Samsung/Radio Shack 500 - Ken Schrader Notes

Ken Schrader Notes, Quotes: Samsung/RadioShack 500
Carrying strong Bristol finish to ‘Lone Star State’

Ken Schrader and the #49 Schwan’s Home Service Dodge head to the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway this week for Sunday’s Samsung/RadioShack 500.

Driver of the Schwan’s Home Service Dodge, 48-year-old Schrader, is a native of Fenton, Mo., and 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 that has seen him win nearly $23 million.

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 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 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 Texas:

“Going into Texas . . . going into any race . . . coming off a pretty good weekend is a nice feeling. We had a good run at Bristol, and we were really solid all day long. Runs like that tend to pick up everybody’s morale, really get everybody fired up.

“We had a solid weekend all the way through, and we feel we can do the same thing this week. We knew what we were working on and knew what we had to do at Bristol, and we were able to do it. The car kept getting better and better throughout the weekend, and it showed in the final results. That same kind of weekend this week would be great. As long as you keep getting the car better, you feel pretty good knowing you are headed in the right direction.

“That’s pretty much the main issue for this Schwan’s Home Service Dodge this week. Obviously, there are a lot of issues running through the sport right now.

“With all the talk of whether or not Texas should get another race date… Hey, I’m all for NASCAR’s reshuffling of the schedule to place more race dates in other markets. It’s hard for us to explain to a sponsor based in Minnesota why we’re running three races in the rural Carolinas, at tracks separated by about 90 miles, with 60,000 seat facilities that don’t always sell out. In the mean time, there are tracks in much larger markets, with larger and newer facilities that are sitting there with only one date.

“First off, Texas Motor Speedway is one of the nicest facilities we will travel to - that’s obvious. On top of that, they sell out every race. So, here we are coming to a wonderful facility with close to 150,000 seats that are full every time we’re here. Plus, the Dallas/Fort Worth area is a huge market, especially compared to some of the saturated smaller markets that already have two races.

“As for the track itself, it’s getting better. By that I mean a second groove is beginning to work itself in. We saw it a little last year. We should 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.

“We’re still improving on our mile-and-a-half program. The Schwan’s Home Service Dodge team has learned a lot and really worked hard at the shop on these cars. Texas is the next challenge and we believe we’re up to it. We’ll go out Friday and try to get a good starting spot and continue to improve throughout the weekend.

“The Schwan’s Home Service Dodge has really run well the past few weeks. It’s amazing what a little confidence can do to a young team, and we’ll be looking to build on that at Texas this weekend. Hopefully at the end of the day on Sunday everyone on the Schwan’s team can be proud of our trip into the ‘Lone Star’ state.”