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.
LEBANON, Tenn. (June 9, 2007) – Todd Kluever and the No. 16 3M team usually have strong runs at Nashville Superspeedway, but have never received the finish they deserved there. This weekend, however, Kluever and the team broke their string of bad luck and brought home a top-10 finish. It was Kluever’s first top-10 finish of the season and the third for the No. 16 3M team.
“Eddie (Pardue) and the guys did a great job tonight,” Kluever said. “I was a little disappointed because I really thought our 3M Ford Fusion was going to be better than it was. We fought a tight condition much of the night, but Eddie made the right calls and the car got better every time they made adjustments to it. I’m happy to be disappointed with eighth though. This team has had some pretty tough luck with flat tires the past three races so I think we are all pretty pleased with our results tonight. We gained some points and we’ve got this car in one piece to take to Kentucky next week.”
The No. 16 3M Ford Fusion gained three positions and is now 17th in the NASCAR Busch Series owners’ point standings. The next race will be on Saturday, June 16 at Kentucky Speedway with Kluever piloting the car. It will be televised live on ESPN2 at 8:30 p.m. (EDT).
Marcos Ambrose returns to the venue of one of his finest performances when he tackles the Pepsi 300 at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee this weekend. Ambrose was a fine third in his last visit to Nashville while competing in last year’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in the #20 Aussie Vineyards Ford F-150 last August. Now Ambrose gets the opportunity to reacquaint himself with the 1.333-mile concrete-surfaced speedway in the #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion as he strives for another strong finish. The Australian sits seventh in the NASCAR Busch Series points standings after six races and is the highest-placed non-Nextel Cup driver. Ambrose is also second in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings, locked in a battle with former Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya and the likes of NASCAR young gun David Ragan for the prestigious award.
“I’m really excited about Nashville,” said Ambrose. “For some reason, on those concrete tracks, I get a good feel on them. I ran well at Dover, and I just feel like I can feel the car advancing on the concrete tracks. Nashville being slightly smaller than a one-and-a-half-mile speedway – like Lowe’s or Texas – I think is good for me, too, because the speed is slightly slower and you can be more aggressive behind the wheel. “I’m really looking forward to Nashville, and I hope to duplicate what I did there last year in the truck series this weekend.
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