Catchfence

No. 44 crew is 16th different Tissot winner in 2009

AJ Allmendinger’s team won the Tissot Pit Road Precision Award in Sunday night’s (Sept. 6) NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

It was the first Tissot win of the season for the No. 44 Richard Petty Motorsports team, which became the 16th different winner of the pit crew competition in the first 25 races of 2009.

Allmendinger’s No. 44 Dodge Charger spent the least amount of time on pit road – 378.165 seconds — during the 325-lap race at the 1.54-mile track. The team will collect $5,000 from Tissot for the pit crew win.

“I just started working with these guys a couple of weeks ago, but I’m happy with the stops,” said Allmendinger. “It’s a veteran bunch of guys who have been a part of Richard Petty Motorsports for quite a while. Last year they were the crew for the No. 19 Dodge, earlier this year they were on the No. 43 and now they are with me on the No. 44 – and everywhere they’ve been they’ve done a great job. They’re truly a great team and I can’t thank these guys enough for the work that they do.”

The No. 44 over-the-wall crew at Atlanta consisted of: Bryan Jacobson (front tire changer), Brett Morrell (front-tire carrier), Ed Watkins (jackman), Tony Lunders (rear-tire changer), Joel Coronel (rear-tire carrier), Chris Moore (gas man) and James Antonozzi (2nd gas man). The team’s crew chief is Mike Shiplett and the pit crew coach is Brett Cumming.

Greg Biffle’s crew continues to lead the Tissot standings with five wins. The crews for Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are tied for second with three wins each.

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

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

1 16 Greg Biffle 5 25,000

T2 24 Jeff Gordon 3 15,000

T2 48 Jimmie Johnson 3 15,000

4 14 Tony Stewart 2 10,000

T5 43 Reed Sorenson 1 5,000

T5 33 Clint Bowyer 1 5,000

T5 39 Ryan Newman 1 5,000

T5 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 1 5,000

T5 1 Martin Truex Jr. 1 5,000

T5 00 David Reutimann 1 5,000

T5 99 Carl Edwards 1 5,000

T5 42 Juan Pablo Montoya 1 5,000

T5 11 Denny Hamlin 1 5,000

T5 9 Kasey Kahne 1 5,000

T5 20 Joey Logano 1 5,000

T5 44 AJ Allmendinger 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

Sonoma, 6/21 Juan Pablo Montoya Team

New Hampshire, 6/28 Jimmie Johnson Team

Daytona, 7/4 Tony Stewart Team

Chicagoland, 7/11 Denny Hamlin Team

Indianapolis, 7/26 Greg Biffle Team

Pocono, 8/3 Kasey Kahne Team

Watkins Glen, 8/10 Jimmie Johnson Team

Michigan, 8/16 Joe Logano Team

Bristol, 8/22 Greg Biffle Team

Atlanta, 9/6 AJ Allmendinger Team

- DMF Communications for Tissot Pit Road Precision Award, Press Release