Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 - Ken Schrader Notes

Ken Schrader Notes, Quotes: Atlanta 500
‘Rain, snow, gloom of night...Post Office should sponsor it’

Ken Schrader and the #49 BAM Dodge team head to the 1.54-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway this week for Sunday’s 500-mile race.

The 47-year-old Schrader, a native of Fenton, Mo., is one of just 12 active Winston Cup drivers to have won at Atlanta and is 12th in money-winning on the all-time NASCAR Winston Cup list. The busiest driver in major league motorsports, Schrader is looking for a “100-night” season this year, and will continue a winning Winston Cup career that has seen him win over $20 million.

BAM Racing is owned by Beth Ann and Tony Morgenthau of Coral Gables, Fla. The successful investors, who have fully funded the team for the complete 2003 season run, have built the BAM (Beth Ann Morgenthau’s initials) team from the ground up. Ms. Morgenthau is the only female in major league motorsports to start a team without becoming involved because of family connections.

General manager Eddie Jones is a veteran of the NASCAR Winston Cup wars, enjoying a championship career as a crew chief, mechanic and team leader. Crew chief Scott Eggleston is one of the few active crew chiefs in the business to have won a Daytona 500.

The thoughts of BAM Dodge driver Ken Schrader heading into Las Vegas:

“I think every driver has a love-hate relationship with every track. If you are running well there, you love it. If you’re not, you hate it. And, believe me, that can change as you need it.

“Atlanta used to be one of everybody’s favorite tracks, I think. I don’t think many guys enjoyed the changes they made to it several years ago when they reconfigured the thing. It wasn’t much at all the first year or so. Now, it’s back to the old Atlanta, at least far as the groove and all is concerned. You can find a place to run the car. You can go down on the line or up against the wall. That’s made it more enjoyable but it’s a fast one.

“In some ways you sit there and think the place is comparable to Daytona or Talladega when it comes to the speed. Yeah, your average speed is not much faster but your top speed is. You’re in excess of 200 miles per hour at the end of the straightaway. That’s lot of speed to carry into those corners and make the car do what you want it to do.

“When guys talk about the speed at Atlanta, they’re not really talking about that stuff down the straightaways. It’s all the speed you are carrying through the corners. That’s when you notice. Well, you notice it when something happens and that wall is coming at you in a hurry. All of the sudden, it’s real fast!

“There aren’t any plates so you do have to let off and you do have to apply a little bit of brake. Still, the draft and stuff used at Talladega and Daytona come into play there also. A lot of the things that go on at Atlanta these days are the same type of things that went on at Daytona and Talladega before the plates went on there.

“Weather plays a huge role on what goes on there. It seems that both races, but especially the Spring race, the weather can give you anything. Rain, snow, sleet, gloom of night. . . we’ve had it all at Atlanta - in one weekend! The Post Office should sponsor that race.

“You have to have horsepower, and you have to be able to handle. That’s pretty much the story every week, I guess, but both ends are so critical at Atlanta. A really great motor isn’t going to mean a whole lot if you can’t carry that speed through the turns. Being able to get through the turns really well won’t mean as much if you can’t get down the straightaways.

“Because of that, you have to be on top of your game at Atlanta. You can’t be off anywhere and have any kind of success there. You have to be good all day long, and you have to able to adjust as the track changes there too. If we can do all of those things, it will end up being a pretty good day for this BAM Racing Dodge.”

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