Banquet 400 presented by ConAgra Foods - Ken Schrader Notes

Ken Schrader Notes, Quotes: Kansas 400
Reenergized for the home stretch

Ken Schrader and the #49 Schwan’s Home Service Dodge team head to the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway, located in Kansas City, KS, for Sunday’s Kansas 400 NASCAR, the 30th Nextel Cup Series race of the 2004 season.

Driver of the #49 Schwan’s Home Service Dodge, Schrader is a native of Fenton, Mo. The busiest driver in major league motorsports, Schrader has raced on virtually every type of speedway in virtually every type of race car, and continues a winning career with BAM Racing, which fields the Schwan’s Home Service team.

The team is owned by Beth Ann and Tony Morgenthau, investors from Coral Gables, Fla. Ms. Morgenthau, whose initials make up the name of the team – BAM Racing – is the only female car owner in motorsports to become involved without prior family connections. General manager Eddie Jones is a veteran of the NASCAR Nextel Cup wars, enjoying a championship career as a crew chief, mechanic and team leader. Business manager Gus Larkin is a successful veteran motorsports marketer, and leads the corporate sponsorship activities.

The Schwan Food Company is a privately held manufacturer and marketer of fine frozen foods through its nationwide Schwan’s Home Service home-delivery service, its Schwan’s Consumer Brands North America retail grocery business, and its Schwan’s Food Service Group foodservice unit. Headquartered in Marshall, Minn., Schwan’s production and distribution activities in the United States and Europe employ 24,000 people. Among its well-known brands are Schwan’s®, Tony’s®, Red Baron®, Freschetta®, Pagoda®, Mrs. Smith’s®, and Edwards®.

The thoughts of Schwan’s Home Service Dodge driver Ken Schrader heading into Kansas:

“If you’re trying to get in touch with me this week, you’ll have to wait until I’m at the track on Friday. It’s not often us Mid-westerners get a chance to go home during the busy Nextel Cup season, but with this weekend’s race in Kansas City, it allows this native Missourian to visit his home state for a little while.

“After Sunday’s race at Talladega we jumped on the motorcycle and we’ll be riding to Missouri and over to Kansas City for the next few days. It’s a great time of year for motorcycle enthusiasts, especially through this part of the country we’ll be riding through. It’s also great timing on the Nextel Cup schedule for a nice, long motorcycle ride. There is always a lot of pressure both on and off the track during the season, so it’s nice to have a chance just to get out on the open road and clear your head. Riding like that can really reenergize you and get you ready for these final seven races of the season.

“We’ll need that extra energy to do well this weekend for the boss. Beth Ann was raised in Kansas City so, of course, the entire Schwan’s Home Service team digs a little deeper this weekend to try and get everything we can out of the car. Not that we don’t always do that, but you try and do exceptionally well for Beth Ann this weekend. Of course, Kansas City is as close to a homecoming as I have on the Nextel Cup Series and it means a little more to me as well.

“The track itself is top notch. The facility is one of the newer if not the newest on the circuit. You can tell too. The track is ultra smooth, and as soon as it has a chance to settle in a little bit the racing there should really improve as well. The second groove is beginning to form; we saw it a little last year. Hopefully, we’ll continue to see it this year. As soon as you can run around here two-wide and race side-by-side, the racing will be that much more exciting for the fans and the drivers. I’m not saying our racing will ever rival the Indy cars at Kansas, but it will get better.

“We’re firming up our program as the end of the year nears in preparation for 2005. These last seven races are at several different style tracks that can really help us improve our program as a whole. Believe or not, a lot of teams can use the last few races of one season as a springboard into the next. We’re still fighting for every position in the points and on the track and we’re also looking forward to finishing strong to build some momentum for 2005.”