It's not that I don't like Ken Schrader.. I've just already done a post on him, and I've got a ton of drivers to do that haven't had a post yet~ I'll get to them when I can, but for now, we're gonna be looking back at Ken Schrader's boring time in the #49 Schwan's Home Service Dodge, owned by Beth Ann Morgenthau~ Schrader drove for Morgenthau from 2003-2005, and once more in 2007, earning all six career top 10 finishes for the low budget team~
The Schwan's sponsorship ended up being a two year deal for the 2004, and 2005 Cup seasons~ During the 2004 season, Schrader went through three crew chiefs, with Scott Eggleston, Donnie Richeson, and David Hyder~ So let's start this off looking back at that 2004 season, their first season with the Schwan's sponsorship~
Custom Ken Schrader Racing Champions card~
At this point in his career, I'm just gonna start off by saying it... Ken Schrader deserved to be in dog equipment~ Throughout his career, he was given quality rides, and when he was good, he could fly... but that was part of his problem~ Schrader would take off and grow a powering lead, only to blow his engine up by giving it so much hell for so long~
I know the guy would have had at least 6 or 7 more wins if not for that one issue alone~ And when his car wasn't perfect, he just couldn't make it perform better the way Dale Earnhardt and others could~ I was a Ken Schrader fan, but he just didn't have what it took to get the job done in crunch time~
One good thing about Schrader was, he would usually bring the car home in one piece.. at least the body of the car~ He blew up a lot, but he usually steered clear of trouble on the race track, for the most part~ Well, now that I've got that out of the way, let's get into the meat and potatoes of the thing~
Does that thang got a Hemi?~
Schrader started the 2004 Cup season off with four straight finishes without a top 25~ He only squashed that feat with a 22nd place showing in the "Carolina Dodge Dealers 400" @ Darlington~ He capped that off the following week @ Bristol in the "Food City 500", with a nice 6th place run~ This would come to be the only top 10 finish of the season for Schrader, who was actually making the Morgenthau team look good at this point, even with such tepid finishes~
Moving on to Texas, Schrader qualified poorly for the "Samsung/Radio Shack 500", rolling off from the 39th position, but was able to finish the race, and pull out a 19th place showing~ He wasn't so lucky the following week @ Martinsville, during the "Advance Auto Parts 500", where he dropped out after only 118 laps of competition, due to brake issues~
For the next few races, Schrader didn't do anything spectacular, but he was able to lead a lap @ Fontana during the "Auto Club 500", something the team had never done before then~ The rest of the season was blah, blah, blah... the only time he cracked the top 20 for the rest of the season was an 18th place finish @ Indianapolis, and a 16th place showing in the "Sylvania 300" @ Loudon~ He did lead five more laps during the season, bringing that total to six on the year, and the team ranked 31st in the final points standings~
Morgenthau got all fancy with this card~ :P
Remember that thing I said about Schrader not wrecking a lot... well, 2005 wasn't the best example of that, with Schrader being collected in four accidents throughout the season, along with three more blown engines~ But the ol' tiger did have a better season than the one before, it just didn't quite show in the points standings, but that was mostly due to the wrecks, and blown engines~ His finishes when he did finish improved significantly~
Following a blown engine in the Daytona 500, Schrader came back "strong" @ Fontana, with a 14th place finish in the "Auto Club 500", after starting 38th~ He did a role reversal the following week at Las Vegas, when he qualified 14th for the "UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400", but only mustered a 34th place finish at the end of the day~
Blah, blah, blah on down to the 9th race of the season, where Schrader pulled off an 8th place finish in the "Aaron's 499" @ Talladega, after starting next to last~ Three races later, he picked up another top 10 finish, with a 9th place outing in the freakin' "Coca-Cola 600"~ He was at it again five races later, with a 10th place finish in the "Pepsi 400" @ Daytona, after rolling off from 40th position to start the event~
Schrader put an end to Digger~
After several disappointing finishes in a row, Schrader qualified 7th for the "Sharpie 500" Bristol night race, and finished in 11th place, on the lead lap~ Following this race, the remainder of the season was somewhat lackluster, with the exception of the "Subway 500" @ Martinsville~
Schrader qualified 24th for the event, but was leading a quarter of the way in~ He kept the lead for 17 laps before handing the lead back to Tony Stewart~ Jeff Gordon went on to win the event, followed by Tony Stewart, Jimmy Johnson, Bobby Labonte, and Jeff Burton finished out the top 5~
The last few races all ended in disappointment, and Schrader again finished the season 31st in the final points standings~ He would leave the team at the end of the season to drive for the Wood Brothers, but returned for one race during the 2007 Cup season, when the Wood Brothers decided to scale back the amount of races they wanted to run~ He finished 25th in the 2007 Brickyard 400, in what was his final race for the team~
Ken Schrader #49 Schwan's Dodge~
I gotta give them credit, for a Beth Ann Morgenthau (BAM) car, this thing was pretty sharp!~ I can't think of many teams that have used this specific shade of yellow, but I like it~ I've never bought anything from Schwan's, but I've been to people's houses that did, and they have some pretty good items~ I just prefer to go to the store myself, and buy my stuff from a store~ I don't know why, but that's just what I'm used to doing.. so I don't think Schwan's is for me~ It seems to personal~
Morgenthau's team went under in 2008, but as far as I know she still funds Derrike Cope to some degree, or at least she did when he was running in whatever they call the BGN series these days, before his return to the Cup Series~ I liked her team.. she gave rides to Hornaday Jr., Shawna Robinson, Derrike Cope, Kevin Lepage, and even German driver, Klaus Graf.. who finished 17th at Sonoma in 2004, in what was his only Cup start~
Teams like that are pretty much gone in the series these days, but I feel like they are making a silent comeback~ With the arrival of Cope in the Cup series last year, it gave me hope that the "little team that could" mentality is slowly making its way back into a series that seems to have turned its back on them long ago~ Little things like that give me hope in the sport moving forward, and now that Danica is gone, at least Darrell Waltrip can get back to saying "Let's go racing boys!~", instead of "Let's go racing boys, and Danica!~"... that was making me want to just puke~ And now, for what was supposed to be the bonus car for the Christmas post that never happened until now~
Santa Claus #25 Santamobile Chevrolet~
If you look long enough, you'll eventually find out that there's nothing you can't expect Racing Champions to produce~ Any little dumb thing they could think of, they slapped it on a diecast~ I've spent countless hours researching these dang things, and just when I think I've seen it all... someone will email me a picture of a car they have, and my hair blows back~
And it's not just me this happens to.. I know people who have collected these cars, and studied about them far longer than I have, and I'll show them a picture someone showed me, and it'll shock them too~ That's one thing I love about Racing Champions cars... you can NEVER have the full set~ There will always be someone who has some random error car that you don't have, and some will say those don't count as part of a "full collection"... but in the world of Racing Champions, anything counts.. that's the charm of them~
When you find one that is all messed up with errors, it makes you feel good as a collector, because it's something that, perhaps only you can have.. and if not, it's only a small number of people with the exact error~ Anyway, I made this picture for y'alls Christmas post, and I just never got around to posting in time for Christmas, so I hope y'all had a Merry Christmas, and a wonderful New Year in 2018!~ Below are some clips from some Youtube channels that I'd like you to subscribe to, enjoy them, and I'll see you next time, here at the Racing Champions diecast blog!~ :D
Copperhead Cup Series - First Copperhead Cup race~
Campbell N. - "The Craziest Race on Earth"
nascarman History - Benny Parsons Family BBQ~ 1985~
friskynixon - "The Nixon Tapes Podcast #2"~