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| Image Credit: Gene Marderness |
By Chris McWilliams
After 20 seasons of full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup racing a lot of drivers would just want to sit back on all the money they won and take it easy but not Ken Schrader. During the 2010 racing season Schrader showed up and banged wheels with some of the best dirt track racers in the country at over 60 different races. He climbed behind the wheel of his own dirt modified and won 11 races and won another 2 races in his dirt late model.
Racing is all Ken Schrader has really ever known at the age of three his father bought him a go kart which he chained to a pole in the yard and let him it drive around in circles. He grew up to invade many dirt tracks around his Midwest home of Fenton, Missouri where he quickly found his way to victory lane.
He won two USAC national championships in 1982 he won top honors in the Silver Crown division and then in 1983 he won the Sprint Car championship. His success on the dirt caught the attention of NASCAR owner Junie Donlavey who he hired Schrader to drive for him and he returned the favor by winning the 1985 NASCAR rookie of the year award. Schrader spent the next 20 seasons full-time in NASCAR where he accumulated 4 wins, 64 top five finishes, 181 top ten finishes, 23 poles, and a career best finish of fourth in points in 1994.
While in NASCAR Schrader still enjoyed dirt track racing when his busy schedule allowed for it and he built his own racing team Ken Schrader Racing that allowed for him to continue racing after his time in NASCAR. Today, Schrader is able to do drive on dirt nearly every weekend across the country in his own cars. He takes part in the Prelude to the Dream every year at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway where he races against other NASCAR drivers in dirt late models for charity. Like Stewart, Schrader is also part owner of the I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Missouri and of Macon Speedway in Macon, Illinois.
Schrader still races on pavement from time to time in an ARCA series stock car or Camping World Truck Series truck but would rather be slinging dirt. He wants to give others the chance to enjoy dirt racing and has started the Ken Schrader Dirt Car Driving Experience. This program gives everyone the opportunity to climb behind the wheel of a dirt modified at I-55 Raceway and take a few laps with some rookie advice from Schrader himself. He was really born to race and has said, “I want to spend my time racing. It’s not only my job, but it’s also my hobby. I love the time that I get to spend behind the wheel, and as long as I can, I’m going to race whenever I get the chance.” One can see that though Schrader may be done with NASCAR that he is right where he wants to be on dirt racing where he was always meant to be.