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Great Car Meets Bad Luck |
Schrader
Chronicle #9 - Avoiding Talladega Trouble
By Steve Stakem May 2, 2005 (This column covers Nextel Cup Driver Ken Schrader over his final season, or two, on NASCAR's biggest circuit.) Talladega, AL - Ken Schrader got the luck he needed at Talladega Superspeedway and ran the 49 Schwan's Home Service Team to its first top-10 of the season. The race was nothing short of excitement, and when Schrader missed the 25-car melee with 56 laps to go, a good finish was bound to be had. Schrader and the 49 weren't quite up to speed in Friday's qualifying and practice sessions, but the David Hyder-led crew made the proper adjustments, without the benefit of a rain-called Saturday practice, and had the 49 ready to race. Starting 42nd Schrader had no where to go but forward, and he did just that, slicing and dicing his way through the field to improve track position and find a friend to help make it to the front. Running the high side for most of the race, Schrader picked the low-line at the right times. With things getting hectic toward race's end Schrader found himself behind a huge wreck caused by a bump-drafting Dale Earnhardt Jr. Taking evasive action, Schrader drove the 49 to the inside-bottom to avoid a 25-car pileup and found himself in 9th position at the start of a 43-minute red flag. From there, he would set his sights on the front hoping to get a push by the dominate car of soon-to-be race winner Jeff Gordon. As the laps closed, Schrader hustled his car in position for a top-five. With nothing working on the high part of the track, Schrader again went low with a few laps remaining. As the cars were about to take the white flag signaling one-to-go, the pack broke loose again. Somehow, Schrader got through the crash and held position on the final restart to take 8th place and earn his first, well overdue, top-10 of the season. "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." Random Notes Junior, Junior, Junior ... - Way to listen to Mike Helton in the driver's meeting and only bump-draft on the backstretch. Had you listened you just might have saved some teams a great deal of money on Sunday. Justice Served ... Not Quite - Junior was challenging for the win with two-to-go when he was the recipient of the second big crash. Junior was relegated to a 15th place finish, still better than 23 of the 25 cars he helped wreck in the initial melee. New Restrictor Plate Kings? - Winning four of the past five restrictor plate races, Hendrick Motorsports has shown DEI and the rest of Nextel Cup that they have some catching up to do. Jeff Gordon looked unstoppable in his Dupont, Yoda-laden, Pepsi Chevy in earning his 72nd Cup victory and 3rd for 2005. 18 Contenders - 17 drivers are still within 400 points of leader Jimmie Johnson. Another five are within 500 and eight are within 600 points including Ken Schrader who moved up three spots to 29th, 570 back of Johnson and 269 behind 10th place Jamie McMurray. 2005 Aaron's 499 Results 1. Jeff Gordon, Dupont/Pepsi Chevrolet, $365,116 2. Tony Stewart, Home Depot Chevrolet, $243,616 3. Michael Waltrip, NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, $197,294 4. Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge, $165,925 5. Jamie McMurray, Texaco/Havoline Dodge, $128,840 8. Ken Schrader, Schwan's Home Service Dodge, $101,630 |
