Aaron’s 499 - Ken Schrader Notes

1 800 CALL ATT Returns To #49 BAM Dodge

Schrader Heads to Talladega with fond Daytona memories

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Though no longer truly the “World’s Fastest Speedway,” Ken Schrader and the #49 1 800 CALL ATT Dodge team still hold a tremendous amount of respect for the 2.66-mile Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway - site of Sunday’s 500-mile NASCAR Winston Cup race.

“The place is plenty fast, and you run nose-to-tail all day long,” Schrader said. “You had better respect that track.”

Since restrictor plates were initially used on NASCAR Winston Cup cars in February, 1988, the large packs of cars have been a staple of the races at Talladega and Daytona International Speedway.

That, Schrader said, changes a driver’s thinking.

“You don’t think in terms of running 190 or 200 miles per hour at times,” Schrader said. “It’s like you are sitting in a parking lot, a lot of times in the middle of a parking lot . . . this parking lot just happens to be going really, really fast.

“It’s something, that’s for sure. The wind off the other cars blows you around like crazy, and that’s no gentle breeze either,” he added.

The close-quarter racing at the speedway is what makes it so difficult, said Schrader.

“It gets pretty tight in there. Look at it this way. If you are running, say, 10th, you have at least nine cars in front of you, and another 20 cars beside you and behind you. Run 10th late in the race, and you could be in the middle of a pack of 30 cars, including the ones laps down,” he said.

“Get in the middle where the wind is blowing you around, and you try to hold on, keep your line and find a place to go. And you are doing that at some pretty incredible speeds,” he added. “You know that a mistake is not just going to tear up you car but tear up a lot of cars.

“I’ve never had to sneeze in that situation but I’d want to stay away from anybody with hay fever,” he said.

The 1 800 CALL ATT Dodge team heads into Talladega with a lot of confidence, especially considering the team’s strong run in season-opening Speed Weeks at Daytona.

“A lot of things don’t necessarily translate over from Daytona to Talladega, and running well at one place doesn’t automatically mean you are going to run well at the other,” Schrader said. “But I would much rather be going into Talladega after a good Daytona run than after a bad one.”

The 1 800 CALL ATT Dodge finished sixth in the Bud Shootout and was running strong in the Daytona 500 before another car ran into it from behind, wrecking it and ending the team’s day.

“If nothing else, it gives you a good feeling going into Talladega,” Schrader said. “All the guys on the team are pumped up, the car owners are pumped up, the driver is pumped up, the 1 800 CALL ATT folks are pumped up . . . how can you not be excited? You don’t know for a fact you are going to run well but you have to figure you have a really good shot at it.”

1 800 CALL ATT is the car’s primary sponsor for six races, with AT&T appearing as an associate sponsor for the remaining events. Primary sponsorship by 1 800 CALL ATT will also include next week’s event at Martinsville, Va., and the July race at Daytona Beach, Fla. The brand has been on the car for races at the Bud Shootout and Daytona 500, as well as NASCAR Winston Cup races at Darlington, S.C., and Bristol, Tenn.

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