenger 500 22 18 Running, 367/367 0 $145,961 2006 Dodge Charger 500 13 12 Running, 367/367 0 $133,386 2005 ×Dodge Charger 500 15 10 Running, 370/370 0 $131,586 2004 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 8 17 Running, 293/293 1 $101,118 Mountain Dew Southern 500 6 17 Running, 366/367 0 $109,678 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 28 10 Running, 293/293 0 $103,158 Mountain Dew Southern 500 20 12 Running, 367/367 0 $109,503 2002 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 36 36 Accident, 225/293 7 $83,233 Mountain Dew Southern 500 4 8 Running, 367/367 0 $100,528 2001 †Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 14 16 Running, 293/293 0 $53,735 Mountain Dew Southern 500 33 4 Running, 367/367 0 $93,900 2000 Mall.com 400 9 4 Running, 293/293 0 $68,230 *Pepsi Southern 500 29 9 Running, 328/328 0 $55,735 1999 *TranSouth Financial 400 10 6 Running, 164/164 0 $44,240 *Pepsi Southern 500 19 12 Running, 270/270 0 $46,620 × Race length extended due to green-white-checker finish. † Qualifying canceled due to weather, starting position set via car owner points. * Race cut short due to weather. Chassis No. 192:This is a relatively new race car, as it debuted at Bristol in March, where it qualified sixth and led six times for a race-high 267 laps before a late accident with Kevin Harvick relegated Chassis No. 192 to a 14th-place finish. Prior to Bristol, it’s only track time came during last year’s Car of Tomorrow test at Atlanta Motor Speedway Oct. 29-30. It had served primarily as a backup until making its debut at Bristol. This weekend’s event at Darlington will mark Chassis No. 192’s second career start. Year Event Start Finish Status/Laps Laps Led Earnings 2008 Bristol (Spring) 6 14 Running, 506/506 267 $139,911 Joe Gibbs Racing Darlington Anecdotes:• Joe Gibbs Racing has earned one Sprint Cup win at Darlington: Ø 2000 Pepsi Southern 500 was won by former Joe Gibbs Racing driver Bobby Labonte • Joe Gibbs Racing has earned one Sprint Cup pole at Darlington: Ø 1997 Mountain Dew Southern 500 pole was won by Labonte • Joe Gibbs Racing has earned three NASCAR Nationwide Series wins at Darlington: Ø 2007 Diamond Hill Plywood 200 was won by Denny Hamlin Ø 2006 Diamond Hill Plywood 200 was won by Hamlin Ø 1998 Diamond Hill Plywood 200 was won by Labonte • Joe Gibbs Racing has earned two NASCAR Nationwide Series poles at Darlington: Ø 2007 Diamond Hill Plywood 200 pole was won by Hamlin Ø 2006 Diamond Hill Plywood 200 pole was won by Hamlin Notes of Interest:• The Dodge Challenger 500 will mark Stewart’s 331stcareer NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start and his 16thcareer Sprint Cup start at Darlington. • Stewart is currently seventh in the Sprint Cup point standings with 1,297 points, 198 markers behind new series leader and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch. Stewart gained one spot as a result of his fourth-place finish last Saturday night at Richmond. At this point last year Stewart was seventh in the standings with 1,225 points, 466 markers behind series leader Jeff Gordon. Stewart has scored 72 more points this year than he did last year heading into the 11thrace of the season. • Stewart has scored four top-fives and six top-10s in the 10 Sprint Cup races run this season. He has a career total of 32 wins, 123 top-fives and 197 top-10s in 330 career Sprint Cup races.• Stewart is the fastest driver in traffic in the 10 races held this season. His relative speed percentage of 6.4 is 1.6 points better than second-best Carl Edwards (8.0). “Relative Speed Percentage” averages how much faster or slower a driver raced versus the average speed of all drivers.“Traffic” is determined when there is another car within one car length.• Stewart has spent more laps in the top-15 than any other driver this season. After 10 races, Stewart has been in the top-15 86.8 percent of the time (2,862 laps). Dale Earnhardt Jr., is second-best, having run in the top-15 83.3 percent of the time (2,745 laps).• Stewart’s best Sprint Cup finish at Darlington is fourth (twice – Spring 2000 and Fall 2001). • Stewart has two top-fives and seven top-10s in his 15 career Sprint Cup races at Darlington, with the most recent one being a 10th-place effort in the 2005 race.• Stewart had never led a lap at Darlington until the 2002 spring race, where he led a total of seven laps before a spinning Buckshot Jones collected Stewart coming off turn two on lap 226. Stewart was then T-boned by the Dodge of Jimmy Spencer, a hit that sent Stewart to the hospital for overnight observation. • The 2002 spring race was the only Darlington race where Stewart posted a DNF (Did Not Finish).• Home Depot store No. 6217, located in Wallingford, Conn., will be represented on the lower rear quarterpanel of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota during the Dodge Challenger 500. Store No. 6217 was judged to be the outstanding store of the past week, thereby earning its place on the No. 20 car. Stewart in NASCAR Nationwide Series Race at Darlington:• Stewart will make a return to the NASCAR Nationwide Series on Friday night driving the No. 20 Old Spice Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Diamond Hill Plywood 200 at Darlington. He’ll look for his fourth Nationwide Series victory in six races, as Stewart won the first two races on this year’s Nationwide Series schedule at Daytona and Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., respectively, before finishing 27that Las Vegas and 10that Texas before winning again at Talladega. (Stewart did not participate in the Nationwide Series races at Atlanta, Bristol, Nashville, Phoenix, Mexico City and Richmond.) It will be Stewart’s fifth career Nationwide Series start at Darlington. Stewart’s best career Nationwide Series result at Darlington came last May when he drove for Kevin Harvick Inc., and finished seventh. The Diamond Hill Plywood 200 will mark Stewart’s sixth race as part of his nine-race Nationwide Series schedule for 2008. Stewart has a total of five wins, six poles, 22 top-fives and 31 top-10s in 82 Nationwide Series starts. Three of Stewart’s Nationwide Series wins have been in the season-opening race at Daytona (2005, 2006 and 2008).– The Home Depot is NASCAR’s Home Improvement Warehouse –

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This report was provided by an outside PR source and posted by Kim DeHaven.

 

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