Pocono 500 - Ken Schrader Notes

Ken Schrader Notes, Quotes: Pocono 500

‘Different day and definitely different track’

Coming off a strong run this past weekend, Ken Schrader and the #49 BAM Racing Dodge team head to the triangular-shaped 2.5-mile Pocono (Pa.) International Raceway this week for Sunday’s 500-mile race.

The 47-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 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 #49 BAM Racing Dodge driver Ken Schrader heading into Pocono:

“Pocono is just different.

“You hear this ‘same track, same cars’ stuff pretty often but Pocono is just a totally different animal altogether. What do you call it? It’s not exactly an oval. It’s not really a tri-oval, like a Daytona or Talladega. It’s a lopsided triangle but that’s not the best promotional term you could come up with for it either.

“Take it even further. Yeah, it’s a superspeedway because it is longer than a mile but it sure doesn’t drive like a superspeedway. Well, parts of it drive like a superspeedway. Parts of it drive like a short track too, but it sure isn’t a short track. It has some road course in it too - three turns, all three totally different.

“Definitely, the place is different. How often are you going to find an ‘oval’ with three turns in it? It’s a triangle. You don’t need a computer to figure that out. The deal is, in stock car racing you have road course racing and you have oval racing. Where does that leave a triangle to go?

“Pocono is a different track from anything we run on, and that might be the reason so many strange things tend to happen there. A lot of times overcoming the strange stuff - the bizarre things that happen there from time to time - is the secret to doing well there. A lot of tracks, you have to beat the line or beat the heat or have a great engine or whatever. That kind of stuff is pretty important at Pocono but it’s the guys who beat the strange stuff - whether it’s the weather or animals on the track or whatever - who end up doing the best there.

“That’s what makes Pocono different. It’s got some superspeedway in it because it’s so big and can get pretty fast, especially on that long front straightaway. It’s got a little short track in it, especially since some teams bring short track cars there and try some short track tricks. And it’s got a little road course in it too, with three totally different turns - even though they are all left-handers - and some shifting.

“Pocono is a place where we could have a good run, and where we’re looking for a good run. There are a lot of positives about the place that fit pretty well with our race team. I like the place, so that should help from the driver’s perspective. The guys on the team are pretty good about setting a car up for the place. Hopefully, that’s going to lead to a pretty good weekend for us.

“Some good things are on the horizon for all of us on this BAM team, and we’re going to make sure we get there. Pocono would be a great place to get that rolling.”

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