Ken Schrader, driver of the #21 Little Debbie Fusion, answers questions from his fans concerning Texas, Terry Labonte, and the incident with David Ragan at Martinsville in addition general inquiries regarding racing.
Can you gamble with a no tire stop and take gas only at Texas? “I don’t know. We’ll just have to see how much the tires fall off there. We don’t know what tire Goodyear is bringing yet.”
How much of a factor is horsepower at Texas? “It’s a factor every place we go. You will take all that you can get. You use a lot of throttle at Texas. It is a big track, and horsepower makes a big difference there.”
This is supposed to be Terry Labonte's farewell race. What's your favorite Terry Labonte story or memory? In 10 years, what do you think he'll be remembered for?
“I don’t have a favorite story. It’s just how well he always conducted himself, and his two Winston Cup Championships and that far apart – 1984 and 1996. He’ll be remembered for that. He was a good teammate because he felt whatever was good for the other Hendrick teams would be good for him.”
How does racing in clean air help beyond cooling the engine? Does clean air make the car go faster? “When you get more air on the front of your car, it makes it want to turn. The problem we fight a lot is the car not wanting to turn when you are behind somebody. When you are by yourself in clean air, you get more air to the rear spoiler if you don’t have somebody jammed up behind you so it is definitely a help. And, beyond that there is more total grip.”
Please describe how the wind can affect your qualifying lap. “It doesn’t, except at Talladega or Daytona where you pick up a head wind, and you would think a head wind down one straightaway would hurt you and a tail wind down the other would help you. But, it doesn’t work that way. The wind just hurts you all together.”
What are you learning when you test? “You’re just trying different setups to see if you can find more speed in the car. You just try different stuff.”
How often do Ann, Dorothy and Sheldon attend races? “I’d say Ann came to about half the Cup races this year; daughter came to about one fourth, and Sheldon comes most of the time when Ann comes. It’s a little rough leaving when they are in school or involved in other activities.”
How hard was it to control your emotions with David Ragan at Martinsville considering what a great car you had? “It was very hard.”
What were you planning to do with your bumper? I think you would have had plenty of help paying a fine. “I didn’t really think about it when I was getting out of the car. I had visions of what I wanted to do. But, once you think about it – what you are going to gain, which would be nothing; what it’s going to cost, which would be a lot and what it’s going to look like for your sponsors it’s just simpler to head to the house.”
Has David apologized? (Do you think of this as a learning curve for David because he also spun Tony Raines and tangled with Tony Stewart?) “Yes, he apologized. I don’t believe him, but he apologized. What David has to learn, David has to learn how to race because he has only run, and I’m not counting Legends, seven Busch races, 20-something ARCA races and some Truck. He’s just got to learn how to race, and this isn’t where you learn how to race.”
Tell us, how furious was Michael McSwain? “I wasn’t around so I don’t know. I think it’s probably good they (Fatback and David) didn’t see each other for David’s part.”
Ken Schrader Career |
Starts
701
|
Poles
23 |
Wins
4 |
Top 5's
64 |
Top 10's
184 |
Wood Brothers Career |
Starts
1268 |
Poles
119 |
Wins
97 |
Top 5's
336 |
Top 10's
516 |
Schrader
At Texas
|
Starts
11
|
Poles
0 |
Wins
0 |
Top 5's
0 |
Top 10's
1 |
Wood Brothers at Texas
|
Starts
11 |
Poles
0 |
Wins
0 |
Top 5's
0 |
Top 10's
4 |
