Catchfence

With third win, No. 16 crew is tied for first in season-long Tissot competition

For the third time this season, Greg Biffle’s No. 16 crew took top honors in the Tissot Pit Road Precision Award by winning the weekly competition in Sunday’s LifeLock 400 Sprint Cup race (June 14) at Michigan International Speedway.

The win not only paid Biffle’s crew $5,000, but it also lifted the No. 16 team to a tie for first in the Tissot standings. Jeff Gordon’s No. 24 crew also has three wins.

The crew with the most Tissot wins at the completion of the 36-race schedule will receive a $100,000 bonus plus Tissot watches for the crew and driver.

The win for the No. 16 crew at Michigan came as a result of Biffle’s 3M Ford Fusion spending the least amount of time on pit road (161.317 seconds) during the 400-mile race. The crew’s performance helped Biffle to a fifth-place finish.

The No. 16 crew won despite the absence of its regular rear-tire carrier — Kevin McDowell, who stayed back in North Carolina with his wife due to the pending birth of the couple’s first child. Garrett Redding filled in for McDowell.

“This Tissot win was earned by good pit stops, period,” said Rodney Fetters, jackman for the No. 16 crew. “The 3M team was on the same pit-road cycle as all the leaders and they got it done by defending our rectangle. In all my years of Cup racing, I have never seen a team that pulls together more than this team.”

Biffle’s over-the-wall crew at Michigan consisted of: Todd Zeigler (front-tire changer), Colin Pasi (front-tire carrier), Kyle Power (rear-tire changer), Garrett Redding (rear-tire carrier), Rodney Fetters (jackman), Billy Manchester (gasman), Ryan Dextraze (catch can) and Chris Elliott (windshield). The team’s crew chief is Greg Erwin and the pit crew coach is Andy Ward.

Tissot has been the official watch and timekeeper of NASCAR since 2006. The company is also the official timekeeper for a number of other sports, including the MotoGP World Championship, the Ice Hockey World Championship and the Cycling World Championship.

2009 Tissot Pit Road Precision Award Standings

Pos Team No. Pit Crew For Wins Prize Money

T1 24 Jeff Gordon 3 $15,000

T1 16 Greg Biffle 3 15,000

T3 43 Reed Sorenson 1 5,000

T3 14 Tony Stewart 1 5,000

T3 33 Clint Bowyer 1 5,000

T3 48 Jimmie Johnson 1 5,000

T3 39 Ryan Newman 1 5,000

T3 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 1 5,000

T3 1 Martin Truex Jr. 1 5,000

T3 00 David Reutimann 1 5,000

T3 99 Carl Edwards 1 5,000

2009 Tissot Pit Road Precision Award Winners

Daytona, 2/15 Reed Sorenson Team

Fontana, 2/22 Tony Stewart Team

Las Vegas, 3/1 Greg Biffle Team

Atlanta 3/8 Clint Bowyer Team

Bristol, 3/22 Jimmie Johnson Team

Martinsville, 3/29 Jeff Gordon Team

Fort Worth, 4/5 Jeff Gordon Team

Phoenix, 4/18 Ryan Newman Team

Talladega, 4/26 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Team

Richmond, 5/2 Jeff Gordon Team

Darlington, 5/9 Martin Truex Jr. Team

Charlotte, 5/25 David Reutimann Team

Dover, 5/31 Greg Biffle Team

Pocono, 6/7 Carl Edwards Team

Michigan, 6/14 Greg Biffle Team

- DMF Communication for Tissot Pit Road Precision Awards, Press Release