Ken Schrader Hangs On for Victory at Daytona

DAYTONA, Fla. —  Ken Schrader led 15 of the 20 laps and collected $75,000 Sunday for winning the Busch Clash at Daytona International Speedway.

Schrader, driving a Chevrolet Monte Carlo, outdrove the Ford Thunderbirds of Davey Allison and Terry Labonte in winning the 50-mile sprint race for last year’s pole winners.

Schrader picked the pole position in the blind draw for starting spots in the 13-car race and led the first three laps before Hendrick Motorsports teammate Darrell Waltrip took over.

Waltrip, also in a Monte Carlo, stayed in front, just ahead of Schrader, until the ninth lap, when Schrader again powered ahead.

This time, he stayed in front, fending off the challenges of Allison and Labonte. He beat Allison to the finish line by two car lengths.

“I thought maybe Davey had a little for us near the end,” Schrader said. “But, with these (carburetor) restrictor plates, you never know. He just didn’t have anything left.”

Schrader said he wasn’t sure if he could retake the lead after Waltrip passed him.

“I figured Darrell was going to try to click off the money laps, so I had to tuck in behind him and hope I didn’t lose any more ground.”

Allison, who also finished second to his father, Bobby, in last year’s Daytona 500, said: “It was tough out there. I tried three or four times to get around him, but I couldn’t. The car got loose a little near the end.”

Schrader, who earned $50,000 for the victory and $25,000 in lap leader bonuses--$15,000 on lap 10 and $10,000 on lap 15--averaged 192.926 m.p.h.

Allison earned $21,000 for the second-place finish, and Labonte received $16,000. Waltrip, who faded to eighth, earned $20,500, including a $10,000 bonus for leading lap five on the 2.5-mile, high-banked oval.

None of the starters earned less than $10,000.

Geoff Bodine, another member of the Hendrick Motorsports team, challenged early, but fell back and finished fourth, followed by Rick Wilson, Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin and Waltrip.

“The car slowed down a little and I have to get back to the garage and see what happened,” Waltrip said.

Morgan Shepherd was ninth, with Rick Mast, the wild card entry, 10th, followed by Alan Kulwicki, Bill Elliott and Ricky Rudd.

Ben Hess worked his way through a multicar melee 13 laps from the finish and held on to win the $128,590 ARCA 200, in which Tom Usry was injured, at Daytona International Speedway.

Hess, 24, the 1986 ARCA rookie of the year, sustained only minor damage to his Oldsmobile when several of the front-runners crashed and spun on the 67th lap. He assumed the lead after the eighth of nine caution periods, went low to block Ronald Cooper with one lap remaining and held on to win his first ARCA race by 1 1/2 car lengths.

The race, the first of the season for ARCA drivers, was punctuated by several crashes. Also taken to Halifax Medical Center were Bob Dotter Jr. and Clifford Allison, principals in two of the most serious crashes.

Usry, from Broadway, N.C., lost control of his Oldsmobile coming through the trioval on the 2.5-mile track with five laps remaining. He skidded onto the infield grass, where the car became airborne and flipped.

Although listed as critical, Usry was reported conscious and alert. A track spokesman said Usry was to undergo surgery for multiple fractures of his left arm. He also sustained a possible broken left leg and facial lacerations.