Sylvania 300 - Ken Schrader Notes

Ken Schrader Notes, Quotes: Sylvania 300

Race key as sponsorship search continues

Ken Schrader and the #49 BAM Racing Dodge team head to the demanding 1.058-mile New Hampshire International Raceway near Loudon this week for Sunday’s Sylvania 300 NASCAR Winston Cup race. The tricky track has been a good one for Schrader in the past.

This stretch of races is an important one for the BAM Racing team, which is actively seeking sponsorship for the 2004 season. Fortunately, Schrader and the team have been running consistently well the past few weeks, notching a pair of top-12 finishes and running strong week-in and week-out. Outside of some bad luck caused by outside factors, Schrader could easily have a string of four consecutive top-10 finishes going into this weekend’s race.

The 48-year-old Schrader, a native of Fenton, Mo., is one of just a few active Winston Cup drivers to have won races on all types of 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 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. Business manager Gus Larkin is a veteran motorsports marketer, and is leading the corporate sponsorship activities.

THE THOUGHTS OF #49 BAM RACING DODGE DRIVER KEN SCHRADER:

“Obviously, it’s important we keep running consistently well. We’ve done that, just had a little bad luck here and there that has cost us. If we can overcome the outside obstacles, and if the things we can’t control will let us go for a few weeks, we can run off a string of some really good runs.

“We’re looking for full-time sponsorship for 2004. There’s no secret about that. Running well is an important part of that. I believe we’ve shown that a corporate sponsor could get a tremendous amount of bang for its buck with this race team. I honestly feel if we keep showing that, good things are going to happen to this race team and we’re going to have full-time primary sponsorship in 2004.”

THE THOUGHTS OF BAM RACING BUSINESS MANAGER GUS LARKIN:

“There isn’t a team in the Winston Cup garage that can offer a value package like we can at BAM. Because we do have stable ownership and an experienced driver and team, and because we already made the competitive expenditures we need to make to be a top team, a corporate sponsor could come in as a primary on this #49 car at a very realistic price.

“Sponsorship has to work for both sides of the equation, and if you talk with anyone we have partnered with over the past year or so, I believe you would find us willing to do whatever it takes to make a program successful. I honestly think one of the problems in the sport is a race team will take the money for sponsorship, and then walk away and forget the company. That’s not the way we do things at BAM. Whatever is important to our sponsors, whatever makes their program work for them, we’re going to do everything in our power to make those things happen.

“Yeah, it’s tough out there right now. There are still a lot of questions about the economy and companies are questioning every dollar they spend, whether it is in marketing or anywhere else. And that’s the right thing to do. But we can help a company that doesn’t want to spend, say, $12 million or $15 million, and still give them a $15 million program.

“We are talking with several companies now, and I feel we’re going to come away with a primary sponsor for 2004 that we can really help. But we’re talking to anybody who wants to talk, too, and we’ll sit down and give everyone the blueprint for a very successful motorsports marketing program.”

THE THOUGHTS OF BAM OWNER BETH ANN MORGENTHAU:

“We have made it clear from our ownership position that whoever sponsors our car is going to not only be treated right, but we are going to work very hard to meet their goals. Our goals are to build a successful race team and to be competitive on a weekly basis. But if we don’t meet – and often supercede – the goals of our sponsors, then we won’t be in a position to build our race team.

“There is not a race team in any form of motorsports that will work harder and be more diligent in making a corporate sponsorship program work. Plain and simple, that is our number one goal. To reach our competitive goals we have to meet our sponsor’s goals. And we will do that.

“This team has come a long way in a relatively short period of time. We ran a partial schedule last year, and ran our first full NASCAR Winston Cup schedule this year. We’ve moved ahead and we’ve made progress. Anytime we’ve had setbacks, we have been able to overcome them and to continue moving forward.

“Business sense says to jump on board something that is progressing, something that is growing. That would mean someone taking a very hard look at this race team because we are moving towards the front.”

©Copyright 2003 Race 2 Win