Ernie Cope will serve as #21-Ken Schrader’s crew chief this weekend, as his regular crew chief, Michael McSwain, remained at the Wood Brothers shop to complete other work.(Roanoke Times)(9-2-2006)
UPDATE: Ken Schraders regular crew chief Michael Fatback McSwain is not with the team this weekend for the Sony HD 500 at California Speedway as he tends to business at the teams shop in North Carolina, according to team co-owner Eddie Wood. This weekend, Fatback stayed back to get ready for Richmond and Loudon and help our short track stuff, Wood said. Ernie Cope is the crew chief this weekend, so were just going on with business as usual. Wood was asked if this might be an indicator of what teams might do if they were eliminated from The Chase to get a head start on the next seasons preparation. Yes, in a roundabout way, Wood said. It wasnt something we really planned in advance, but it just kind of worked out that way. Ernie has been helping Fatback since he came back and since Fatback had some stuff to do, its a no-brainer to have Ernie fill in. Ernie is an experienced crew chief in his own right, so its business as usual. Schrader qualified 29th Friday in the U.S. Air Force Ford Fusion but blew an engine in Saturdays early afternoon practice and did not participate in Happy Hour. He will have to start Sundays race at the back of the grid because of the engine change.(Ford Racing)(9-3-2006)
