In the Pits- KSR

Schrader fields fans' questions

Ken Schrader, driver of the No. 21 Little Debbie Ford Fusion on the Nextel Cup series, likes to interact with fans not just at the track, but through the Internet as well. Shortly before the spring Talladega race, he answered fans’ questions through Schraderracing.com, the online home of Ken Schrader Racing. Here is a sample:

So what do you think of the Wood Brothers’ restrictor plate racing program?

All we can do is gauge off of how they ran last year, which was good, and then judge off what we did at Daytona, and that was good. It is a good program. It is only four races a year. It is not like they have a whole development team like some of the other teams do, but it is definitely a good program.

The “big one” or major wreck seems to happen every race Talladega. Is it luck; is it talent; is it help from the spotter that gets you past/around it?

You’re either in it or you’re not. When it starts happening, there is either going to be a hole for you or a way you can wiggle through, but more than likely if it’s not there you can’t just make a hole. It’s not like you can cut left or cut right and cut left that quick and miss it at those speeds. You either miss it or you don’t.

Do you think that one day NASCAR will find a new way to control speed at Talladega and Daytona that won’t involve restrictor plates?

There are a lot of different ways they could do it, but restrictor plates make the most sense economically. You could run smaller engines that make less horsepower, but then you would be talking about different engines just for four races. That would not make any sense at all. The restrictor plate is about as good a way as you can come up with. It works fine.

Would you rather race at the short tracks or the big restrictor plates?

I love going to Daytona. It really doesn’t make that much difference. Wherever you are racing that weekend is fine. I don’t mind the restrictor plate races. They’re fun.

Will the newly designed bumpers by NASCAR reduce the slam drafting or “bump drafting”?

They are going to limit it some by taking those bumpers off so that’s going to make a big difference. I believe it will be a good thing.

Got a question for Ken Schrader? Go to www.schraderracing.com/bboard/.