Stewart's pit crew edges Earnhardt's for title.

The pit crew for Tony Stewart captured the season title in the McDonald's Drive-Thru Pit Championship fuelled by POWERade.

The #20 Home Depot/Joe Gibbs Racing crew will collect a $200,000 champion's bonus from McDonald's/POWERade, December 3 in New York City.

By winning the weekly competition three times and earning $20,000 for each victory, the total prize money earned in 2004 by Stewart's crew was $260,000.

In the 36-race competition, Stewart's crew defeated the pit crew for Dale Earnhardt Jr. by a mere four points - 1262 to 1258. Earnhardt's crew won the inaugural McDonald's/POWERade championship in 2003.

Elliott Sadler's crew, a seven-time weekly winner, finished third with 1248 points. The crew for Nextel Cup champion, Kurt Busch, was fourth (1240) and Kevin Harvick's crew rounded out the top five (1222).

"I think it's awesome that my guys won the McDonald's/POWERade pit crew championship," said Stewart. "They've worked hard all year, in the gym and at the race track. And when track position was tough to come by, they gave it to me with fast pit stops. My guys definitely earned this championship."

Stewart's over-the-wall crew consists of: Chuck White (jackman), Tom Dean (front-tyre carrier), Mike Lingerfelt (front-tyre changer), Jody Fortson (rear-tyre carrier), Todd Foster (rear-tyre changer), Jeff 'Gooch' Patterson (gas man) and Brian Larson (catch can). The team's crew chief is Greg Zipadelli and the pit stop coordinator is Paul Alepa.

Sterling Marlin's pit crew meanwhile took top honours in the NASCAR season finale Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It was the third McDonald's/POWERade win of the season for the #40 crew.

Marlin's Coors Light Dodge spent the least amount of time on pit road - 238.383 seconds. Bobby Labonte's Interstate Batteries Chevrolet was second at 241.073 and coming in third was Michael Waltrip's #15 NAPA Chevy at 258.508.