Self-Taught Canadian Ossowski Veteran Member of Hendrick Engine Staff
Stewart, who trails points leader Carl Edwards by three points, won Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 to claim the race’s Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the race for the second week in a row for Stewart-Hass Racing. The award is based on a points system totaling qualifying and finishing positions. Bonus points are also awarded for leading the most laps. Hendrick’s Jeff Gordon also scored in the contingency award category as the sixth-finishing No. 24 Chevrolet’s crew chief Alan Gustafson won the Moog Chassis Parts Problem Solver of the Race nod. Hendrick engine room assembler Andrew Ossowski is proof positive that you learn by doing. The self-taught, 48-year-old native of Brigham, Quebec, Canada, has honed his craft at the highest level as one of 30 members of Hendrick Motorsports’ engine department, headed by Jeff Andrews. A Hendrick employee since 2000, when he was hired by the late Randy Dorton, Ossowski climbed the ladder from a high school machine class to the old NASCAR North Series, an Indianapolis car team and finally his own engine building shop in Grandby, Quebec. He followed his older brother to Hendrick and the mentorship of the legendary Dorton, one of the first to use the “cause and effect” approach to building engines and diagnosing problems. Ossowski and his colleagues will have assembled and freshened some 700 engines at this stage of the season for the four Hendrick teams and the company’s customers that include Stewart-Haas Racing. “He (Dorton) opened up my eyes on how you go about fixing problems,” said Ossowski, who with wife Ann Marie Venneman has three children. “He always dug deeper into cause and effect and how to trouble-shoot issues. We build to very tight specifications. Every engine is the same down to every single bolt and torque pattern. If you have a problem, you can diagnose back.” Neither Ossowski nor his colleagues build for specific teams. The choice, off the rack so to speak, is up to the crew chief. The assemblers find out later if their engine was the one that carried Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr. or a customer such as Stewart-Haas Racing to a high finish or Victory Lane. Ossowski’s engines have a victory with Gordon at Talladega and brought Johnson his first Coors Light Pole at Daytona. Earnhardt’s Wrangler Chevrolet claimed the first win by a NASCAR Nationwide Series new car in 2010 at Daytona. The Canadian worked directly with General Motors’ engineering staff on the development of the company’s R07 engine. Casey Mears’ Coca-Cola 600 victory in 2007 marked the engine’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup victory. “Throw me a challenge; that elevates me,” Ossowski said. His current project is electronic fuel injection slated to replace carburetion beginning with the 2012 Daytona 500. “We started with a clean slate eight months ago and it’s a (major) undertaking,” he said. “We have to tailor it to the needs of the driver to make the smoothest, cleanest accelerating engine (while) creating a package that’s reliable.” Having a limited number of opportunities to actually test the EFI system on track is a challenge both for Hendrick and the other NASCAR Sprint Cup teams. “Dynos don’t represent the real world,” said Ossowski. “We discover so many problems going to the race track. You really hope you get the most of the tests we have (because) a 25-lap run might not produce the problems you could encounter in a 48-lap run.” With two races remaining in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™ competitors move to Phoenix International Raceway for Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500. (ESPN live 3 p.m. EDT). Official winners of this week’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Prize Money & Decal Program special awards include: · AMERICAN ETHANOL GREEN FLAG RESTART: Tony Stewart · COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD: Greg Biffle (193.736 mph, 27.873 secs,) · DIRECTV CREW CHIEF OF THE RACE AWARD: Darian Grubb (crew chief for Tony Stewart) · GOODYEAR GATORBACK BELTS FASTEST LAP AWARD: Greg Biffle (186.935 mph, Lap 2) · MAHLE CLEVITE ENGINE BUILDER OF THE RACE AWARD: Hendrick Engines, No. 14 · MOBIL 1 OIL DRIVER OF THE RACE AWARD: Tony Stewart · MOOG CHASSIS PARTS PROBLEM SOLVER OF THE RACE AWARD: Alan Gustafson, 0.413 secs (crew chief for Jeff Gordon) · O’REILLY AUTO PARTS POSITION IMPROVEMENT AWARD: AJ Allmendinger (16 places) · SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD: Andy Lally For a complete description and special award standings of national series awards presented via the NASCAR Prize Money & Decal Program, visit www.nascarmedia.com. About the NASCAR Prize Money & Decal Program The NASCAR Prize Money & Decal Program, commonly referred to as the contingency program, is administered by the NASCAR Automotive Group. The program strives to build strong relationships with high-quality, performance-driven brands that are leaders in their respective categories and award money to NASCAR teams via per-race and year-end postings. Competitors become eligible for awards money by displaying partner decals on the front fender of their race vehicles and, in some instances, use of a sponsor’s product. National series contingency sponsors will contribute over $8.4 million to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2011. For additional information, contact: Owen A. Kearns, NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications |
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