Ken Schrader #49 Schwan's Dodge

    Hello again race fans, and welcome to the 2018 edition of the Racing Champions 1/64 diecast blog~ Well, it's been a while since I've had time to make a post, so I hope you'll excuse my brief absence~ I didn't really want to do a post on Ken Schrader, but I already had the pictures finished, and the weather has been horrible here.. so I haven't been able to get any pictures for a while now~

   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~

                                                                   Click pics to enlarge~

    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"~

Ken Schrader #52 Morema Inc. Chevrolet

    Welcome back to another installment of the NASCAR Racing Champions blog~ In today's post, I'm gonna be reminiscing about the 1993 Gatorade 200 @ Darlington~ This particular race was the only time that Ken Schrader drove the #52 Morema Inc. Chevrolet~ He ran a total of 9 BGN races during the 1993 season, with sponsorship from AC Delco for the other races~

    The 1993 Gatorade 200 @ Darlington was held on Saturday, September 4th~ 43 drivers attempted to make the 42 car field, with Eddie Sharp being the only driver to be sent home, in his #24 Thackston Racing Ford~ For reasons unknown to me, Schrader entered the race in his self-owned #52 Chevrolet with sponsorship from Morema Inc.~ He qualified 7th for the event, with Ricky Craven taking the pole, in his #99 DuPont Chevrolet~

                                 Schrader often participated in BGN races throughout the 90's~

                                                            Click picture to enlarge~

   Ward Burton started on the outside of row number one, and came up with the lead on the first lap~ He led the first 12 laps of the race, but was never a factor for the remainder of the event, finishing in 23rd place, 3 laps down~ A lap 3 crash ended the days of Roy Payne in the #27 Agency Rent-A-Car Chevrolet, and Richard Lasater in the High Point Bedding Chevrolet~ On lap 13, Burton was passed by the #60 Winn-Dixie Ford, driven by Mark Martin~ Martin held that lead until lap 41, when he was passed by our man Ken, who held the lead for 3 laps, giving it up to Harry Gant's #7 French's Mustard Chevrolet on lap 44~

    Dale Earnhardt, who started in 21st place, had been making his way through the field in his #3 Goodwrench Chevrolet, when his transmission gave out, on lap 36, ending his day far too early~ On lap 47, Jimmy Spencer, driving the #10 Kimberly Clark Chevrolet, suffered a blown engine, and was out of the race~ He would finish in 40th place~ On the 55th lap of the race, Bill Elliott would take his #11 Budweiser Ford behind the wall with ignition problems, ending his day, and finishing 38th~

                        He was also known to run a few ARCA races~ Shown here in his #58 car~

                                                           Click picture to enlarge~

    On lap 63, Gant was passed by Michael Waltrip's #30 Pennzoil Pontiac, who led for 1 lap, before handing the lead over to Joe Nemechek's #87 Dentyne Chevrolet~ On lap 86, Rick Wilson's #75 Food Country Chevrolet was tagged in the read by the #2 Hardee's Chevrolet of Ward Burton, which sent him into the wall, ending his day~ He was running in 5th place at the time of the crash~ Three laps later, Jim Bown was punted into the wall in his #98 Pugh Oil Chevrolet, putting him out of the race in 36th~

    Harry Gant regained the lead for 4 laps after the caution, but was passed by the #31 Channellock Chevrolet of Steve Grissom, who led the next 15 laps~ In a matter of 15 laps, the cars of Michael Waltrip, Jack Sprague, and Harry Gant all suffered blown engines, as well as Tommy Houston who had overheating issues~ On lap 142, the #59 Alliance Training Centers Chevrolet of Robert Pressley also suffered from engine troubles, and he would finish in the 28th position~

                       Schrader was respected in the garage~  Shown here with Davey Allison~

                                                         Click picture to enlarge~

    Mark Martin took the lead for the final time on lap 111, leading the remaining 37 laps on his way to victory lane~ His win marked the first for Ford in the BGN series @ Darlington~  He led a race high 65 laps, and was followed to the checkered flag by the #20 Fina Lube Chevrolet of Randy LaJoie, who came home runner-up, Chad Little finished 3rd in the #23 Bayer Select Ford, Joe Nemechek finished in 4th, and Steve Grissom came home in the 5th position~

    As for Ken, he brought the #52 Morema Inc. Chevrolet home in the 13th spot~ Tracy Leslie had a solid run, finishing in 6th, and Rick Mast picked up a top 10, finishing 10th in the #0 Skoal Classic Chevrolet~ I wish I knew the reason behind the one time sponsorship with Morema Inc. for this race, but I just don't~ I couldn't even find a picture of the actual car~ The only way it can be seen is by watching the actual race, which I will include down below~ At this point, lets move on to the diecast version of this awesome car~

                                                Ken Schrader #52 Morema Inc. Chevrolet~

                                                            Click pictures to enlarge~                               

                   
    I guess to some, this would be a pretty plain car~ I've never been a fan of a white paint scheme, but this one looks pretty sharp~ Ken has a great signature, which looks nice on the hood~ I'm not really sure what Morema Inc. is/was, but I do know the first weekend of September is Labor Day, so maybe that had something to do with the sponsorship for that race~

   Ken Schrader was always one of my underdog favorites~ I can't remember how many time I thought he was gonna win the Daytona 500, but it was a lot~ I get happy when he runs the truck race @ Eldora, and I hope he continues to do so for a while~ It was awesome watching him win the pole a couple years back, and I hope to watch him do it again someday~

   I give this car an A+ on the Racing Champions quality scale, due to the fact that they even made it~ It was limited to 5,000 made, so there are some out there~ I suggest buying it, if it isn't already in your collection, because it's got its own little piece of history to tell, and it's a great car~ Thank you all for stopping by the blog again~ Below are some random NASCAR videos, as well as the full 1993 Gatorade 200 race that this car ran in~ Please share this post on any social media site you may be a part of, and I'll see ya' next time on the NASCAR Racing Champions Blog~ :)

                                              1993 Gatorade 200 @ Darlington (full race)~

                                                    1993 BGN Bad Johnny Benson crash~

                                              Gene Glover/Dale Jarrett bad crash - 1980~

                                              End of 1992 Goodwrench 200~ Ward win~

   

Ken Schrader #25 Kodiak Chevrolet

    Ken Schrader was always a favorite of mine, although he often times let me down on race day~ His main problem was he was too cautious with his car, and wouldn't ever go for the win in the way he should have~ I remember countless times where I thought he was going to win the race, only to be intimidated by someone else, who would steal the win away~ In today's post, I'm gonna be going back to his time in the #25 Kodiak Chevrolet, and looking at his time in his most successful NASCAR ride~

    After several winless seasons with long time Cup owner Junie Donlavey, Schrader found himself in a lucky position to start the 1988 Winston Cup season~ Veteran driver Tim Richmond was out of his ride, due to contracting the AIDS virus, and car owner Rick Hendrick pegged Schrader to drive his #25 Folger's car to replace the ailing Richmond~

    In his first race with the team, Schrader put the #25 Folger's car on the pole in the 1988 Daytona 500, and would finish in 6th place~ He also won his first Cup race this season, in the DieHard 500 @ Talladega~ He won again the following season, in the All Pro Auto Parts 50 @ Charlotte~

                                            Ken poses with the Kodiak car @ Daytona~

    His first time in the #25 Kodiak car came in the 1990 Daytona 500, where again, he put the car on the pole~ However, engine issues had him out of the race by lap 58, resulting in a 40th place showing~ He also won the pole in the Coca-Cola 600 @ Charlotte (finished 11th), and the AC Delco 500 @ Rockingham (finished 5th), although he wasn't able to reach victory lane during the season~ He was able to get a couple of runner up finishes, in the Budweiser 500 @ Dover, and the Checker 500 @ Phoenix~

    The 1991 season was arguably his best in the Cup series, picking up wins in the Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 @ Atlanta, and the Budweiser 500 @ Dover~ He also finished runner up in the GM Goodwrench 500 @ Rockingham, and the Coca-Cola 600 @ Charlotte~ He finished out the season with 2 wins, 10 top 5's, and 18 top 10's, while finishing 9th in the final points standings~

                                               Ken stands with good friend Dale Earnhardt~

    With the start of the 1992 season, Ken Schrader would start on a winless streak that would last the remainder of his career~ I don't think anyone could have predicted this.. I know I didn't~ Up until the end of the 1991 season, he had been getting consistently better, and I figured he at least win a race or two for several more seasons~ But this wasn't the case, as Schrader finished the 1992 season with 0 wins, 4 top 5's, 11 top 10's, and a pole in the Champion Spark Plug 500 @ Pocono~ He also fell to 17th in the final points standings.. slipping 8 spots from the previous season~

    While Schrader didn't win again in the Cup series, he still had a moderately productive season in 1993~ He picked up a career high 6 poles (Richmond, Charlotte, both Pocono races, Michigan, and Darlington), while also scoring 9 top 5's, and 15 top 10's, while improving to 9th in the final points standings~

    The 1994 Cup season was his last season driving the Kodiak car, and he had a somewhat decent year~ While he didn't win any races, or pole positions, he consistently ran strong all season, picking up 9 top 5's, and 18 top 10's~ He also finished a career best 4th place in the final points standings~ Following this season, he would remain with the #25 Hendrick team, but the team would receive sponsorship from Budweiser~ Schrader would remain with Hendrick until the start of the 1997 Cup season, when he was released from the team, and picked up by Andy Petree's #33 Skoal Bandit team~

                                                     Ken Schrader #25 Kodiak Chevolet~

                                                                 Click pics to enlarge~

                                                     Custom pics with Kodiak logos~

                                                                Click pics to enlarge~

    I know, I know.. the customs look like crap~ lol~ I did the best I could with them, but I just couldn't make them look as good as some of them that I've done~ I guess it still looks better than just a plain car with no logos on it~ I know it wasn't Racing Champions' fault, but I just can't stand seeing a plain car~ Never once when I was a kid watching the race, did I see Ken's Kodiak car and think "That Kodiak car makes me wanna chew some tobacco", or "That Rusty Wallace Miller car makes me wanna drink a beer"~

   I'm not very fond of this car at all, and only bought it because it's part of the set~ I wish I had smaller hands, so I could just order some decals, and make the car look like it should, but my hands are too big, and I rip the decals every time.. so what's the point?~ I give this car a D- on the Racing Champions quality scale, which I believe is the lowest grade I've ever given~ I hated his diecast as a child, and I still hate it to this day~

   As I said earlier, I really can't believe that Schrader only won 4 Cup races~ To think that Kyle Petty has double the wins as Schrader does is purely mind boggling~ No disrespect to Kyle, but in my opinion, Schrader is 1000 times a better driver than Kyle was.. statistics prove otherwise, however~ Below I have added some clips from Ken's career, enjoy them, and as always.. thank you all for stopping by the blog~ :)

                                                           All of Schrader's Cup wins~

                                                       Top 10 Ken Schrader crashes~

                                                                  Schrader on fire~

                                         Schrader and Michael Waltrip racing lawnmowers~