Pepsi 400 - Ken Schrader Notes

Ken Schrader Notes, Quotes: Daytona 400
‘I’m really excited to have 1 800 CALL ATT back’

Ken Schrader and the #49 1 800 CALL ATT Dodge team start the traditional second-half turn this week when they head to the 2.5-mile Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway for Saturday night’s 400-mile race.

The team will carry the 1 800 CALL ATT for Collect Calls colors this week, just as it has for several other races this season. The first were the Bud Shootout and Daytona 500 at the beginning of the year.

The 48-year-old Schrader, a native of Fenton, Mo., is one of just a few active Winston Cup drivers to have won races at NASCAR’s longest speedways. 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 woman 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 #49 1 800 CALL ATT Dodge driver Ken Schrader heading into Daytona:

“Some people say it’s refreshing to get to Daytona to start the so-called second half of the season. Me, it’s the next race on the schedule.

“Don’t get me wrong. Daytona is a great place to race, but every place we go now is so important. You don’t look down the schedule for a particular race; you take it one race at a time and focus all your energy into that race.

“All restrictor plate racing is not alike. Daytona is a different animal than Talladega. Handling is more important at Daytona than at Talladega. The main reason for that is the track is tighter and slicker, a lot slicker, and it’s banked less. The tighter radius of Daytona, as opposed to Talladega, and the lower banking, means the track just doesn’t have as much grip.

“You still run wide open the whole time. You never crack the throttle unless you’re trying to keep from running over somebody. But, if your car is sticking in the corners, and you can run anywhere on the track you’ll be able to have a much better run.

“The whole analogy of restrictor plate racing as chess at 190 mph… I don’t know. It sounds good, and maybe there is some truth to it. Maybe it would be like chess in the middle of a hurricane while trying to ride a bicycle. Naw, there are times when the chess thing might be a little easier.

“Some cars work better around other cars, some cars draft better than others, you try and feel that out over the practice sessions during the weekend. The main thing is picking someone you know is going to stay there and be with you the whole time . . . someone that, you hope, won’t hang you out to dry. Those deals, if there are such things, are made coming off turn four with two laps to go… and you normally start breaking them going down into turn one. They last about as long as a Hollywood marriage. There are no set deals out there on the track; just no such thing.

“Obviously to have a good run at Daytona you have to be around at the end, and here that means you’re going to have to avoid the big wreck. You just hope everyone uses his head out there, but the later in the race it gets, the more intense the racing is. There has to be a lot of give and take out there, but the closer you get to the checkered flag, there’s a lot less give and a lot more take.

“We think we have an advantage nobody else has. I can’t give you a good reason why but every time we have run 1 800 CALL ATT on our car, we’ve had great runs. We were good in the Bud Shootout, and we had a good car in the Daytona 500. Darlington, Martinsville . . . . every time that has been on the car, we’ve run great. Whatever the reason that makes us run better, I am really, really excited to have 1 800 CALL ATT on the car this week.

“We’re expecting good things out of this 1 800 CALL ATT Dodge this week. We know we can run well here, the team has worked extremely hard, and we’re improving with every week. We’re going into the Pepsi 400 knowing we can do some special things at Daytona.”

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