NASCAR WCUP: Ken Schrader Set To Make 500th Career Start At Martinsville
Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
March 27, 2001
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Flash and fanfare isn't Schrader's cup of tea, but he deserves a solid pat on the back for becoming only the 22nd driver in Winston Cup history (1949-2001) to make 500 career Winston Cup starts. It has been a 16-year journey for the Missouri native, but he stills get a flash in his eye every time he fires up the engine of the "M&M's"® Pontiac.
"When you are doing something you love, you don't keep count," Schrader said about his career milestone which sneaked up on the Winston Cup veteran. "If I had spent the past 16 years doing something that wasn't any fun, you better believe I'd be counting down the days until I was done.
"I'm not much of a record keeper about things like that, but it is pretty neat when you look at the company I'm keeping. Richard Petty. Dale Earnhardt. Bobby Allison. That is an impressive list to be on. It is hard to believe that in the 52 years NASCAR has been in business there have only been 22 people make 500 starts. I just hope that doesn't make me too much of a veteran."
Schrader's Winston Cup accomplishments can be measured at the 500 mark, but anyone familiar with automobile racing knows he could easily quadruple that number when asked how many other races he's run. Despite a varied interest that spans both dirt and asphalt, it is the Winston Cup series that has been his home since Elmo Langley put him behind the wheel of a Winston Cup car at Nashville Speedway in 1984.
"Five hundred sounds like a lot of races, but sometimes it feels like I've run twice that many," Schrader said. "Sixteen years sounds much longer than 500 races to me. Elmo Langley gave me my first chance at Winston Cup racing back in 1984 and I'll never forget that day. I was used to running 30-lap features in Silver Crown cars and there I was running 500 miles in a stock car. There was a little bit of an adjustment period, but I guarantee you that by my next race I could have gone 600 miles."
Although Schrader started five races in 1984, his streak of consecutive starts began on February 17, 1985. June 3, 2001 at Dover Downs International Speedway will be Schrader's 500th consecutive start.
Junie Donlavey took a chance on the rookie from Missouri, but rather than a gamble, it turned out to be a sure thing for Richmond's most famous car owner.
Schrader was the 1985 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year, has four wins, 23 pole positions, 15 outside pole positions, 172 top-10 finishes and 64 top fives. He's got one of the highest profile sponsors in the garage and is enjoying a great deal of success with crew chief Newt Moore, who teamed with Schrader just three races ago in Atlanta.
"Racing is still fun to me," Schrader said. "I don't really consider it a job because I have too good of a time to call it work. I enjoyed it running go-karts around my back yard as a kid and I still enjoy strapping in the "M&M's"® Pontiac every Sunday. I consider myself lucky because every day I get to enjoy what I do for a living. I wish everyone was as lucky."
Text provided by Laura Ehret
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