Strong, reliable horsepower gave 20-year-old sensation Trevor Bayne the momentum he needed Sunday to capture his historic Daytona 500 victory, picking up a victory for the fabled Wood Brothers and a MAHLE Clevite Engine Builder of the Race contingency award for Roush Yates Engines in the 53rd running of the Daytona 500.
The No. 21 Ford had a strong motor under the hood, earning Roush Yates Engines and the No. 21 team the MAHLE Clevite Engine Builder of the Race Award based on qualifying, laps led and finishing position.
The award is 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.
Other notable contingency award winners include David Gilliland, whose Front Row Motorsports team captured three awards: Mobil 1 Oil Driver of the Race; MOOG Chassis Parts Problem Solver of the Race Award and O’Reilly Auto Parts Position Improvement Award as a result of gaining 36 total positions during the race.
Credit goes to Doug Yates and the builders of the new FR9 engines that are powering the fast Ford teams this year. In a race that witnessed multiple engine failures, three different NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race teams carrying the FR9 engine swept the top three finishing positions Sunday in The Great American Race, including Roush Fenway Racing’s Carl Edwards who finished second and Gilliland who crossed the stripe in third.
“I’m really proud of the Ford FR9 by Roush Yates,” said Doug Yates, CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “We’ve done a lot of work on this engine and I think we all saw how the performance was at the end of the year last year by winning a couple of races. To come to Speedweeks and be fast says we’ve done our homework, not only on power but also the cooling system. And to have three different teams finish 1-2-3 says a lot for our company and personnel.”
“Doug Yates and those guys build great engines,” said race runner-up Carl Edwards. “Now that we have this new engine, we may have a lot to look forward to. I don’t want to jinx it or anything, but I’m really excited to run that engine for the whole year.”
Official winners of this week’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Prize Money & Decal Program special awards include:
· COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD:Dale Earnhardt Jr. (186.089 mph, 48.364 secs.)
· DIRECTV CREW CHIEF OF THE RACE AWARD:Dave Rogers (crew chief for Kyle Busch)
· GOODYEAR GATORBACK BELTS FASTEST LAP AWARD:Paul Menard (197.589 mph, Lap 18)
· GROWTH ENERGY AMERICAN ETHANOL GREEN FLAG RESTART: Paul Menard
· MAHLE CLEVITE ENGINE BUILDER OF THE RACE AWARD:No. 21,Roush Yates Engines
· MOBIL 1 OIL DRIVER OF THE RACE AWARD:David Gilliland
· MOOG CHASSIS PARTS PROBLEM SOLVER OF THE RACE AWARD: Peter Sospenzo (crew chief for David Gilliland)
· O’REILLY AUTO PARTS POSITION IMPROVEMENT AWARD:David Gilliland (36 places)
· SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE AWARD: Andy Lally
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