SCHRADER FINISHES 34TH AT THE GLEN; REMAINS 31ST IN POINTS

Ken Schrader and his Sunbelt Snacks and Cereal crew escaped Watkins Glen with a 34th place finish after running out of gas on the final lap of the event. 

 

The team decided to gamble on fuel following what turned out to be its final pit stop on lap 46. 

 

Five of the record nine cautions came after that stop and 12 of the remaining 45 laps were run under the yellow flag.  As the caution laps mounted the team refigured fuel consumption numerous times, and in the end decided to leave Schrader on the track hoping he would be able to complete the 90-lap race.  This time it didn’t work out.  He only crossed the start/finish line 89 times.

 

His trip back to the garage was made with the help of a wrecker.

 

Crew Chief Michael McSwain’s race strategy put him second on one restart and eighth on another, but Ken was unable to sustain the positions.  Three laps from the end, Schrader was listed 26th on the monitor.

 

Ken qualified 23rd Friday afternoon.  After his run he said, "I just screwed up on the lap a little bit during my shifting.  We hit our marks and stuff and the car feels good, but I didn't get into third quick enough going up through the esses.  I just got confused on where I needed to shift and went brain dead.  That cost us a couple of tenths, which I don't know how much difference that will make, but it'll be solid."  SINCE FATBACK HAS COME BACK AS CREW CHIEF THINGS SEEM TO HAVE PICKED UP A BIT.  "Fatback's got a lot of experience calling the races.  The two races that we ran together, we were off from our testing at Indy, which (David) Hyder and I did there along with Fatback and everybody.  Those were two races where we already had everything set, but he's just got a ton of experience calling the races and stuff so it's been fun."

 

Schrader was 31st during Friday’s practice, and 40th and 23rd during Saturday morning’s sessions that preceded Sunday’s AMD at the Glen.

 

Kevin Harvick passed Tony Stewart with three laps to go for the win.  Stewart was second followed by Jamie McMurray.  The first road course “ringer” Boris Said finished sixth.

 

Jimmie Johnson remains on top of the point standings after 22 races.  Matt Kenseth is still second this week, and Harvick moved up one place to third.  Ken stayed 31st.

 

The road races are over for the 2006 season, and the series will finish out the year on ovals.  Next week Nextel Cup will run at Michigan International Speedway.  The GFS Marketplace 400 will be televised live on TNT this coming Sunday, August 20.  Coverage begins at 2:00 p.m., and the green flag is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.  The 200 lap event will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network of radio affiliates.

 

 

Watkins Glen Results

  1. Kevin Harvick
  2. Tony Stewart
  3. Jamie McMurrary
  4. Robby Gordon
  5. Carl Edwards
  6. Boris Said
  7. Scott Pruett
  8. Elliott Sadler
  9. Kyle Busch
  10. Denny Hamlin

34.         Ken Schrader

 

Points after Watkins Glen  

  1. Jimmie Johnson                       3241
  2. Matt Kenseth                         3117
  3. Kevin Harvick                        2918
  4. Jeff Burton                  2879
  5. Kyle Busch                 2871
  6. Mark Martin                           2815
  7. Tony Stewart                          2794
  8. Denny Hamlin                         2782
  9. Jeff Gordon                            2756
  10. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.    2726

31.         Ken Schrader                         1811