SCHRADER FINISHES 12TH AT DAYTONA

AND MOVES UP TWO PLACES  IN THE POINTS

 

 

Ken Schrader drove his U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command Ford Fusion to a 12th place finish in the Pepsi 400 Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway, and gained two positions in the point standings.

 

After the 400-mile July 4th weekend event Schrader said, “Our car handled really good.  We had one run in the middle where we got off a little bit.  I could see the leaders all night and it spread out like I thought it would because everyone was having handling issues.  I was happy with the way the car drove, but we just couldn’t get in the right position when we needed to at the end.”

 

Before the final run for the checkered flag the highest the Air Force Ford had been was 13th, and that was on lap 40.  At that point Ken had made his way forward from a 31st place start.

 

During the middle of the event the dark blue Fusion stayed mid-pack.

 

Events at the two restrictor plate tracks on the schedule – Daytona and Talladega – are known for creating a racing environment that generally results in at least one multi-car pileup referred to as the “big one”.  That didn’t happen Saturday night.

 

The next to the last caution flag flew on lap 155 for an accident involving five cars that sent only Jeff Gordon to the garage but put the other four drivers toward the bottom of the results chart. 

 

When the green came out for the final time two laps later, Ken was 15th.  He raced his way up to 12th through the white flag lap.  The event ended under caution for debris in turn three.

 

The team had discovered during practice on Thursday that the car didn’t work as well alone as it did when it was with others on the track.  After his qualifying run on Friday Ken explained, “It’s the same thing we saw in February.  We never even made a qualifying run and the car drove a lot better than February.  We’ve got it driving better now than it did in February, so we’re real happy with the car.  It doesn’t have any speed by itself, but it’ll be fine.”

 

Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon led the most laps, and it was Stewart who went to Victory Lane.  Brothers Kyle and Kurt Busch finished second and third.

 

Jimmie Johnson still tops the point standings over Matt Kenseth.  Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is now third.  Schrader gained two positions going from 33rd to 31st, and is now only 163 points out of the top 25.

 

The NEXTEL Cup Circuit moves from Florida to the Midwest this week.  The USG Sheetrock 400 will be contested at Chicagoland Speedway this coming Sunday, July 9.  TNT will broadcast the race live with coverage beginning at 3:00 p.m. EDT.  The event can also be heard over the Motor Racing Network of radio affiliates.

 

 

Daytona Top-ten

12. Ken Schrader

 

Top-ten in points

31.         Ken Schrader                       1408