Charlotte II: Ken Schrader preview

KEN SCHRADER
The Highs and 'Lowe's' of Charlotte

CORNELIUS, N.C. (Oct. 7, 2008) -- Ken Schrader has competed in 68 point-paying NASCAR events at Lowe's Motor Speedway (LMS) in Concord, N.C. Forty-five have been in the Sprint Cup Series, along with 18 in the Nationwide Series and five in the Craftsman Truck Series.

In that time, Schrader has seen the highest highs at LMS -- including a win in the 1989 All Pro Auto Parts 500 Sprint Cup Series race driving the No. 25 Folgers Coffee Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. He's also seen the lowest lows -- leading 169 laps in the 1995 Coca-Cola 600 only to experience engine troubles while leading with less than 50 laps to go and finishing a disappointing 30th, completing only 358 of the 400 laps.

Schrader will look to add to the "high" list this weekend when he drives the No. 96 DLP HDTV Toyota Camry for Hall of Fame Racing in Saturday night's Bank of America 500.

The Fenton, Mo., native will attempt to make his 728th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start, his 46th at Lowe's and his sixth for Hall of Fame Racing.

In his 18 Nationwide Series starts at the 1.5-mile oval, Schrader has five top-five finishes, including second-place in October 1991, and has four top-15 finishes in his five Craftsman Truck Series events at LMS.

Schrader has competed in two races at Lowe's in 2008. In May at the Coca-Cola 600, he started 33rd and finished 33rd driving for Richard Childress Racing. One week earlier, driving for his own team, Ken Schrader Racing, he started 22nd and finished 13th in the Craftsman Truck Series event at LMS.

KEN SCHRADER, driver of the No. 96 DLP HDTV Toyota Camry:

What are your overall thoughts heading into the Bank of America 500?

"I like Charlotte. I drove in the spring (Sprint Cup) race for Childress. We didn't get to test or anything. We just did the hour-and-a-half practice and then got it in. It wasn't pretty, but I think we qualified 33rd or something. That's the only time I've run the new car at Charlotte. There'll be a lot of cars there this week and a few extra cars from the big teams, so we've just really got to have our stuff together Thursday."

This will be your sixth race with Hall of Fame Racing. Will that help you?

"Yeah, that will help. I wish we could have done the test over there, but we'll have an hour-and-half to get her going."

How are things coming along working with Hall of Fame Racing?

"We've run five races and in two or three of those we were good and in two of them we really struggled. We've just got to find some more consistency. At the two bullrings (Bristol and Richmond), we were good and on the big speedways we struggled. I like working with them. They're a good, solid team."

What's the best part about having a "home" race at Lowe's?

"Just getting to be home and not having to travel anywhere."

Compare the Bank of America 500 at Lowe's in October to the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's in May.

"It just gets rid of the extra 100 miles you're asking the equipment to run. The race starts a lot later than the '600,' so you don't go through the track changing like it does in the spring. In the spring race, you start at 5 p.m. and the sun is still out, which means the track changes dramatically as the sun goes down. In the fall race, you start at 7:30 and the sun is already set, so you don't see the big change in the track throughout the race."

-credit: hofr