Bodine Crew Chief Tryson Wins RCA Award
14 August 1997
ROOKIE CHIEF HELPS BODINE TO SECOND; GRABS FIRST EVER RCA AWARD CONCORD, NC - It was a strategy Geoff Bodine made everyone else learn the hard way at Watkins Glen last year. Bodine and his crew made the Bud at the Glen a two-stop race en route to Victory Lane in 1996. This year everyone attempted to do the same thing, the trick was to do it out of sync with everyone else and still be covered on mileage and tire wear. Rookie crew chief Pat Tryson and Bodine decided to make their first stop early on Lap 25 instead of waiting until lap 30. "We pitted as soon as we could, so we would have the window covered," Bodine said. "That got us in ahead of everyone else, and when they pitted we were ahead of them. It worked again." Well, almost. Bodine had to settle for second - to Jeff Gordon - this year. But for Tryson and his crew's efforts, he has earned his first career RCA Pit Strategy Award. Tryson, who was the chassis specialist for Ricky Rudd's team last season, will be presented with a check for $5,000 and RCA's mascot Nipper during pre-race activities at Michigan Speedway this weekend. "I guess you have to ask why it took so long (for everybody else to use the two-stop strategy). I don't know, but we did it first and now everybody seems to be doing it," Bodine said. "It worked for a while and got us in front and that was great. But you can't take anything away from the Hendrick group, Gordon as a driver and the equipment they have is pretty awesome." Tryson is the 11th different winner of the RCA Pit Strategy Award this season. Terry Labonte's crew chief Gary DeHart and Ricky Rudd's Jim Long remain tied for the lead in the year-end points standings with three awards apiece. A year-end prize of $50,000 will be awarded at the Winston Cup awards banquet in New York in December. In the event of a tie, the winner will be determined by race wins and then points position, if necessary. Terry Labonte has yet to win a race this season. Rudd has two victories. POINTS LEADERS CREW CHIEF CAR # POINTS Gary DeHart 5 3 Jim Long 10 3 Jimmy Fennig 6 2 Larry McReynolds 3 2 Todd Parrott 88 2 Robin Pemberton 2 2 Marc Reno 28 2 Paul Andrews 37 1 Ray Evernham 24 1 Ryan Pemberton 36 1 Pat Tryson 7 1 By RCA Racing Public Relations