DLP® HDTV Team Post Race Report - Fontana

Date: Aug. 31, 2008

Event: Pepsi 500 (Round 25 of 36)

Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Location: Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. (2-mile oval)

Start/Finish: 28th/41st (Running, completed 247 of 250 laps)

Winner: Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)

 

Ken Schrader struggled with an ill-handling car and finished a disappointing 41st in Sunday’s Pepsi 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.

Schrader and crew chief Steve Boyer never could get the No. 96 DLP HDTV Toyota Camry to handle as needed throughout the 250-lap event.

“It was a struggle,” Schrader said. “We couldn’t find the combination all night. We’ll head to Richmond next week and hopefully get better.”

Boyer tinkered with wedge, track bar and tire pressure adjustments, but nothing seemed to do the trick.

“The DLP boys didn’t give up,” Schrader said. “Steve and the guys worked on it all night, we just couldn’t get it to do what we needed it to do.”

Immediately after the race, Schrader departed for the LA/Ontario (Calif.) Airport to fly overnight to DuQuoin, Ill., so he can compete in Monday’s prestigious Southern Illinois 100 ARCA RE/MAX Series event at the 1-mile dirt oval at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds.

Schrader has won the Labor Day event the last two years.

With the 41st-place finish, the No. 96 Hall of Fame Racing entry is now 39th in the series’ owner standings with 1,622 points, 289 markers behind the 35th-place No. 7 team of Robby Gordon Motorsports.

Jimmie Johnson won the Pepsi 500 to score his 36th career Sprint Cup victory, his third of the season and his third at California.  Greg Biffle finished 2.076 seconds behind Johnson, while Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top-five.  Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne, David Reutimann and Clint Bowyer comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were eight caution periods for 34 laps, with two drivers failing to finish the 250-lap race.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Sept. 6 Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway.  The race begins at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live, high-definition coverage provided by ABC beginning with its pre-race show at 7 p.m.  The race will also be broadcast live on SIRIUS Satellite Radio Channel 128.

-DLP® HDTV-