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KEN SCHRADER IS “MR. PHOENIX”

Ken Schrader, driver of the #21 Little Debbie Ford Fusion has made 77 appearances at Phoenix International Raceway over the years. He has 16 wins among four series there – USAC Midgets and Sprints, the Southwest Tour and what is now called the NASCAR Grand National Series (formerly Winston West). His latest victory was this past January in the Grand National AutoZone West Series. Ken will be making his 20th NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series start at the one mile Arizona track this weekend. Schrader answers fan’s questions this week regarding his history at Phoenix, Busch and Cup Series weekend formats and uniforms.

Broadcasters call you “Mr. Phoenix” - why? “I guess because we’ve won a lot of races (16) there, but we’ve run a lot of races (77) there too. We’ve run more races there than any of the guys that run there now. I just like the track.”

Do you think Cup should do the same as Busch – practice, qualify and race all in the same day? “No, because for the purses Cup pays, the tracks need to be able to spread the program out over three days. Busch doesn’t do it that way very often. Most of the time they go in and inspect and practice one day; then qualify and race the next day. It just depends on the track and the purse and what companion events are running that weekend.”

Do you normally ride your motorcycle to or from Phoenix? “Sometimes I ride to Phoenix and sometimes I don’t.

How many races do you plan to squeeze in over the Phoenix weekend? “We aren’t running any races this weekend except the Cup race.”

Who takes care of the uniforms on a race weekend? “The truck driver, I think. My uniform is just always hanging in the closet. That is a little bit of a problem with ours because we are Motorcraft and Little Debbie some weekends, or we are Air Force and Little Debbie some weekends, or just Motorcraft or just Little Debbie. I don’t know how many uniforms there are for each sponsor, but I know it is something somebody has to think about. It’s not bad when the truck is home Sunday night and leaving Thursday afternoon. But like this weekend when they had to come straight from Texas to Phoenix the truck driver will have to gather up all the uniforms and get them cleaned and back on the truck.”

What do you do with old uniforms with sponsors that no longer sponsor you? “I’ve got almost all of my old Cup uniforms. Every now and then I’ll give one away for a charity auction, but I’ve got most of my helmets and uniforms.”

Ken Schrader Career

Starts

702

Poles

Wins

Top 5's

Top 10's

184

Wood Brothers Career

Starts

1269

Poles

119

Wins

Top 5's

336

Top 10's

516

Schrader

At Phoenix

Starts

Poles

Wins

Top 5's

Top 10's

Wood Brothers at Phoenix

Starts

Poles

Wins

Top 5's

Top 10's

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This week in Ford Racing…

Ken Schrader, driver of the No. 21 Little Debbie/Motorcraft Ford Fusion, has been racing longer at Phoenix International Raceway than any other track currently on the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series circuit. He debuted at the facility in 1980 at the Copper Classic and has run 77 races there in a variety of different series. Schrader, who is competing in over 100 races this year, recently spoke about returning to PIR.

KEN SCHRADER – No. 21 Little Debbie/Motorcraft Ford Fusion -- YOU’RE GOING TO RIDE YOUR MOTORCYCLE FROM TEXAS TO PHOENIX? “Oh yeah, it will be fun if the weather cooperates. We’re gonna do it regardless, so it’ll be fun.”

YOU’VE GOT A LOT OF EXPERIENCE AT PHOENIX AND WON THERE EARLIER THIS YEAR IN ANOTHER SERIES. “Yeah, it was a West race. It’s been a real good track for us. The best we’ve ever run there with a Cup car is second, but I just like it. I think that’s because it’s the first big race track I ever went to – a long time ago. I went out there and it was the fastest track I had ever been to and the farthest we had ever towed to go to a race, and I just liked it.”

HOW DID YOU DO THAT FIRST TIME OUT? “We broke (laughing). We won the next time out, but I think we’ve won out there like 16 times or something. It’s been a good place for us.” NOTE: Schrader broke a drive line on the first lap of the midget feature after qualifying second in that event (1980). He won the midget race in 1981.

WHAT’S THE BIG CHALLENGE IN A CUP CAR AT THAT TRACK? “It’s pretty narrow. It’s like a lot of our tracks in that the back does not have a straightaway. At most of them the front doesn’t have a straightaway, but the turns are just so unique. It’s kind of like a Darlington or something because both ends are extremely different.”

ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THE WAY THINGS HAVE GONE THIS YEAR? “Well, you definitely want to run faster. We’ve run a little better the second half, but you want to be up there challenging and running in the top five. I think it’s been a pretty smooth adjustment and I’m looking forward to doing some of the races again next year. It’s hard to think, though, that we’re still one of the few single-car teams out there. We’ve just got to get over that and get another team going.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL YOUR ROLL WILL BE NEXT YEAR WITH JON WOOD COMING IN – MORE OF A MENTOR? “Jon knows what to do. He’s got a lot of laps and he just has to get used to these cars. I think he’ll pick up on it pretty quick.”

EDDIE WOOD, Co-Owner, No. 21 Little Debbie/Motorcraft Ford Fusion -- WHAT HAS KENNY BROUGHT TO THIS TEAM? “Kenny came on board with us and we were looking for an experienced driver with a lot of seat and a lot of knowledge as far as helping all of our younger drivers and he’s done that. Everybody loves Kenny. He’s easy-going. He’s fun to be around, but when it comes race time he’s ready to race. He lives to race and he races 100 times a year, so I think that says it all about him. It’s all about racing.”

IS THERE ANYTHING ABOUT HIM THAT HAS SURPRISED YOU? “I’ve known Kenny since the first race he ran down here and I knew it was all about racing and that’s what it is. We had never worked with him, but I did know how easy he is to work with because he’s just a pleasure.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT NEXT YEAR AND HOW KENNY AND JON WILL SPLIT TIME IN THE 21 CUP CAR? “We’re gonna split the 21 next year. Jon will drive 10 races and Kenny will drive the other 26 and he’s gonna be a great help to Jon because Jon doesn’t have a lot of time in Cup cars. Jon is really close to Kenny. He knows and respects him really well, so I think they can help each other and I look forward to that. I think Kenny is the perfect teacher for Jon.”

THE GOAL IS TO STILL GET A SECOND CUP CAR? “The ultimate goal is to get a second Cup car in place and then, after that, hopefully get a third. Hopefully by ’08 we could have two. We merged with ST Motorsports last year and formed Woods Brothers/JTG and that in itself was a huge undertaking that only started a year ago. That threw five teams together – two Busch, one Cup and we actually created two Truck teams from nothing, so that in itself has been hard to get it to a point where you feel you’ve got your arms around it and we’re just now doing that. Hopefully, another year with that environment will help and then we can find sponsorship for the second Cup team.”