Advance Auto Parts 500 - Ken Schrader Notes

Ken Schrader Notes, Quotes: Advance Auto Parts 500
‘They’ll be a lot of ‘let me buy you dinner’ at Texas’

Ken Schrader and the #49 Schwan’s Home Service Dodge team head to the .526-mile Martinsville (Virginia) Speedway for Sunday’s Advance Auto Parts 500; the sixth race of the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup 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 and continues to race on virtually every type of speedway in virtually every type of race car. Schrader 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 David Hyder has over 20 years of racing experience both driving and as a chief mechanic.

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 Martinsville:

“I guess it’s not an every year thing to have short track races scheduled back to back. What does that mean? They’ll be a lot of ‘let me buy you dinner’ at Texas. It’s just the nature of short track racing. There’s very little room out there at both Bristol and Martinsville… any short track really. When you have 43 cars out there that are all turning laps within a half second of one another, it’s going to get cramped. Plus, at Martinsville and especially Bristol, there’s really only one groove. Everybody wants the bottom of the racetrack and that makes for even less room. It’s a matter of ‘when’ not ‘if’ two cars get together.

“Martinsville allows for a little more side-by-side racing than Bristol, but make no mistake, the quickest way around Martinsville, Bristol, and just about every other track is the bottom. Now, it is a little easier to get up beside a car at Martinsville than at Bristol, but you better make sure you complete the pass or else you’ve probably just cost yourself several positions. It’s hard to get back into line sometimes… especially without causing a wreck.

“We had a great test up there a couple weeks ago. Now, most everyone will say that they had a great test whether they did or not. Think about it, has anyone ever said, ‘that test was useless, we should’ve stayed home and saved money?’ No. But, this Schwan’s team really had a great test at Martinsville. The car was great. If the car handles as well this week as it did several weeks ago in the test, then we should really impress some people.

“But, like any other short-track race, the key will be staying out of trouble. Last fall we went to Martinsville and had a good car, started about midway in the pack and came straight up through the field. I believe we were running about 10th when got caught up in a wreck that sent us to the garage. So, having a fast car isn’t everything at a short track like Martinsville. It helps, but you have to be able to keep your nose clean, be smooth, have good pit stops, and you’re going to need a little bit of good fortune. That’s just how it works.

“This is a big week for us in the points race. There’s a big group of guys who are only separated by 60 points or so, and we generally run well at Martinsville. We feel like we can make up ground on some of these guys which will put us in a better position for Texas, Phoenix and beyond. This Schwan’s Home Service team is working hard all the time and we feel really good about what we’re bringing to Martinsville and the potential for a good finish this week.”