Chevy Rock and Roll 400 - Ken Schrader Notes

Ken Schrader Notes, Quotes: Rock & Roll 400
“Could there be a better track to decide the cut-off?”

Ken Schrader and the #49 Schwan’s Home Service Dodge team head to the .750-mile Richmond (VA) International Raceway for Saturday night’s Rock & Roll 400 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race. Saturday night’s event is race number 26 of the Nextel Cup season, marking the final race before the Nextel Cup Chase for the Championship.

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. 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 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 Richmond:

“I’m not sure there’s ever been as much pressure on a Richmond race as there will be Saturday night. You know we’re going to have around five drivers who are fighting to get into the top 10 in points. Some of those guys can’t afford to make mistakes, and some of those guys can’t afford to hold anything back. It’s going to be furious racing all night, and you’re seriously going to have to be aware of who you’re racing with.

“Say what you will about the ‘chase for the championship,’ I know a lot of people were skeptical at the first of the year, but there’s little doubt that it’s made the championship race more entertaining. This time last year we were talking about one guy running away with it, but now we’re not only talking about the top 10 drivers, but we’re talking about guys 11th through 15th or so, who still have a chance, one final chance, to make the cut. If it wasn’t for the format this year, we’d be talking about two or three guys racing for the championship. Right now, we’re talking about 15 guys; next week will be talking about 10, so, in that aspect the new format has made it much more interesting from a fan’s perspective.

“Who could ask for a better track to decide the cut-off’? Richmond is a wonderful track with plenty of room to race. It’s the only short track on the circuit with room to race one another clean. Now, how clean some of these guys race each other Saturday… we’ll see, but all of us are racers out here and we generally try to respect one another, because this is who we race with for a living.

“That’s also the reason I don’t think you’ll see any of this so called ‘team-work’ on the race track become that big of a factor. Will teammates help each other out? Yes, as they should. But, I don’t think you’re going to see any questionable blocking or trying to harass a fellow competitor because they’re rivaling a teammate for a transfer spot in the championship. Keep in mind, these 40 to 45 drivers, owners, and crew chiefs all live next door to each other for three days a week, 38 weeks a year. We also race each other every week. There’s too much respect to be lost to do something underhanded in order to help out teammates.

“Everyone will be watching at Richmond, and we can’t think of a better time to steal some thunder. We’ve been close the past few times at Richmond to really having a solid run. Hopefully this Schwan’s Home Service team can improve on our 23rd-place finish here in May. We weren’t bad then, but the first 100 laps were green, and we really didn’t have a chance to adjust on the car before we were put a lap down. Because everybody remembers that, it’s really going to put an emphasis on qualifying. If we can start close to the front, then we have a little more leeway with our performance once the green flag drops. Richmond is the next step in this team’s growing process. We’ve improved about every time out here at Richmond and we’ll be looking to do the same Saturday night.”