Schrader Gambles on Mileage--and Wins

Ken Schrader gambled on gas mileage and won Saturday’s NASCAR Motorcraft/Trak Auto 300 Grand American stock car race at Riverside International Raceway when leader Troy Beebe broke a shock with two laps remaining.

Schrader’s Thunderbird carried a three-second lead into the final lap around the 2.62-mile course and held off Duke Hoenshell in the final turn. Hoenshell, the 1986 winner, finished second in a Camaro.

The NASCAR Winston Cup Series veteran from Fenton, Mo., who started fourth in the 42-car field and got to the front by skipping a second pit stop for gas and tires, won $7,600 from a purse of $47,000. He averaged a record 98.850 m.p.h.

A fifth-place finish gave Mike Chase of Bakersfield the 1987 Southwest Tour series title.