David M. Vaughn Photo

After a caution-filled night at the California Speedway, Todd Bodine and the No. 30 team overcame an early penalty and earned crew chief Mike Hillman Jr. the WypAll Wipers Crew Chief of the Race Award presented by Fastenal.

Three judges; including Jeff Hood of The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Robbie Reiser, and a WypAll Wipers rep. decided that Hillman's comeback performance was worthy of Crew Chief of the Race accolades. Bodine was penalized for passing on the left during a restart which shuttled his car to the back of the pack. Hillman Jr. rallied his crew and driver to score a second-place finish in the Racetickets.com 200. Reiser had this to say about Hillman and the No. 30 team. "Giving up valuable track position is always devastating to a team. Mike did a great job of keeping his crew, and his driver calm and focused. He did exactly what he needed to do to get them back in this race. Sometimes a crew chief's job is simply to be a great coach."

After the race, Mike Hillman Jr. commented on his crew's performance. "We really had to be patient coming up through traffic; the team did a great job on pit road tonight. This team can overcome adversity because of the way they work together. Whether we finish first or last these guys are going to go home and work hard next week. These guys will never give up."

Mike Hillman Jr. earned $500 for winning the WypAll Wipers Crew Chief of the Race Award presented by Fastenal. He is now tied with Mike Beam in the Crew Chief of the Year standings in the truck series. The challenge returns to the Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 17th for the third truck race of the 2006 season. At the end of the season the crew chief who possesses the most weekly titles will take home $10,000 and the right to be called the WypAll Wipers Crew Chief of the Year.