KEN SCHRADER: “They come by and talk to you, and they just care.”
Ken Schrader, driver of the #21 Motorcraft Ford Fusion praises the owners of New Hampshire; talks about what his car needs to go fast; explains coil binding; and information gathering in the garage in response to his fan’s questions this week.
You've said in the past that New Hampshire's track owners work exceptionally hard to make their events popular with the drivers. What kinds of things are you talking about, and have other tracks followed the lead that New Hampshire is setting? “They come by and talk to you, and they just care. Some of the others you don’t ever see. They built a family room when they first built the track. Ann actually went out there and helped buy toys for it. The Bahres just actually care.”
What changes to you need in your car to run better at Loudon? “It doesn’t make any difference if it is Loudon or any place. It is all the same thing. They’ve got to be able to turn and be able to get on the throttle. You’ve got to be able to turn good and come down on the throttle. That’s the two things we fight for Loudon and everywhere.”
Could you briefly explain what coil binding does to make a car go faster and if your team is using this technique? “Yes, we are using that. You run real soft springs to get the front of the car down. The springs are totally collapsed. At a lot of places the right front is totally collapsed (all the coils in the spring are totally together) and that keeps the rear spoiler in the air. That gives you more down force and less drag. It’s not that simple because you also have to be the right height when you qualify.”
We hear on FOX, NBC, TNT, SPEED, that the set ups on the cars and the technology changes quickly. How do the teams find out what other teams are doing so quickly? “You watch what people are doing, and people move from team to team. When you hire somebody you learn stuff. Everybody talks. You just find out what everybody is doing.”
When Jon moves to Cup, Will Keven Wood move up to #47 in the Busch series? “I do not have a clue what is going on there.”
Ken Schrader Career |
Starts
694
|
Poles
23 |
Wins
4 |
Top 5's
64 |
Top 10's
184 |
Wood Brothers Career |
Starts
1261 |
Poles
119 |
Wins
97 |
Top 5's
336 |
Top 10's
516 |
Schrader
at Loudon
|
Starts
23
|
Poles
1 |
Wins
0 |
Top 5's
0 |
Top 10's
4 |
Wood Brothers at Loudon
|
Starts
22 |
Poles
0 |
Wins
0 |
Top 5's
2 |
Top 10's
5 |
