SCHRADER PUNTED TO 41ST AT MARTINSVILLE;
NOW 31ST IN POINTS
For 331 laps Ken Schrader had his #21 Little Debbie Fusion in the top-10 at Martinsville Sunday afternoon. He never completed lap 332. David Ragan, who was two laps down at the time, ran into the rear end of the 21 pushing it into a spin that resulted in severe contact with the wall and ended the day for the Wood Brothers team.
An obviously disgusted Schrader said, “I moved him earlier, I moved him, because you can’t run like that two laps down. Got back around him and he just paid me back for moving him, but he was two laps down.” HOW WAS THE CAR BEFORE THAT? “It doesn’t make any difference.”
Team co-owner Len Wood was willing to answer the question however. Wood stated, “We had a really good car. We had stayed in the top 10 almost all day long. We gave up a good day right here.”
Ken was looking forward to a good run at the tight little Virginia half-mile. He qualified 10th Friday afternoon and said afterwards, “I just missed it a little bit, but it’s the fastest lap we ran today. It’s not going to be bad.”
And, it wasn’t bad at all … until lap 332.
With the car all but destroyed, the crew was forced to drop out of the race. The 41st place finish dropped Ken a spot in the point standings. He is now 31st going to Atlanta.
Jimmie Johnson won the Subway 500. Several of the Chase drivers had problems during the event that resulted in a major scramble in the point standings. All but one driver, Kasey Kahne, changed position in the top ten. Matt Kenseth is the new point leader.
Sunday marked Schrader’s 700th start on the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series circuit. The Missouri veteran talked about his racing history on Saturday with Ford Racing. Here is the transcript of that conversation that also includes comments from Wood Brothers team co-owner Eddie Wood:
Ken Schrader, driver of the No. 21 Little Debbie Fusion, will make his 700th career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup start on Sunday. Schrader made his Cup debut on July 14, 1984, with a 19th-place finish at the old Nashville Speedway for team owner Elmo Langley. Schrader is 12th on the series’ all-time starts list, closely trailing Buddy Baker (701), Sterling Marlin (706) and Rusty Wallace (706). Schrader, who qualified 10th for tomorrow’s event, and team co-owner Eddie Wood spoke about Schrader’s milestone start.
KEN SCHRADER – No. 21 Little Debbie Fusion – ON HIS 700TH CAREER START. “It just means you’ve been here for a while. I wish it was 704, and they were consecutive, but we missed four the first year I drove for the BAM team. I would’ve liked to have won more of them, but I guess it’s some kind of accomplishment.”
WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT THAT FIRST RACE AT NASHVILLE? “What were we, 17th? Eighteenth? Nineteenth? We were nine laps down and Elmo was very happy. We finished on the same lap as Rusty [Wallace, who finished 18th]. I didn’t think that race would ever get over.”
WHY DIDN’T YOU THINK IT WOULD EVER END? “Oh, my. I had never run a race that was that long. The most I had ever run was a 100-lapper on a mile-dirt track. It was hot – Nashville in July – and had on a triple-layer uniform.”
WHAT WAS IT THAT MADE TEAM OWNER ELMO LANGLEY SO HAPPY? “That we were only nine laps down. If you look at the results, seven laps would’ve moved you up more than a little bit. He was just happy. I didn’t think I did a very good job, but I told my wife when we were driving home, ‘Whew, we might’ve found a home here, because I can do a lot better.’”
BACK THEN, COULD YOU EVEN IMAGINE MAKING 700 STARTS IN THE SERIES? “You don’t even think about something like that, that’s so far removed. You were just worried about start number two. You didn’t think about that. I didn’t think about it until a couple of years ago. I was just racing.”
WHAT ABOUT SOME OF THE OTHER DRIVERS WHO HAVE ECLIPSED 700 STARTS? “Those guys are old, too. We’ll catch a couple more of them, won’t we?”
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE ATTRIBUTES NEEDED TO MAKE THAT MANY STARTS? “You’ve got to be able to BS your way through the garage area. When you’re here working with limited ability, it’s hard to stick around this long. No, I’m just glad I’ve been here that long and haven’t been shuffled yet. You’ve got to have a lot of ‘want-to’ because it’ll wear on you after a while.”
IN ADDITION TO CUP, YOU RUN MANY, MANY RACES IN OTHER SERIES EVERY YEAR? IS RACING AS ENJOYABLE TO YOU NOW AS IT WAS IN 1984 AND EARLIER? “Yeah, and maybe more. I’m running more races than I did in ’84. I’ll run 120 this year, or right at it. I ran 112 last year. We’ll get in more. Yeah, I’m having as much fun as I’ve ever had. Every bit as much fun.”
EDDIE WOOD: “That’s a pretty impressive list – Richard Petty [1,185 career starts, the all-time record], Ricky [Rudd] and [Terry] Labonte, all those guys. That’s a big list to be on. I was, obviously, already here when Schrader started. I remember his first season when he came down, and then he went to work for [Junie] Donlavy and they had a lot of quick success, and then pretty much from then on he was a lifer here. It’s pretty cool that he’s still here. I’m real proud that he’s driving our car, and is going to make his 700th start in our car at Martinsville. We made our 1,000 start right here at Martinsville, so Martinsville is a special place.”
SCHRADER SAID THAT 700 STARTS MEANS YOU’RE OLD, BUT YOU ALSO HAVE TO HAVE A LOT OF ‘WANT-TO.’ A lot of starts doesn’t necessarily mean old, it just means that you’re tough and you’re dedicated and you have a passion for it and you don’t want to do anything else. He obviously is the benchmark for running races. Not only does he have 700 starts here, I’d like to know the number that he’s started, total. He runs two or three times a week some weeks. That would be the number I’d be interested in. I’d love to hear that one – which, I’m sure, would be up in the thousands, which is pretty impressive. He just likes to race. He wrote that book, Gotta Race! I think that’s a testament to him and what he’s all about. He’s all about racing.”
The 33rd race of the 2006 will take place at Atlanta Motor Speedway next Sunday, October 29. The Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 will be televised live on NBC with the green flag scheduled to fly at 2:55 p.m. The Performance Racing Network will broadcast the 325-lap event over its network of radio affiliates.
Martinsville results:
- Jimmie Johnson
- Denny Hamlin
- Bobby Labonte
- Tony Stewart
- Jeff Gordon
- Casey Mears
- Kasey Kahne
- Jeff Green
- Kevin Harvick
- Kyle Petty
41. Ken Schrader
Points after Martinsville
- Matt Kenseth 5848 +1
- Kevin Harvick 5812 +1
- Jimmie Johnson 5807 +4
- Denny Hamlin 5801 +2
- Jeff Burton 5800 -4
- Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 5754 -1
- Mark Martin 5752 -3
- Kasey Kahne 5749 0
- Jeff Gordon 5707 +1
- Kyle Busch 5677 -1
- Tony Stewart 4108 0
31. Ken Schrader 2754 -1
