Donnie Wingo, crew chief for the No. 26 Crown Royal Ford driven by Jamie McMurray, rolled the dice on lap 308 of the recent NASCAR Sprint Cup event at Richmond International Raceway and it paid off in the team’s highest finish of the year -- and Wingo’s first MOOG® “Problem Solver of the Race” Award.
The NASCAR MOOG Problem Solver of the Race Award is presented following each Sprint Cup event to the crew chief whose team posts the largest increase in average lap speed from the first half to the second half of an event. The award is presented by Federal-Mogul Corporation, manufacturer of MOOG chassis parts.
Wingo was one of few crew chiefs to instruct his driver to remain on the track during a caution on lap 308, enabling the No. 26 Ford – which had been snake-bitten all night – to move into position for a season-best seventh-place finish. The Crown Royal Ford picked up a race-leading .118-second average lap speed over the second half of the race.
While Wingo’s decision to forego new tires and chassis adjustments on lap 308 might have seemed surprising, he had foreshadowed the call in his pre-race comments. “Ninety-nine percent of the time success at Richmond boils down to track position at the end of the race because it’s just so hard to pass,” he says of the .75-mile oval.
McMurray’s top 10 finish was all the more surprising in light of a variety of early-race challenges that had left the Ford near the back of the pack. The No. 26 Ford got caught up in a multi-car wreck on lap 165 and had been flagged for a speed violation in the pits that put McMurray in 36th position for the post-wreck restart. Thanks to two “Lucky Dog” awards – through which the first car that is one lap behind the field gets a “free pass” to the lead lap on a caution – and a variety of beneficial chassis adjustments, McMurray was well within striking distance of the top 10 when Wingo decided to go for track position rather than new rubber.
“Jamie McMurray’s finish was the result of excellent driving, a gutsy call by Wingo and a series of excellent pit stops that produced a much faster race car,” says Federal-Mogul Motorsports Director Tim Nelson. “The MOOG Problem Solver Award highlights the tough decisions and hard work in the pits that might otherwise go unnoticed by Sprint Cup fans. A seventh-place finish by a car that was a lap down on two separate occasions – that’s MOOG Problem Solving at its very best.”
For more information, visit www.moogproblemsolver.com.
