Coming off of a 2012
season that featured 5 wins, 13 top-5 and 23 Top-10 finishes and ended with a Sprint
Cup Series Championship, Paul Wolfe, crew chief for the No. 2 Miller Lite
Dodge, has been named the Kimberly-Clark Professional Crew Chief of the Year.
During the span of the
final 10 races, the Wolfe led No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge notched exceptional
results including eight top-10 finishes, including a win in the opening Chase
for the Sprint Cup race at Chicago and another two-weeks later at Dover. Entering
the final race at Homestead the team needed a 15th place finish or better, and
right on cue, they finished 15th and achieved a first Sprint Cup Series
championship for Penske Racing and legendary team owner Roger Penske.
"I'm honored to be
the 2012 Kimberly-Clark Professional Crew Chief of the Year and want to thank
Kimberly-Clark Professional for recognizing the crew chiefs and teams in the
garage," said Wolfe, "The No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge and Penske Racing
team put in a lot of hard work and countless hours in pursuit of this
achievement and I'd like to accept this award on behalf of the entire Penske
Racing organization."
In the hunt for the top
crew chief honor for 2012, Wolfe topped Chad Knaus, crew chief for the No. 48
Lowe's Chevrolet and Darian Grubb, crew chief for the No. 11 FedEx Toyota. The
trio of crew chiefs each took home Kimberly-Clark Professional Quarterly Crew
Chief Spotlight awards and tied in total Kimberly-Clark Professional Crew Chief
of the Race awards with five each.
"Paul, the No. 2
team and Brad never panicked when it was 'go time,'" said Jeff Hammond,
NASCAR on FOX and Speed analyst and former championship winning crew chief.
"Paul had the weight of the world on him but it never showed coming down
the stretch. They led laps, won races and secured the best finishes they could
in every race this year. Listen, Paul was battling two former winners of the
Kimberly-Clark Professional Crew Chief of the Year in Knaus and Grubb, but he
delivered."
Wolfe is being presented
a $10,000 check and trophy from Kimberly-Clark Professional for winning the
award.
"Congratulations to
crew chief Paul Wolfe for being recognized as the Kimberly-Clark Professional
Crew Chief of the Year," said Stephanie Rossignol, Business Leader for
Kimberly-Clark Professional. "We are proud to recognize the hard work by
Paul and all the crew chiefs each and every week. He and Penske Racing have
been a strong supporter of our program and a partner who knows first-hand the
value of our exceptional products and people."
Wolfe joins a list of
prominent crew chiefs that have won the Kimberly-Clark Professional Crew Chief
of the Year award including two-time winner Chad Knaus, Darian Grubb, Gil
Martin, Mike Ford, Tony Eury Sr., Robbie Reiser, and Doug Richert.
Photo: Jerry Markland/Getty Images
No comments:
Post a Comment