to 17th in points. He survived a horrific crash in the DieHard 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. After he improved only to 12th in the standings in 1996, Schrader left Hendrick Motorsports after a nine-year association with the team. 1997–2005 In 1997, Schrader was hired to drive the No. 33 Skoal Bandit-sponsored Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Andy Petree Racing. He had eight top 10s and won two poles, finishing 10th in the standings, his most recent top 10 points finish. The following season, he posted three fourth-place finishes and won two poles over the last five races of the season. He won his final Cup pole, at Talladega, in 1999, but despite a 15th-place points run, Schrader failed to finish in the top five all year and departed Petree. He signed to drive the No. 36 M&M's-sponsored Pontiac Grand Prix for MB2 Motorsports. In his first year of competition, Schrader had two top 10s and finished 18th in the standings. He posted five top 10s in 2001, but dropped to 19th in the standings. While competing in the Daytona 500, he was involved in a final-lap crash where Dale Earnhardt crashed into the wall and died. The image of Schrader peering into Earnhardt's car, only to jump back and frantically signal for assistance, is etched into the minds of many racing fans; his interview with Jeanne Zelasko during Fox Sports' post-race show was the first sign to many that something was wrong with the seven-time Winston Cup champion, as he appeared visibly shaken and upon being asked if Earnhardt was okay, he said "I don't really know. I'm not a doctor. I got the heck out of the way as soon as they got there." Schrader would later say in a 2011 interview that he knew Earnhardt was dead but didn't want to be the one to announce it. In 2002, Schrader did not finish in the top 10 in a single race, the first time since 1984. Following that season, he departed MB2. Despite an original lack of sponsorship, Schrader was announced as the driver of the No. 49 BAM Racing Dodge Intrepid for 2003. Soon, 1-800-Call-ATT became the team's primary sponsor. At the Brickyard 400, Schrader's qualifying time was too slow (and the team was out of provisionals) to make the field, the first time since 1984 that Schrader had missed a Cup race. He DNQ'd three more times