No. 48 Team Earns Fourth-Quarter Mechanix Wear Honors

VALENCIA, Calif., (November 13, 2008) - The No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet team from Hendrick Motorsports put together a string of seven consecutive top-10 finishes including two wins to earn four-quarter honors in the Mechanix Wear Most Valuable Pit Crew Award competition. The eight-race fourth quarter began with New Hampshire and ended at Texas.

The Mechanix Wear Most Valuable Pit Crew Award has been given quarterly throughout the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. The winning pit crew was determined by a vote of each team's crew chief. The four quarterly winners are eligible for the year-end Mechanix Wear Most Valuable Pit Crew Award and a check for $100,000. The presentation will be made at the 2008 NASCAR National Motorsports Press Association Myers Brothers Media Luncheon in New York City in December. The voting for the overall winner from among the four quarterly winners will take place this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet team and driver Jimmie Johnson scored wins at Kansas and Martinsville and runner-up finishes at New Hampshire and Atlanta in the first seven events.

In the eight races that made up the fourth quarter, the 48 team had its only finish outside the top 10. It came at Texas where Johnson finished 15th.

Johnson and the Lowe's team are in quest of a third consecutive Sprint Cup championship which would match the record established by Cale Yarborough (1976-1978).

The Lowe's team collected four more points in the eight races this season compared to 2007. This year, he has scored 116 more points than Carl Edwards who is currently second in the Chase standings. The No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team, led by crew chief Chad Knaus, swept fourth-quarter honors last year en route to its second year-end award and $100,000 bonus. The team also won the title in 2004.

In 2008, the No. 18 M&M's over-the-wall crew from Joe Gibbs Racing emerged the first-quarter winner while the No. 9 Budweiser Dodge team from Gillett Evernham Motorsports prevailed in the second quarter. Third-quarter honors went to Edward's No. 99 crew from Roush Fenway Racing.