HISTORY AFICIONADO SCHRADER
RIGHT BACK WHERE HE STARTED
Daytona Beach, Fla. [ 1/10/2006 ] — Wood Brothers Racing is one of three Ford teams participating in the first session of Preseason Thunder this week at Daytona International Speedway. The No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Fusion has a new driver in 2006, veteran Ken Schrader, who made his NASCAR debut in 1984 and has been running a full schedule since 1985. Before Tuesday’s first practice session, he talked about his upcoming season with a new team, and his old days with Ford.
ARE YOU A STUDENT OF RACING HISTORY, AND, IF SO, WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO NOW BE RUNNING FOR THE WOOD BROTHERS?
“I’m old and I’ve been paying attention to the sport for a long time. I’ve got a lot of respect and a little bit of knowledge of the history of the sport.
”Growing up, when I started following Winston Cup racing a little bit, David Pearson was my man. But this was when he was in the old Holman-Moody 17, so when he went to the 21, I just followed him over there. When I was fortunate enough to get hired and run Winston Cup for Mr. [Junie] Donlavey [starting in 1985], this was the target team, the Ford starship team that you looked at. It’s huge to me to be able to drive this car.”
THE TEAM HAS EVOLVED FROM BEING A SINGLE-CAR TEAM BASED IN STUART, VIRGINIA, TO A SINGLE-CAR TEAM BASED IN NORTH CAROLINA TO A TEAM THAT HAS ADDED BUSCH AND CRAFTSMAN TRUCK TEAMS.
“I think the neatest thing about the team, in Stuart, Virginia, it stood a possibility of falling behind and just becoming non-competitive. The next generation of the Wood family saw that and decided to move to Charlotte, and then after being down there they decided that, hey, we’ve got to make the next step, and the next step is to grow their team into a multi-car team. By joining with JTG they instantly have done that, with a good, whole, solid marketing side. They realized what they had to do to stay competitive, and are willing to do it.”
WITH A NEW YEAR, THERE’S ALWAYS OPTIMISM ABOUT THE UPCOMING SEASON? HOW IS THE MOOD AROUND HERE?
“The goal is to sit on 36 poles and win 36 races. That’s the goal, but, unfortunately, that’s everybody’s goal. Ricky [Rudd] ran real good at some of the plate races last year. We had two top-10s with the team we drove for last year in the plate races. Just Daytona, barring a wreck, we should be good. But, tt’s not that. I know, and working with David Hyder as crew chief and having Fatback [McSwain, race director] to kind of guide us, I know what we’re able to do with what he had, and we have a whole lot more resources, we got better bodies and better engines and a lot more experience to draw, so we just think we can run a lot better.”
WHAT ARE YOUR INITIAL THOUGHTS ABOUT WHAT YOU’VE SEEN FROM THIS TEAM SO FAR?
“They’ve got all good stuff. Everybody in this sport, basically, has the same stuff anymore. It’s just being able to put the people together to get the most out of the equipment you’ve got. But, being over here and having Roush-Yates engines is huge for me. It’s pretty neat because the first time Roush ever had an engine on this track I drove that car. That’s kind of neat. That’s kind of like back home again; and, basically, just being back with Ford Motor Company at all, because that’s where I got my start. Without help from Lee Morris and Michael Kranefuss then I would’ve never gotten here. They were very, very instrumental in getting me down here.”
TODAY IS JUST THE SECOND DAY OF TESTING. YOUR THOUGHTS, SO FAR, ON THE NEW FUSION?
“It felt real good. Obviously, like everybody, if you’re not the fastest, and even whoever is the fastest wants to go faster, but if you’re not the fastest you’re not where you want to be. We’re sorting through two cars that were new, and only one day, so we’re really optimistic what we can run there.”
