ECR Engines top Indy contingency award winners

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Cars powered by Earnhardt Childress Racing Engines earned four of the top six spots, the Coors Light Pole and the MAHLE Clevite Engine Builder of the Race following last Sunday's Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Winning driver Jamie McMurray and his Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates team captured five post-race contingency awards.

McMurray

Earnhardt Childress Racing Engines was awarded the MAHLE Clevite Engine Builder of the Race honor based on qualifying and finishing position. This is the third consecutive week ECR has captured the engine builder honors.

Aside from McMurray's win, ECR Engines also earned the second, fourth and sixth spots in the final rundown with Richard Childress Racing's Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton, respectively.

EGR's Juan Pablo Montoya earned the Coors Light Pole Award in the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, also powered by ECR Engines. He led the first 16 laps and a total of 86, the most of any competitor.

"It was a great day for Earnhardt Childress Racing Engines, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, Richard Childress Racing and Chevrolet," said Danny Lawrence, trackside manager for Earnhardt Childress Engines. "We work really hard for days like that, so it's very rewarding to run good all day at a race track where the motor means so much. Indy's tight corners and the longest straightaways we run all year long require an engine that has both a lot of torque and power. On top of that, we felt like we were getting good fuel mileage while making good power. Days like that make the race seem longer but we'll take the outcome every time. It's just a great honor to win the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 this year."

McMurray, along with crew chief Kevin "Bono" Manion and his team, also picked up the DIRECTV Crew Chief of the Race, Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race, Sunoco Diamond Performance, and Tissot "Pit Road Precision" awards.

The awards are part of the NASCAR Prize Money and Decal Program, also referred to as the contingency program, which provide teams prize money and weekly awards based on performance in several categories.

The No. 1 pit crew picked up their third Tissot "Pit Road Precision" Award this year for spending the least amount of time on pit road (264.706 seconds) among lead lap cars.

Manion, whose two-tire call on last Sunday's final pit stop proved crucial, racked up the DIRECTV Crew Chief of the Race Award for the second consecutive week. It's awarded based on the best qualifying and race effort as determined by the average of qualifying result and race finish.

"There at the end, it was on schedule to go green the whole way and you just knew there was going to be a caution," Manion said. "It opened that door, and that opportunity to take two or four. That was probably the right call with two. All in all, great day."

With the win, McMurray joins Dale Jarrett (1996) and Jimmie Johnson (2006) as the only drivers to win the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same year. As the race winner, McMurray also captured the Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race and the Sunoco Diamond Performance contingency awards, which are awarded each week to the highest finishing eligible driver.

McMurray also gave car owner Chip Ganassi the "triple crown" of American oval racing this year, making him the only owner to win the Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same season.

"We've been staying on our plan for a long time, how we go racing week in and week out," said Ganassi, post-race. "You have to have some passion about what you're doing. I'm privileged to be in this for a living and honored to represent the people and the companies we represent. I'm a lucky guy."

"I've always enjoyed coming here," McMurray said of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "Certainly this is just one of those tracks that every driver would like to say they've been able to win at. Plus, we only race here once a year, so it makes it twice as hard to be able to have that. It's a very special place, for sure."

The win marks McMurray's fifth-career NASCAR Sprint Cup victory in 278 starts. Heading into the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway this weekend, McMurray sits 16th in the Cup Series point standings, within 151 points of 12th, the final eligible position for the Chase.