MOTOR RACING DAYTONA 500 : Schrader Eyes Success in Threes

Ken Schrader has found a novel way to prepare for qualifying in the Daytona 500, and it seems to be paying off.

First, he comes down from his home in Concord, N.C. to test one of Rick Hendrick’s Chevrolets on the 2 1/2-mile tri-oval at Daytona International Speedway.

Then, after testing faster than anyone else, he goes to Phoenix to drive Louie Seymour’s championship dirt car in a United States Auto Club Silver Crown race as part of the Copper World Classic at Phoenix International Raceway.

Then he comes back to Daytona to run for the pole.

He has won the Silver Crown race three consecutive years. Today he will try for his third consecutive pole in the Feb. 18 Daytona 500 when front-row qualifying is held for the $2-million race.

Only two drivers have won the pole three years in succession--Fireball Roberts (1960-62) and Bill Elliott (1985-87).

Schrader, 34, ran 195.101 m.p.h. for the fastest practice lap in preseason testing, but he says that isn’t significant.

“Having the fastest speed in testing isn’t good for anything but attracting interest in the off-week before Daytona,” Schrader said. “It doesn’t give you a leg up on anybody.”

There has been one change in Schrader’s program. When he won the pole in 1988 with a lap of 193.823 and last year at 196.997, Schrader was driving a Monte Carlo SS. This year he is in a Lumina.

“We’ve been happy with the Lumina here, and there’s no reason to expect any problems with it,” he said. “I don’t know if it will be as good as the Monte Carlo. That would be tough.

“The fact that the Monte Carlo didn’t have as much ‘down force’ made it faster at Daytona. The Lumina is still the newest body style on the track, and we’re still getting used to it.”

Actually, there has been another change for Schrader. On New Year’s Eve, his wife, Anne, delivered the couple’s first child, Dorothy Lynn.

“It sure would be nice to win my first Winston Cup race as a father,” he said. “And since that’s the Daytona 500, that would make it even better. That win last Sunday at Phoenix was a nice dress rehearsal.”

Although NASCAR rules makers reduced the size of the carburetor restrictor plate this season, Schrader said he expected to see speeds similar to 1989’s in today’s trials.

“I think it might be a little faster, if the weather cooperates,” Schrader said. “One way or the other, it should be close.

“I agree that we’re one of the teams to beat, but I don’t think I am the No. 1 guy to beat for the pole or the 500, either. You can forget about anyone being the favorite. You’ve either got a car that’s running good or you haven’t, and our car’s been running good.”

Schrader nearly made a clean sweep here last year, winning the pole, the Busch Clash, a 125-mile qualifying race and finishing second to teammate Darrell Waltrip in the 500.

Winning the pole will take on added significance with the carryover of the Unocal 76 Challenge bonus, which has reached $212,800 for a driver who can parlay winning the pole into winning the race. It was accomplished only once last season--by Rusty Wallace at Rockingham, N. C., in the second event of the 29-race season.

Unocal has posted a $7,600 prize for each race, and it has been rolled over 28 times.

Qualifying also will mean something special for Kyle Petty. If the third-generation driver can qualify his Pontiac Grand Prix on the front row, or win a 125-mile race on Thursday, or finish first or second in the 500, Petty will receive a $150,000 brown Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow as a bonus from his car owner, Felix Sabates.

Petty, who will be 30 on June 2, has been driving the Rolls around town this week and will continue to do so until race day.

“This way, he’s getting attached to it,” Sabates said. “The more he drives it, the harder he’s going to be trying to win it.”

Sabates hopes the incentive will help bring him a dividend for the $5 million he has poured into his Winston Cup venture since he took over Petty’s cars in October, 1988.

He’s not worried about running out of money, however. Sabates is the North American distributor for Nintendo, the electronics game.

Schrader’s biggest challenge is expected to come from the Fords of Elliott, Mark Martin and Geoff Bodine.

Elliott shunned preseason testing at Daytona to test privately at Talladega, Ala., a practice that has his rival drivers biting fingernails over what he might do today.

Elliott, who predicted a lap at about 197 m.p.h. today, said he wanted to avoid situations such as the one that occurred last year when he crashed at Daytona during practice and broke his arm.

“Winning the pole is very important to me, especially after what happened last year,” he said. “By going to Talladega, we were able to accomplish in one day what would have taken three here. That’s the only reason we went there.”

Martin, in a Jack Roush-prepared Ford, won six poles last season, including the last three run with restrictor plates such as the one in use today.

“Even I never know what to expect when I take the car out,” Martin said. “When Jack and the guys finish trimming it out for qualifying, it’s like they’ve been holding something back in practice, even if they said they weren’t. When the money was on the table, we always ran faster.”

Bodine, who drove one of Hendrick’s Chevrolets last year but is now driving for Junior Johnson’s Ford team, had the fastest time in Friday’s final day of practice, running 195.181. Next was seven-time 500 winner Richard Petty, at 194.355 in a Pontiac.