Ken Schrader participated in just his second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event of the year as he finished 16th in the O’Reilly 200 on Wednesday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. But the 54-year-old Schrader has already raced more than 50 times this year, mostly at dirt tracks throughout the country. He also has competed in three events run by ARCA. “We ran Martinsville this year [in the Truck series] and have run some ARCA races,” Schrader said. “It was another race [tonight]. Nothing different. I [messed] up missing the drivers meeting, and we just got the thing too tight. You can’t drop in two times a year and race with these guys. But it wasn’t too bad.” In addition to his dirt racing, Schrader also went to Argentina, where several Roush Fenway Racing vehicles were used in an exhibition to promote stock-car racing to the Turismo Carretera Racers Association. “It was cool,” Schrader said. “It was just an exhibition thing. Jack had some cars over there. It was neat. They were very enthusiastic fans. They’re not driver fans; they’re manufacturer fans. They wanted to see the car and hear it, V-8 power.” Schrader, who has 732 career starts in what is now known as the Sprint Cup Series, said he is happy with what he’s doing. His plans for the rest of the year include a variety of dirt tracks as well as ARCA races Sunday at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, Sept. 4 at Toledo and Sept. 7 at the DuQuoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds. “I’d like to run the truck or the ARCA car more,” Schrader said. “But things are fine.”(SceneDaily)(8-22-2009)
