]]
(born
May 29 ,
1955 in
Fenton, Missouri ) is a second-generation race car driver. He currently drives the #21
Little Debbie Snacks Ford Fusion for
Wood Brothers in the
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series . He appears as a television analyst on
Inside Nextel Cup on the
Speed Channel . He is also the owner of Ken Schrader Racing, which fields entries for himself in the
Craftsman Truck Series and the
Dodge Weekly Series for
Chris Bristol .
Despite having a full-time NASCAR ride for over twenty years, Schrader frequently races at local tracks between NASCAR races. He races in many racing divisions, and has been successful in any division he has stepped into. He owns a dirt late model and dirt open wheel modified car. Both of these cars, along with his .
Schrader is married to Ann Schrader and they have two children, Dorothy and Sheldon. The family currently resides in
Concord, North Carolina .
Schrader began his racing career in Missouri in
2007 He returned to USAC's Stock Car divsion in 1981, finishing third in points. In the early 1980s, Schrader moved to the USAC series, competing in its various sprint car competitions. Schrader attempted to qualify for the
1983 Indianapolis 500 but wrecked his car in practice. In the USAC series, he won four USAC sprint car races, six Silver Crown races, 21 in USAC midgets, and 24 midget races in other divisions.
Schrader made his NASCAR debut in
1984 in the Cup series, leasing out the #64
Ford normally owned/driven by
Elmo Langley . He ran his first race at Nashville, qualifying 27th and finishing nineteenth in a 30-car field. He ran four more races in the 64 that season, his best finish a seventeenth at
North Wilkesboro Speedway . In
1985 , he signed to drive the #90
Ultra Seal Ford for
Junie Donlavey full-time. He had three tenth-place finishes and finished 16th in points, winning Rookie of the Year honors. In
1986 ,
Red Baron Frozen Pizza became the team's new primary sponsor, and Schrader had four top-tens, including a best finish of seventh twice, and finished sixteenth in the standings in points for the second consecutive season. In
1987 , Schrader won his first career pole at the
TranSouth 500 , where he led 19 laps and finished fifth, his first top-five. He had nine other top-tens and finished tenth in the final standings. He also made his Busch Series debut at
North Carolina Speedway , finishing fifth in his own #45 Red Baron Ford at
North Carolina Speedway .
In
1988 , Schrader moved over to the #25
Folgers Chevrolet for
Hendrick Motorsports . In his first race, he won the pole for the
Daytona 500 , beginning a three-year streak in which he won the pole for that race. After failing to qualify for the following race and purchasing a racecar from
Buddy Arrington , Schrader won his first career race at the Talladega DieHard 500, and finished fifth in the final standings. He won his second career Cup race the following season at
Charlotte Motor Speedway , and finished fifth in the standings again. He also received his first career Busch win at the
Ames/Peak 200 .
Kodiak became Schrader's sponsor in
1990 . Although he failed to win, he collected three poles, and seven top-fives, dropping to tenth in points. In
1991 , he got his third win at the
Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 , and his final win to date at Dover International Speedway. He had nine total top-five finishes and finished ninth in the final points standings. In
1992 , he dropped to seventeenth in the standings after posting eleven top-tens. The following season, Schrader returned to ninth in the points and won a career-high six poles. He had his career-best points finish in 1994, when he finished fourth. He also won his most recent Busch race at Talladega.
In
1995 ,
Budweiser became Schrader's primary sponsor. He won his final pole with Hendrick at
Pocono Raceway and dropped back to seventeenth. After he improved only to twelfth in the standings in
1996 , Schrader left the organization.
In
1997 , Schrader was hired to drive the #33
Skoal Bandit Chevrolet Monte Carlo for
Andy Petree Racing . He had eight top-tens and won two poles, finishing tenth in the standings, his most recent top-ten points finish. The following season, he posted three fourth-place finishes and won two poles over the last five races of the season. He won his final Cup pole at Talladega in
1999 , but despite a fifteenth-place points run, Schrader failed to finish in the top-five all year long, and departed Petree.
He signed to drive the #36
M&M's Pontiac Grand Prix for
MB2 Motorsports . In his first year of competition, Schrader had two top-tens and finished eighteenth in the standings. He posted five top-tens in
2001 , but dropped to nineteenth in the standings. Also in 2001, he was collected in a
Crash where
Dale Earnhardt lost his life. In
2002 , Schrader did not finish in the top-ten in a single race, the first time that happened since 1984. Following that season, he departed MB2.
Despite an original lack of sponsorship, Schrader was announced as the driver of the #49
BAM Racing Dodge Intrepid for
2003 . Soon,
1-800-Call-ATT became the team's primary sponsor. One memorable moment from the season was early in a race at
Pocono Raceway , when he spun around in Turn 1 and smacked the wall hard with the rear end of his car, flipped once, then came to rest on the apron of the track in flames. He would be unhurt. At the
Brickyard 400 , Schrader's qualifying time was too slow (and the team was out of provisionals) to make the field, the first time since 1984 that Schrader had missed a Cup race. He DNQ-d three more times that season and fell to 36th in points. In
2004 , Schrader's previous sponsor Schwan Food Company became BAM's new sponsor, and Schrader responded with a sixth-place finish at
Bristol Motor Speedway . He had three more top-tens the following season and matched his previous year's run of 31st in points.
In
2006 , Schrader drove the #21
Little Debbie /
Motorcraft /
United States Air Force Ford for Wood Brothers Racing. In 2007, he ran a part time schedule with the Wood Brothers, sharing the ride with rookie
Jon Wood . After the team fell out of the top-35 in owner's points,
Bill Elliott became their new driver(at least until they can regain their top-35 owner's points). Schrader will return to BAM Racing at the Indianapolis Nextel Cup Race, racing the #49 car. He may also drive more races with BAM. Schrader also drives part-time in the Craftsman Truck Series for Bobby Hamilton Racing.
- NASCAR Record & Fact Book - 2006 Edition
