Ken Schrader drove the No. 18 Fastenal Dodge Ram to a top-five finish in the rain-delayed Power Stroke Diesel 200 at O'Reilly Raceway Park, Indianapolis, Ind., last Friday night, July 27. Next up in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series racing: a 200-mile race at Nashville Superspeedway, in Lebanon, Tenn., on Saturday, August 11, 2007.
Schrader did it in style too. He started 18th and moved up steadily through the field all night on a track where the winner has always started in the top five. Not bad for an old man. He ended the night picking up two spots on the last lap. There was also this tidbit.
TruckSeries.com Report
Fifth-finishing Ken Schrader drove the No. 18 Fastenal Dodge to its first lead lap posting since May’s race in Mansfield where he took third – the veteran’s best of the season.
SPARTA, KY. – Stephen Leicht claimed his first career win in the Meijer 300 on Saturday after passing one of his best friends just 12 laps from the finish at the Kentucky Speedway.
“I can’t say enough tonight about the CitiFinancial team and our car tonight was awesome. We were in the right position at the right time and we were able to capitalize on it with 10 to go,” Leicht said. “Those were the longest 10 laps that I’ve run there at the end of the race. I never thought the race was going to end. Once you get the first one out of the way I think they’ll just come easier now. This team is definitely prepared for that.”
Leicht became the first Busch regular to win a Busch race since David Gilliland won the only Busch race by a Busch regular (or iregular) last year. There is something wrong with that folks. I don't care what JJ thinks.
Mark Martin gave up a spot in the show to watch it from home, and wouldn't change a thing about his first weekend off in 622 NASCAR races. Martin wasn't sure how he'd feel watching Sunday's race from Bristol Motor Speedway, but after dozing off twice during the 500-mile event, he realized he can live without racing.
"I never once wished I was out there," Martin said Monday. "When they started the engines, there was a few seconds there that seemed a little bit eerie to me. But that was the only time that it ever even crossed my mind. "There was no anxiety whatsoever. I enjoyed watching the race. I nodded off once or twice during a commercial, but snapped right back up. It was just a wonderful weekend. I wouldn't trade it for a Nextel Cup."
It was the final hurdle Martin had to cross to know for sure that he can continue his plan of easing into retirement. He tried to walk away from NASCAR's highest level, only to be pulled back into the 36-race schedule by former car owner Jack Roush. Then Ginn Racing gave him a chance to set his own schedule, and Martin jumped at the idea of re-claiming part of his life back. But the pressure to abandon his partial-schedule plan mounted after a terrific start to the season put Martin on top of the Nextel Cup standings. Five years ago, the pursuit of a championship would have consumed Martin. No more.
Carl Edwards finished in sixth but wasn’t overly excited about the tire situation. “The tires were very difficult. Goodyear’s doing they’re best, I guess, to come out here and be safe, but that’s kind of a mess we’ve got here with the tires. We’ll just fight through it,” said Edwards.
Many comments were made prior to and after yesterday's Busch race, some giving a warning to how today's Cup race might fare. The speedway wanted to improve competition, but the new banking and the repaving have not been a big hit. Goodyear had to come up with harder compound tires for the event due to the new surface and many drivers commented on how hard it was to come to grips with the track as they ended up doing quite a bit of sliding.
Carl Edwards increased his lead in the NASCAR Busch Series Championship points after yesterday's at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Edwards started the Roush Fenway #60 Dish Network Ford 19th in the lineup. He now leads the standings by 68 points over Denny Hamlin who finished 12th in Saturday's event.
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