SCHRADER FINISHES 16TH AT TEXAS

Today’s 16th place finish at Texas Motor Speedway might not make the headlines, but it was a banner day for Ken Schrader and his Motorcraft Racing crew. 

 

If a team struggles at all at this high-speed 1.5 mile tri-oval, the driver will find himself a lap down before his crew can adjust on the car.  And, that is exactly what happened to the #21 NEXTEL Cup Series crew on Sunday.  Forty-nine laps into the scheduled 334 race, leader Greg Biffle passed Schrader putting him one lap down in 29th place.

 

Less than 10 laps later green flag pit stops started.  Ken brought his Fusion down pit road on lap 58 for four tires, fuel and adjustments. 

 

During the second caution period of the afternoon, Schrader’s pit crew ripped off a 12.68 second pit stop putting Ken back on the track the first car one lap down.  On the restart (lap 89) Ken was able to get by then leader Kasey Kahne and back onto the lead lap, but couldn’t maintain the position.  For five laps he battled a hard charging Tony Stewart before getting passed.

 

After that it seemed to take the car several laps to “come in” following a restart.  Three more times Ken worked his way into the first spot one lap down following lengthy green flag runs, but the yellow didn’t come back out quickly enough for him to get the “Lucky Dog” award. 

 

Making matters worse, a loose radio connection in Schrader’s helmet created a situation where he was only picking up a word here and there from both his spotter and crew chief David Hyder.  After the race he said, “It was kind of lonely out there.  You can’t see who is coming or anything.  You get used to having a voice and I could just never quite make it out.” 

 

Finally, when Carl Edwards spun on lap 257 Schrader was in position to be awarded the move back to the lead lap.  At that time he was running 21st.  The race had already been slowed eight times for accidents and debris, and stopped once for wall repairs, so Ken drove very deliberately during the final laps. 

 

And, it paid off.  He gained five spots. 

 

At the conclusion of the event the driver explained, “We weren’t as good as we’ve been, (at Bristol and Martinsville) but we finished a lot better.  That’s why when we got back on the lead lap I told them that I would give up two spots before I wrecked this car.  The difference between 18th and 20th is nothing, but we could still wreck with 20 to go and wind up 34th.”

 

Schrader hadn’t been pleased with his qualifying effort that put him 32nd on the starting grid.  He said, “I’m thrilled with the car, but the driver just didn’t reach down.  I just left too much out there.”

 

Pole sitter Kasey Kahne won the Samsung/Radio Shack 500.  Matt Kenseth was second and Tony Stewart was third.

 

Jimmie Johnson stayed atop the points.  Matt Kenseth, second, moved up three spots and Kasey Kahne gained four positions and is now tied with Mark Martin for third.

 

Ken only advanced one position this week from 31st to 30th, but he is only four points back from 29th, and 87 out of the top 20.

 

NASCAR’s top series takes this coming weekend off.  The 2006 schedule will resume in two weeks at Phoenix International Raceway.  The eighth race of the season will be run Saturday night, April 22.  The Subway Fresh 500k is schedule to air live on FOX at 8:00 p.m. EDT, and will be carried live over the Motor Racing Network (MRN) of radio affiliates.

 

Note:  Schrader will not be taking the weekend off.  He will be racing at Paducah (Kentucky) International Raceway on Friday, I-55 Raceway in Pevely, MO on Saturday, and Monett Speedway in Monett, MO on Sunday.  He will also be signing his newly published book, “Gotta Race” at both Paducah and I-55 prior to the start of each night’s racing activities.

 

Texas top-ten

  1. Kasey Kahne
  2. Matt Kenseth
  3. Tony Stewart
  4. Denny Hamlin
  5. Kevin Harvick
  6. Jeff Burton
  7. Scott Riggs
  8. Martin Truex
  9. Mark Martin
  10. Bobby Labonte

    16. Ken Schrader

 

Points after Texas

  1. Jimmie Johnson                  1063
  2. Matt Kenseth                       1048
  3. Kasey Kahne                       1017
  4. Mark Martin                          1017
  5. Tony Stewart                         966
  6. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.                951
  7. Kyle Busch                            950
  8. Jeff Gordon                            911
  9. Kevin Harvick                         859
  10. Casey Mears                          845

30.         Ken Schrader                      597