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Sunoco Red Cross 500 Report
HARD
WORK PAYS OFF FOR ELLIOTT AND WOOD BROTHERS TEAM
LONG POND, PA — The
team’s hard work finally paid off this past
weekend at Pocono Speedway
with the No. 21 Little Debbie® Cosmic™ Brownies
Ford Fusion.
After Bill Elliott qualified in 37th on Friday afternoon,
the team changed the car’s set-up from qualifying
to racing. However, they were unable to test the changes
since all of Saturday’s scheduled NASCAR Sprint
Cup practice sessions were cancelled due to rain.
On Sunday, Bill took the green flag of the 200 lap
event with an unpracticed race setup. On lap one,
the first caution of the day transpired with a two
car incident. Because it was too early to determine
if any changes needed to be made, the team did not
pit. The race resumed on lap four. The caution flag
flew again on lap seven, and Bill reported that the
No. 21 was turning well through turns two (the tunnel
turn) and three, but was tight in turn one. The team
decided not to pit in hopes that the condition would
improve. Crew Chief David Hyder noted that they would
make their first pit stop under NASCAR’s
prescheduled competition yellow set for lap 20. Racing
resumed on lap 11 with Elliott in 38th position.
On lap 20, NASCAR waived the competition yellow
flag. As
planned, Bill brought the car to the pits. Hyder
called for a left front shock adjustment, four tires
and fuel. The No. 21 restarted in 37th position on
lap 24. On lap 36, Bill noted some improvement in handling,
yet stated he needed more help with turn one as it
was still tight.
Elliott moved to the 30th position by lap 53, and
the crew chose to make its first green flag pit
stop of the 500 mile event. The team put on four tires,
fuel and another shock adjustment in 16.1 seconds – a
blistering fast time considering the shock adjustment.
Elliott went back to the race track in 37th position.
After two debris cautions during which the team made
more improvements to the No. 21, Bill moved up to the
28th position by the half-way point of the
race. On lap 120, the team needed to make another green
flag stop. The crew had its best pit stop of the
day with a time of 13.9 seconds. Bill went back to
the track in 29th position. Several teams
took only two tires in hopes that the nearing threat
of rain would end the race.
NASCAR waived
the caution flag for light rain as the darkening
skies set in on lap 126. Several teams, who had only
put on two tires in the previous stop, pitted at this
time. NASCAR brought out the
red flag on lap 131 as the rain continued and brought
the field down pit road to wait for the showers to
end. Bill was scored in 13th position.
The race resumed after a 40 minute delay on lap 134.
Bill held on to the 15th spot when Crew Chief Hyder
decided to pit for fuel mileage purposes. He radioed
to the crew stating, “We’re going to need
to pit for fuel, if we do that now, we’ll be
able to make it with only one more stop when a lot
of the other teams who just pit will need two more.” With
rain entering the area once again, the team made the
decision to pit on lap 138 just as an incident involving
two race cars brought out the yellow flag. The No.
21 team put on four tires and fuel. Bill restarted
the race on lap 145 in 32nd position.
The rain clouds passed over with only a brief shower.
The race was not stopped, and the
other teams began to make stops on lap 156 just as
Hyder predicted. As teams made green flag pit stops,
Bill continued to move to the front and eventually
led lap 170 before pitting on lap 171 for four tires
and fuel. Elliott returned to the track in 30th.
The team calculated that pitting on lap 171 meant
Bill would not have to pit again, and that other teams
would run into fuel mileage issues. With twenty five
laps to go, the No. 21 started reaping the benefits
from its pit strategy. As teams began to make pit stops
and run out of fuel, Bill climbed to the 20th position
where he took the checkered flag on lap 200.
After securing its best finish of the year, the Wood
Brothers Racing team looks forward to this
week’s race at Watkins Glen for another round
of road course racing. Marcos Ambrose will once again
be behind the wheel of the Little Debbie® Snacks
Ford Fusion for the Centurion Boats at The Glen on
Sunday, August 10th. Contributed
by Christina Cicci, Wood Brothers Racing
Sunoco Red Cross 500
Results:
1. Carl Edwards
2. Tony Stewart
3. Jimmie Johnson
4. Kevin Harvick
5. David Ragan
6. Clint Bowyer
7. Kasey Kahne
8. Mark Martin
9. Jamie McMurray
10. Jeff Gordon
20. Bill Elliott
Next Race — Centurion
Boats at The Glen:
Where: Watkins Glen International,
Watkins Glen International, NY
Time: Sunday, August 10, 2008
Network & Time: ESPN, 1 p.m. / MRN Radio,
1:15 p.m.
(All Times Eastern)
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