WILD AND WOOLY TEXAS WEEKEND FOR WOOD BROTHERS/JTG RACE TEAM

It was a crazy race weekend at the Texas Motor Speedway in Ft. Worth, Texas for the Wood Brothers/JTG Racing team—and anyone else that happened to be in attendance. On Friday evening, severe weather moved into the area from the west and littered the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex with high winds, hail, heavy rain and at least three confirmed tornadoes. The Texas Motor Speedway escaped any major damage, but qualifying was obviously rained out just prior to the start of the session. The teams lined up by points and this put Ken Schrader and the No. 21 Motorcraft Ford in 36th place for the start of the Samsung 500.

After rolling off the starting grid from the 36th position, Schrader barely got the car up to full song when a wreck unfolded just in front of the No. 21 Motorcraft Ford on lap one. Schrader slowed on the advice of his spotter, but Kyle Petty came to a complete stop in front of him. Schrader tried to dodge to the left at the last second, but his right front fender clipped the back of the No. 45 car. This would affect the handling throughout the race and put the team behind the eight ball again early in an event. In addition to this problem, the needle on the tachometer broke, leaving Ken Schrader blind to his speed on and off pit road. He had to judge his speed by the cars around him. He was able to accomplish this by pitting with the lead lap cars so that he could pace himself behind them. The team was never penalized for speeding on pit road, but it severely affected their ability to make up time in the pits.

Ken Schrader ended up driving a gutsy race, fighting hard to get a handle on the No. 21 Motorcraft Ford. With the early front end damage, the car was a handful and often tight off the corner as the green flag runs progressed. After going two laps down, Schrader refused to give up and drove his heart out for the remaining laps. Other team’s misfortunes played into his hands as several other teams—including those close in points fell out of the event due to accidents and engine attrition.

As the laps would down, Schrader’s position moved up the leaderboard, until he crossed the finish line in 31st place. The Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway will end up being a shame for the No. 21 Motorcraft Ford, as the team knew they had a great car heading into the event. The shame was that they never got the full opportunity to find out.

WHAT THE TEAM HAS TO SAY
Ken Schrader, driver of the No. 21 Motorcraft Ford:
“We had our bad luck cut out for us today from the get—go. This car was so good in the practice sessions this weekend. I was really looking forward to the race to see what we could do with it and we never got the chance. I feel bad, but I feel worse for the guys on this team. I don’t have to remind anyone that they did what they always do—respond to the adversity as best they can all day. Their effort turned a very ugly day into something much less worse by the time the race ended.”

Ernie Cope, Crew Chief of the No. 21 Motorcraft Ford:
“The story of the day was the right front fender. We got that messed up on the first lap and the car was never the same—it wasn’t what we had all weekend. Compounding that was the tach problem which destroyed our day on pit road and made it hard to make up any time there or on the track. We had a problem for every spot on the track today and it’s just too bad. But, like Ken, I’m proud of these guys. They worked their tails off for another weekend. I can’t wait to see how we respond when things go right for us.”

FAST & FUN FACTS:
-Ken Schrader drove the No. 21 Motorcraft Ford to a 31st place finish in the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. It was Motorcraft’s first race as the primary sponsor of the No. 21 car in 2007.
-Jeff Burton won the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, making him the first repeat winner in the 13 events there. He also won the inaugural Texas event. Burton was followed to the line by Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top-five finishers.

RACE INFORMATION:
What – Subway Fresh Fit 500 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race (COT Chassis race No. 3)
When – Saturday, April 21st, 2007; 8:30 p.m. EDT
Where – Phoenix International Raceway; 312 laps, 312 miles
Network – FOX Television Network; MRN Radio Network