Former NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Bobby Labonte and his crew chief, Todd Parrott, posted an impressive top-five finish and Parrott earned the NASCAR MOOG “Problem Solver of the Race” Award in Sunday’s Shelby 427 Cup event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Sponsored by Federal-Mogul Corporation (NASDAQ: FDML), the MOOG “Problem Solver of the Race” Award is presented to the Sprint Cup crew chief whose team posts the largest increase in average lap speed from the first half to the second half of a race. Labonte’s No. 96 Ask.com Ford Fusion improved its average lap speed by a race-best .472-second, reflecting what the driver described as “great pit calls” by Parrott, who joined Labonte on the Yates/Hall of Fame Racing team immediately prior to the season-opening Daytona 500. “We had a great race car all day and all weekend,” Labonte said.
The No. 96 Ford, which has one top-five and one top-10 finish in three starts, ran as high as second place in Sunday’s race, which featured a Las Vegas-record 14 caution flags. The Ask.com car was the highest finishing Ford entry and fell just short of moving up to fourth place on the last of 285 laps of the 1.5-mile Las Vegas oval.
“It’s amazing how well the No. 96 team has come together this year,” said Federal-Mogul Motorsports Director Tim Nelson. “It’s not just a case of a new driver becoming familiar with his car, but also learning to trust his crew chief. Todd Parrott has certainly earned that trust with two strong finishes this year, and he earned the MOOG ‘Problem Solver of the Race’ Award for making all of the right adjustments in the pits on Sunday.”
