Incredibly, in 54 years of racing a wide variety of cars, Ken Schrader has never won in an IMCA stock car. That is, until last Friday at Central Arizona Raceway in Casa Grande.
“We raced stock cars on dirt in the 1970s, but they were late models — back then they were like a stock car is now,” Schrader said. “Brad Whitfield [promoter of Central Arizona Raceway] asked me to go out there and run. It would have been tough to drag our stuff out there from Missouri, so Brad said I could drive his car.”
From NASCAR, to sprint cars, to late models, to modifieds, on pavement or on dirt, Ken Schrader has a reputation of racing just about anything anywhere and winning.
“None of them are different — they all have a couple of pedals and a steering wheel,” said Schrader of the disciplines he has raced. “The goal is the same — to go around the track as fast as you can. They don’t give any of us drivers an IQ test.”
The cars may have the same controls. The different classes may have the same objectives. However, the styles of racing among different disciplines do differ, according to Schrader.
“You can lay on stuff more [in the stock car class],” Schrader said. “Drivers of stock cars are pretty aggressive, but not in a bad way. They like to race on top of one another. Even though we’re on a short track, it looks like Talladega — one big group of cars racing together. It’s fun to watch.”
After a racing adventure in Arizona, Ken Schrader now heads to Florida. He’ll race his modified at Volusia Speedway Park for the Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals. While Schrader’s schedule isn’t set yet for 2024, he doesn’t seem to be slowing down at age 68. He raced 69 events last year, plus spent another 30 days working with the Federated Auto Parts driving program.
“I sat behind the wheel 99 days last year,” said Schrader. “This year I hope will be the same. It is fun to race no matter what you are racing or where you are racing. I’m just having fun.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
