Talladega Race Report

Race Report – Talladega #49 Schwan’s Home Service Dodge Aaron’s 499, May 1, 2005 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway Talladega, Ala.

RESULTS: 1. Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet 2. Tony Stewart, Chevrolet 3. Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet 4. Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge 5. Mamie McMurray, Chevrolet 8. Ken Schrader, Dodge
http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2005/8/data/results_unofficial.html

In front of a very large, very excited Alabama crowd, 43 Nextel Cup drivers responded to the waving green flag with the slow, painful crawl as their restricted race cars labored to build up the momentum and speed of a Talladega Superspeedway race.

The four-hour race had plenty of excitement in the front pack of cars that seemed suctioned together nearly from start to finish. The only moments of nearly single file racing came in the waning moments of the race, when only 13 cars remained on the lead lap and spread out as the crawled back to speed when they took the green flag following caution periods. Aside from that, if you blinked or sneezed, you missed somebody passing somebody, probably twice, amid the top 25 race cars.

If equality is really the goal of NASCAR among car makes, it looked like the playing field is certainly getting closer. Chevy driver Jeff Gordon certainly was the class of the field, but all three makes had leaders at some point during the race, and the top ten was often more of a mix of cooperative drivers than a show of dominance by any one car builder.

Ken Schrader started out the day knowing it could be a challenge. The #49 Schwan’s Home Service Dodge hadn’t been at its best in practice or qualifying, and there was no chance to test the changes to crew made to the car since Saturday’s practice was rained out. It was a crap shoot as to how the car would perform; seemingly, Schrader and the Schwan’s Home Service race team got all they could get out of their Dodge.

Bouncing wildly through the running order making 3-4 lap jumps from 31st to 20th, or from 17th to 12th, Schrader worked with his race car to put it where it would be fastest on the track.

“The car just didn’t work on the low side in the beginning of the race. At the end, it was still better on the high side, but if I needed to go low, I could make it turn down there,” Schrader said. “David (Hyder, crew chief) and the guys gave me all they had with the car, that’s for sure. They worked harder than anybody in the garage, and I drove as hard as I could out there. We just didn’t have what we needed to make any moves alone, nobody did. I had to have someone to push me or someone to follow. We finished eighth and missed some wild wrecks out there! It was a great day! I’m a racer, so when I finish that good, I always want to finish at least one spot better. We’re all racers on the Schwan’s Home Service team, we’ll learn from this race and be ready when we head to Daytona.”

The Aaron’s 499 aired live on FOX and was broadcast live on MRN Radio.

The NASCAR Nextel Cup Series will next head to the 1.366-mile oval Darlington Raceway, just a short drive from the coastline of the Carolinas, for the Dodge Charger 500.