Ken Schrader: GFS Marketplace 400 preview

The thoughts of Schwan's Home Service Dodge driver Ken Schrader heading into Michigan:

"Back to Michigan and everybody immediately starts mentioning fuel mileage. Yes, you better have a firm grasp on the minimum number of stops it'll take you to get to the finish, but it takes a lot more than a calculator to be competitive. Michigan requires a lot of horses under the hood, because it's a big track with wide, sweeping turns, and you're not out of the throttle very long.

"The track is multi-grooved and you'll see guys running several different lines throughout the race. It works out because once the tires start going away, you can adjust your line and not lose too much speed. But, make no mistake about it - the preferred line is the bottom of the race track. The cars that can handle well and run fast around the bottom are generally the guys who are up front at the end of the race. Makes sense; it is the shortest distance around the track.

"This race was good to us last year. We played fuel mileage strategy to our advantage, had a good car and it worked. We brought home our second top 10 of 2003. I can't think of a better place to pick up our next top 10 than at Michigan this weekend. We're getting into a stretch of the season, really the next seven races, that can be a good stretch for us.

"We've enjoyed some success at these upcoming seven tracks or so. During the next seven weeks, we go to Michigan, of course, this weekend, then Bristol, where we posted a sixth-place finish in the spring. We also go to Richmond, New Hampshire, and Dover during that span and we've shown we can run well at those three tracks. Then Talladega, which we feel like maybe owes us one, at the first of October. You always have to approach it one race at a time, because that's the only way you can play this game. But, stepping back and taking a look at the schedule, we feel we can really make some gains over the course of the next seven or so weeks.

"Michigan is a great place to start making those gains. This Schwan's Home Service team is capable of doing everything necessary for us to bring home a good finish at Michigan. The next seven races will be very important to our race team... and I'm sure we'll be up to the challenge."