Schrader Furthers The Cause At Dover

23 September 2007 SCHRADER FURTHERS THE CAUSE AT DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

It was an "All Air Force Weekend" for the Wood Brothers/JTG race team, as Ken Schrader competed for the second straight week in the No. 21 Air Force Ford in the running of the Dodge Dealers 400 at Dover International Speedway. Schrader put the car solidly in the field during Friday's qualifying session--landing 26th on the grid. The team caught a bit of a break as their closest competition in the owner points, the No. 22 team, missed the field and had to go home. The stage was set for an opportunity to climb further up the ladder.

Unfortunately, the race did not get off to a good start for Schrader, who was spun after contact with Jeff Burton on lap 19 of the 400-lap event. The No. 21 car spun down the front stretch and made minimal contact with the inside wall. On the fortunate side, the car was apparently none worse for the wear--suffering mostly minor cosmetic damage to the left front and rear of the car. Crew chief Michael McSwain brought the car down pit road for four new tires and minor repairs--which the over-the-wall crew completed without losing a lap on pit road. Schrader was able to restart 41st on lap 24. By lap 50, however, the lead cars caught Schrader and put the No. 21 car one lap down to the field.

Trouble reared its head again on lap 76, as the left front tire of the 21 car went flat going into turn one. Schrader fought to keep the car down toward the apron, but it drifted up and touched the No. 45 car into a spin. The fourth caution flag came out, and Schrader headed to pit road for tires. Over the next 50 laps, the changes made on pit road began to make the car handle better. Though Schrader was running in 40th on lap 120, he was now two laps down to the leader--hindering his forward progress.

It seemed as if on Sunday, all of the cars fighting for a position in the top-35 in owner points were going to have their problems. The sixth caution flag of the day flew on lap 203 and the victim was Kyle Petty--just ahead of the 21 in points. His car suffered heavy right front damage and he retired to the garage for repairs. Schrader was doing the best job he could under the circumstances, but the COT car was not cooperating as needed. Schrader moved up to 37th on the lap 211 restart. He moved into 36th by lap 241.

On the next pit stop for the team, McSwain had the crew do some additional work on the front end of the carbon fiber valence, which was slightly damaged earlier in the race. By pitting twice in successive laps, they avoided losing another lap on the race track. There was only one other competitor on the same lap as the 21 car and by lap 300, Schrader was being shown in 36th. The team completed their final regularly-scheduled pit stop on lap 311 and the crew fueled the car enough to make it the rest of the way on gas.

A major three-car incident on lap 363 moved the 21 car even further up the leader board as the laps wore down. The team decided to pit for fresh tires and ducked down pit road. Just after pitting, NASCAR waved the red flag and stopped competition to clear and clean the 1-mile track--particularly on the back stretch. After getting the race back underway, the stage was set for a furious finish. But the accidents weren't over. With just 14 laps to go, another major incident occurred heading into turn three, which took out several other competitors. It ended up being a major bonus for the No. 21 Air Force Ford as Schrader was able to come home in the 26th position at the finish and recoup some major points. The team closed to within one point of 34th place and now hold a 105 point advantage inside the top-35.

WHAT THE TEAM HAS TO SAY:

Ken Schrader, driver of the No. 21 Air Force Ford: "It was a bit of a frustrating exercise out there today. We got off on the wrong foot early in the race, got punted basically, and then did our best with what we had from that point on. The car can be challenging to drive and it took a lot of concentration all day long. For us, it was a bit more about survival today and if nothing else, we made up some more ground in the points in spite of everything."

Michael McSwain, Crew Chief of the No. 21 Air Force Ford: "We've had a pretty tough time trying to get our COT cars to run better and today was a little more of the same, I'm afraid. The damage wasn't very bad from that first spin early in the race, but you've got to plan for the worst like a tire rub or something later. I tried to make sure we had a sound car each time we left the pits and my thanks to Kenny for driving his heart out for us."

FAST & FUN FACTS --Ken Schrader drove the No. 21 Air Force Ford to a 26th place finish in the Dodge Dealers 400 at Dover International Speedway on Sunday. --Carl Edwards won the race, followed to the line by Greg Biffle, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Mark Martin, and Kyle Busch rounded out the top-five finishers on the day.

NEXT RACE INFORMATION WHAT: Lifelock 400 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Event WHERE: Kansas Speedway WHEN: Sunday, September 30th, 2007; 1:30 p.m. EDT; 267 laps/400 miles NETWORK: ABC: MRN Radio

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Jeffrey Cheatham, PR -- Wood Brothers/JTG Racing (704) 658-6098