Loudon, NH (June 28, 2008): Ken Schrader Racing’s Jamie Hayes posted a 19th place finish in the Heluva Good Summer 125 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Friday night after the team chased the handling on his #52 J.L. Hendrick Honda Chevrolet all night. Hayes battled a tight condition, and despite several pit stops, stayed on the lead lap.

“I started the race and kept getting tighter and tighter. We kept adjusting on it because we were about middle or back of the pack. We just kept coming in and adjusting, adjusting, adjusting. We finally got it freed up a little bit and we were just chasing the track. The car was just way too tight tonight,” said Hayes.

Hayes started the race from the 15th position and slid back to 24th at the drop of the green. The team made a chassis adjustment during their first pit stop at lap 22, but knew they were going to have to adjust further after just a few laps of green flag racing.

Hayes came in two more times to try and get the car better. By lap 100, Hayes had worked his way up to 18th due to the exceptional pit stops on part of the crew. In the remaining 25 circuits, Hayes had managed to avoid the wrecks and take the checkers in 19th despite the ill-handling of the car.

“We finally missed the wrecks. I’m on my last car so I really needed to keep the fenders on this car,” said Hayes.

For Hayes, the 2008 season has been plagued with finishes that are not indicative of his performances. It’s been frustrating for the driver, but New Hampshire may signal a turnaround for the Ken Schrader Racing driver.

“We ran decent at Greenville, but then we could never get it going. We were really quick at South Boston, got in a wreck in practice, and had to get the back-up car out. The guys did a great job doing that, but the car was too tight there. We went to Watkins Glen and got taken out by a road course racer that isn’t even running for points. We come here and we were forced to bring the car we ran at Iowa that we never got our hands around,” said Hayes. “We just needed to finish this race and we did that. It’s a step in the right direction. The effort, communication, and teamwork are all there. Now, we need to work on getting the finishes that reflect our work into this program.”

Hayes is hoping that opportunity comes at the NASCAR Camping World Series next event at Thompson International Speedway. The team is expecting to have refreshed cars and a renewed enthusiasm.

“I’m really looking forward to going to Thompson. Our short track program is really good, and we run decent on the half-miles. I’m looking forward to getting those cars back and getting the bodies on them. We just need to go back to the shop and get back to work.”