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Interview With Ken Schrader

Aired October 24, 2003 - 15:37   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: There's much more to stock car racing than just going around in circles. We know that. There are dozens of people who work behind the scenes taking care of the details both for the car and the driver. Kyra Phillips went behind the scenes with NASCAR's elder statesman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Tomorrow, the races begin. There's a lot on the minds of the drivers here. Primarily, safety and getting organized for what's ahead.

We're joined, luckily, by Ken Schrader, number 49. Glad to have you with us.

KEN SCHRADER, RACER: Good to be here.

PHILLIPS: You're going to give us an insued tour of the trailer and we'll talk safety in the car. How's that sound?

SCHRADER: Show you our home away from home.

PHILLIPS: Tell me what we're seeing.

SCHRADER: It's a 53-foot trailer that's bulit by Featherlight out of Iowa. Kitchen area, work bench, timer that shows how fast -- who running out there. Practice just got over.

PHILLIPS: You're always in the top five being at least?

SCHRADER: We try to be. You want to be left and top would be good.

PHILLIPS: What's in all the cabinets?

SCHRADER: You name it. Basically, all kinds of spare parts to build an extra car. Plus, up above, we carry two cars. If you wreck one Friday, the shop instantly sends another one down so you've always got a back-up car ready to go. Parts after parts. Spare engines, transmissions, gears. You can see back here, they've got...

PHILLIPS: Jeff is actually in here working on the shocks?

SCHRADER: Jeff Price, our shock man, has been building some shocks. A lot of times in the course of the weekend, you might run six or seven sets of shocks to see which feels best to you. You run them and this graphs out how it works here. And then you can compare them and go out and actually feel them.

You name it, it's in here with a little lounge area in the front that you can kind of...

PHILLIPS: For those big parties when you win?

SCHRADER: No, they're back at the shop.

PHILLIPS: OK.

We'll head over to your car. As we're heading over there, tell me about you and Dad, you were 3-years-old and go-carts were the thing.

SCHRADER: Yes, well, especially when you're strapped to it in the front yard at the house and it's tied to a cable and you're just going around in circles until it runs out of gas.

PHILLIPS: And mom is watching you?

SCHRADER: Mom laid out in the lawn chair. And I'd just go around in circles until it ran out of gas and been dizzy ever since. It was a big day, the day the cable broke.

PHILLIPS: This is far from a go-cart, Kenny. It's the real deal. It went through tech. Tell the viewers what that means.

SCHRADER: It comes here through tech. NASCAR makes sure, first off, all the safety measures and everything in general in the car is the way it's supposed to be in the rule book. Engine specifications, wheel base, body templates, everything everything. You can see down here, we have a special promotion this week with 1-800-CALL-ATT. We have a customer's face who won the promotion.

PHILLIPS: Bob's the lucky man.

SCHRADER: Bob's on there instead of Carrot Top.

PHILLIPS: And here's the -- hety, Carrot Top's not a bad guy.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: The hans device. Tell us how it works. There's been a lot of talk about the hans device, especially after the death of Dale Earnhardt. Why wear one?

SCHRADER: NASCAR mandates we wear a neck restraint system. This one -- I didn't buy into the neck restraint systems real quick. Then I started wearing the hans device and, boy, I feel -- kind of feel naked without it right now.

This goes over your shoulders, your seat belt strap on here, and then these little babies here hook to the side of your helmet. So what happens, in a forward hit or kind of -- these cars tend to 45 in (ph), it limits the movement of your head, you know, and how far your neck can stretch. And what we've done on the inside of cars as far as the head rest and the hans or the hutchins device have made these cars a lot safer over the last couple years. We continue to learn.

PHILLIPS: I think the reason why you keep going is because of the safety things you've talked to me about. Oldest guy in the group, you tell me. How much longer are you going to keep going?

SCHRADER: I didn't know you were going to say that, though. We're going to try to milk this thing a couple more years. It's because I love it. It's family in here, the most competitive series, and to be part of it, I'm thrilled.

PHILLIPS: Ken Schrader, thank you so much. We'll be cheering you on this weekend.

SCHRADER: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired October 24, 2003 - 15:37   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: There's much more to stock car racing than just going around in circles. We know that. There are dozens of people who work behind the scenes taking care of the details both for the car and the driver. Kyra Phillips went behind the scenes with NASCAR's elder statesman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Tomorrow, the races begin. There's a lot on the minds of the drivers here. Primarily, safety and getting organized for what's ahead.

We're joined, luckily, by Ken Schrader, number 49. Glad to have you with us.

KEN SCHRADER, RACER: Good to be here.

PHILLIPS: You're going to give us an insued tour of the trailer and we'll talk safety in the car. How's that sound?

SCHRADER: Show you our home away from home.

PHILLIPS: Tell me what we're seeing.

SCHRADER: It's a 53-foot trailer that's bulit by Featherlight out of Iowa. Kitchen area, work bench, timer that shows how fast -- who running out there. Practice just got over.

PHILLIPS: You're always in the top five being at least?

SCHRADER: We try to be. You want to be left and top would be good.

PHILLIPS: What's in all the cabinets?

SCHRADER: You name it. Basically, all kinds of spare parts to build an extra car. Plus, up above, we carry two cars. If you wreck one Friday, the shop instantly sends another one down so you've always got a back-up car ready to go. Parts after parts. Spare engines, transmissions, gears. You can see back here, they've got...

PHILLIPS: Jeff is actually in here working on the shocks?

SCHRADER: Jeff Price, our shock man, has been building some shocks. A lot of times in the course of the weekend, you might run six or seven sets of shocks to see which feels best to you. You run them and this graphs out how it works here. And then you can compare them and go out and actually feel them.

You name it, it's in here with a little lounge area in the front that you can kind of...

PHILLIPS: For those big parties when you win?

SCHRADER: No, they're back at the shop.

PHILLIPS: OK.

We'll head over to your car. As we're heading over there, tell me about you and Dad, you were 3-years-old and go-carts were the thing.

SCHRADER: Yes, well, especially when you're strapped to it in the front yard at the house and it's tied to a cable and you're just going around in circles until it runs out of gas.

PHILLIPS: And mom is watching you?

SCHRADER: Mom laid out in the lawn chair. And I'd just go around in circles until it ran out of gas and been dizzy ever since. It was a big day, the day the cable broke.

PHILLIPS: This is far from a go-cart, Kenny. It's the real deal. It went through tech. Tell the viewers what that means.

SCHRADER: It comes here through tech. NASCAR makes sure, first off, all the safety measures and everything in general in the car is the way it's supposed to be in the rule book. Engine specifications, wheel base, body templates, everything everything. You can see down here, we have a special promotion this week with 1-800-CALL-ATT. We have a customer's face who won the promotion.

PHILLIPS: Bob's the lucky man.

SCHRADER: Bob's on there instead of Carrot Top.

PHILLIPS: And here's the -- hety, Carrot Top's not a bad guy.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: The hans device. Tell us how it works. There's been a lot of talk about the hans device, especially after the death of Dale Earnhardt. Why wear one?

SCHRADER: NASCAR mandates we wear a neck restraint system. This one -- I didn't buy into the neck restraint systems real quick. Then I started wearing the hans device and, boy, I feel -- kind of feel naked without it right now.

This goes over your shoulders, your seat belt strap on here, and then these little babies here hook to the side of your helmet. So what happens, in a forward hit or kind of -- these cars tend to 45 in (ph), it limits the movement of your head, you know, and how far your neck can stretch. And what we've done on the inside of cars as far as the head rest and the hans or the hutchins device have made these cars a lot safer over the last couple years. We continue to learn.

PHILLIPS: I think the reason why you keep going is because of the safety things you've talked to me about. Oldest guy in the group, you tell me. How much longer are you going to keep going?

SCHRADER: I didn't know you were going to say that, though. We're going to try to milk this thing a couple more years. It's because I love it. It's family in here, the most competitive series, and to be part of it, I'm thrilled.

PHILLIPS: Ken Schrader, thank you so much. We'll be cheering you on this weekend.

SCHRADER: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com