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NASCAR WCUP: Ken Shrader glad to be headed to Darlington

16 March 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

Ken Schrader Said...

"I'm glad we're heading to Darlington because we did not have the weekend we were hoping for in Atlanta. We finished 23rd but moved up to 10th in points, which means we weren't the only ones who had a tough weekend. Tops on our list right now is improving our qualifying effort. We didn't get to make any laps in race trim in Atlanta because we had to worry about second-round qualify and then it rained out happy hour. The best solution to that problem is to qualify up front and that's where we need to be.

"My first race at Darlington was in 1985 and I remember how intimidated I was of the line that you had to run and all the tradition of the track. But I've run a lot of laps since then. Last year I went from one end of the field to the other at Darlington. I finished dead last in the spring, then bounced back and finished ninth in the fall. We usually qualify well there, but on Sunday you're racing the track as much as you are the other cars. It is a pretty tricky track, but if we leave there without putting a stripe on the wall we've had a good day."

Ken Schrader's Stats...

* "M&M's" Racing Team driver Ken Schrader captured his first career pole position at Darlington Raceway in the fall of 1987. Schrader has a total of three career pole positions at Darlington (spring of 1988, fall of 1993).

* In addition to his pole-winning performances, Schrader is a consistently strong qualifier at the South Carolina track. In 30 starts, Schrader has qualified in the top 10 on 16 occasions, split evenly between the spring and fall events.

* The "M&M's" Racing Team had a strong qualifying effort at Darlington Raceway in the fall of 1999 when they put the No. 36 on the outside pole position. The team picked up their best finish in the fall of 1998 with a sixth-place finish.

* Ken Schrader and the "M&M's" Racing Team are back in the top 10 in points, bouncing back from 13th following Las Vegas. The team has spent three of four weeks in the top 10.

Text provided by Laura McCullars

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