Photo Credit: Noel Lanier/OnPitRoad.com
LAS VEGAS — Kevin Harvick’s #4 Stewart-Haas Racing pit crew is awarded Mechanix Wear’s Most Valuable Pit Crew Award at the Myers Brothers Luncheon during NASCAR Champion’s Week. Kevin Harvick and his #4 pit crew arrived in high-fashion with the NASCAR Sprint Cup trophy in tow. The veteran Stewart-Haas Racing pit crew led by coach Joe Piette Jr. will take home Mechanix Wear’s prestigious MVPC Award and a check for $100,000 for their outstanding performance in Chase.
In its 12th year running, the Mechanix Wear MVPC Award is the longest running and most coveted pit crew award in NASCAR. Every quarter of the Sprint Cup season, NASCAR Crew Chiefs vote for the pit crew contributing the most to the success of their team on race day. “A team might have slower pit stops all day, but if they’re making more adjustments to the car or dropping-in more fuel on the last stop and spending extra time in the pit box, but win the race; that is what the Crew Chiefs are looking for,” says Ted Abdon, Mechanix Wear’s Director or Racing. Each quarter semi-finalist is awarded a check for $5,000 and opportunity to win Mechanix Wear’s Most Vaulable Pit Crew award along with a check for $100,000 at the end of the season. The final MVPC Award is voted on at Homestead and serves as a testament to a teams’ consistent performance on pit road in the Chase for the championship.
This Stewart-Haas pit crew is no stranger to running in the Chase where the pressure is high to run flawless pit stops. With Tony Stewart out of the Chase, team management made the decision to have members of the #14 pit crew move to the #4 car of Kevin Harvick in the Chase. It was a decision that would help propel Kevin Harvick to the championship. The 2014 Championship is the second one for these guys and the third for Front Tire Changer Ira Jo as he was on Tony’s 2005 Championship team. Front carrier Todd Drakulich, Rear Changer Daniel Smith, Rear Carrier Mike Morneau and Jackman Mike Casto have been members of Tony Stewart’s pit crew for many years and all were apart of Tony’s 2011 Championship team. Gas Man Justin White joined the crew in 2013 and completed the championship line-up for Kevin Harvick’s championship run.
