Martinsville Race Recap

ENGINE DAMAGE RESULTS IN 40TH PLACE FINISH AT MARTINSVILLE FOR SCHRADER AND THE WOOD BROTHERS’ LITTLE DEBBIE FUSION

Damage to the engine of the #21 Little Debbie Ford Fusion ended the day at Martinsville prematurely in a 40th place finish for Wood Brothers Racing and driver Ken Schrader. 

Hopes for a good weekend at the flat half-mile just north of the North Carolina/Virginia border were dashed when Schrader made contact with another racer on the 132nd circuit of the 500-lap event. 

Ken explained the incident to the media before exiting the car.  “I got into (David) Stremme.  He let a couple of lead lap cars go through (the 12 and 2) and I was following through when he came up and I turned him.  It tore our radiator up.”

During the caution period following the incident, Schrader reported left front fender damage and a drop in water temperature.  But, the temperature appeared to return to normal levels for a few laps.

Twenty laps later the oil temperature showed a dangerous increase.  When Ken told the crew, “We’ve got a problem,” they called him into the pits for what they hoped would be minor repairs.  However, when they found a hole in the radiator, the car was ordered to the garage.  Once a new radiator was installed, an engine problem was discovered and the afternoon came to an end.

Friday’s practice session only produced the 29th fastest time on the speed chart, Ken qualified 19th in the afternoon.  Then, Schrader posted the sixth best time recorded during race runs in Saturday’s first practice.

The team and driver agreed the car could produce a top-ten finish.  Right before the on-track incident occurred, Schrader was running 11th.

Tony Stewart led the most laps, and finished in the top spot.  Jeff Gordon was second over Jimmie Johnson.

Johnson moved back into the point lead.  Mark Martin is second this week ahead of Roush teammate Matt Kenseth.

Schrader dropped two spots in the standings and is now 31st.

This coming weekend the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series goes to one of the fastest tracks on the circuit – the one and a half mile Texas Motor Speedway track north of Ft.Worth.  Television coverage for the Samsung/Radio Shack 500 is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, April 9.  The race will also be broadcast live over the Performance Racing Network of radio affiliates.

 

Martinsville top-10

  1. Tony Stewart
  2. Jeff Gordon
  3. Jimmie Johnson
  4. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
  5. Kyle Busch
  6. Elliott Sadler
  7. Kevin Harvick
  8. Brian Vickers
  9. Jamie McMurray
  10. Scott Riggs

Ken Schrader

Point standings after Martinsville

1.           Jimmie Johnson          933

2.           Mark Martin                    874

3.           Matt Kenseth                 873

4.           Kasey Kahne                 832

5.           Kyle Busch                     832

6.           Dale Earnhardt, Jr.      824

7.           Jeff Gordon                    814

8.           Tony Stewart                  791

9.           Elliott Sadler                  735

10.         Casey Mears                 724

31.         Ken Schrader                            482