Catchfence

Irwindale, Calif. (January 26, 2009): The All-Star Showdown held at the Toyota Speedway of Irwindale proved to be a disappointing night for the Ken Schrader Racing trio of Ricky Carmichael, Jamie Hayes, and Dakoda Armstrong. Carmichael and Hayes fell out of the race due to accidents and finished 34th and 37th respectively. Armstrong was unable to start the feature event after failing to qualify through time trials or the open race.

Rain halted all but a 45-minute practice session Friday and postponed qualifying until Saturday morning, however, more rain pushed the schedule back and teams were forced to time trial without any further practice Saturday afternoon.

Armstrong’s lap of 19.089 seconds was not enough to get in the field on his time alone, and he was forced to start the open race, which gave the winner a starting position in the field. Armstrong went a lap down in the 50-lap race, but gained some valuable seat time behind the wheel of a full-fendered stock car.

“We only got five laps of practice so I turned pretty much all of my laps in that race. The last couple of laps we got better and better. It was a neat experience and I have to thank Ken Schrader for giving me the opportunity to race in these cars,” said Armstrong.

Hayes started the Showdown from the 31st position while Carmichael started 29th. Eight laps into the event, Hayes got caught up in a three-car accident in turns three and four. The damage was too extensive to continue the race, and the team parked the J.L. Hendrick Auto Chevrolet for the night.

“It is what it is, but we broke the lower control arm and there was a small hole in the radiator,” explained Hayes. “We would have been laps down before we got it fixed and would have been out there risking the equipment. This isn’t a points race so we cut our losses and parked it for the day rather than go out there and try to gain one or two spots.”

Carmichael, on the other hand, seemed to have the most promising run going for him at the conclusion of the first segment. The No. 4 Monster Energy Drink Chevrolet did go a lap down prior to the break, but Carmichael was the receipient of the beneficiary award, which gave him his lap back prior to the green flag.

On lap 142, Carmichael became a victim of circumstance when he got collected in an accident that occurred when Ron Hornaday and Brian Ickler got together. He, too, was done for the night.

“It was just a crappy weekend for me. We missed the set up in practice and I didn’t qualify well. Right there put me in a bad position. I started getting up there (through the field) and I got tangled up in a caution and got hit. It was a downhill slide from that point,” explained Carmichael. “We started off in a bad position and didn’t do anything with it really.”

Ken Schrader Racing, Press Release