Ken Schrader: "The plan is to grow Schrader Racing into a two-truck team." Credit: Autostock

Conversation: Schrader

Somehow, while driving for a single-car team and conceding nothing to age, Ken Schrader keeps finding ways to improve.

He's 28th in the Nextel Cup standings -- hardly heady stuff -- but he's got a good chance at improving for the second straight year. His points standing assures him a spot in the field every week, which is a luxury he wished he had in 2003, when he missed four races.

Schrader, who turned 50 in May, plans on driving in the Nextel Cup Series for at least another year and a half, and BAM Racing is trying to make sure he ends his Cup career in the No. 49 Dodge.

Schrader talked with NASCAR.COM's Ryan Smithson at Pocono Raceway, where he finished 20th.

Ken, how worried were y'all before the season concerning the top-35 rule?

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Well, I was excited about it. We hovered around there last year, so we knew hovering around it wasn't going to be good. I think it's the best it's ever been to go to a race and try to qualify.

Granted, we have a couple of legit full-time teams that are out of the top 35. But having eight spots open is pretty big.

I guess I never thought of it that way. Now you guys won't have to worry about missing Indianapolis anymore.

First off, you're not out of provisionals. (Last year) you could be 30th in points out of provisionals and not make the race. So yeah, that is a lot better, you're unlimited now as long as you're in the top 35.

How much of a relief was it when you went to Fontana, had a decent run, and that took some pressure off?

We ran the first four races off last year's points. Going to Daytona and knowing you were in, you know, other than wherever we were last year, and wondering whether that position would get a provisional, that is a huge difference.

And I think we lost four spots last week, and now we are 30th, that is still a little ways away [from 35th] and we had a couple of races where we were really close, 34th or whatever, but hopefully we can keep going in the right direction.

Ken, you are 50 years old and had a bad crash last week at Dover. How do you bounce back from that as opposed to 20 years ago?

	Credit: Autostock
	KEN SCHRADER •   Driver page •   2005 Stats •   Store: Schrader gear! •   Schrader to pilot Waltrip truck at Michigan

I've hit so much stuff, I couldn't tell. When I woke up Monday, everything that was sore is sore everyday I wake up, so I figured it was no big deal.

Remember your bad crash here [at Pocono] in 2003?

That was a big deal! Ha! Got down in 1, early, early in the race, seven or eight laps.

Eighth lap. Yeah.

Smoked down in there, and the brakes pedal went to the floor. I was like, "Dang! Brake pedal really went to the floor!" I was watching qualifying the day before and guys were running 200 miles per hour right here.

And we got turned around, so it backed in. That made it a lot easier. It wasn't that bad. Got it turned over, got out, and got to beat traffic home.

I know you're good friends with Mark Martin, but it seems to me you've got a funnier story about Rusty Wallace.

Well, I grew up with Rusty. I was a year older than Rusty and we raced right there together at home in the St. Louis area. We did a lot of things together.

Some of them you wouldn't want to mention. We had a lot of fun together and obviously I know Rusty a lot better than I know Mark. But Mark and Rusty raced together a bunch in the ASA deal.

Rusty has always been so wide open and focused the whole time, we went our different ways. He went ASA racing and I went dirt racing. We started out together then we didn't race together for quite a while.

Were you surprised he didn't run a couple more years?

Schrader and Mark Martin Credit: Autostock

Uh, nah. Rusty has got so much other stuff going on. Business-wise and that. I think he was ready to quit.

I think maybe he questions it now, you hear him say he might have pulled the plug up one year too early, but he's got his son coming up and doing some racing, I think he was ready to do some other stuff.

I mean, the Cup schedule, 36 weekends is a lot of weekends.

You said earlier about having a lot of stuff going on and we know you're going to be in a Darrell Waltrip truck temporarily. Are you going to drive for yourself in the Craftsman Truck Series in a couple of years or for another team?

That is definitely the plan. The plan is to grow Schrader Racing into a two-truck team and we don't know exactly what we're doing next year yet; but as far as the truck schedule, if we're going to run the truck full-time with someone else or myself and someone else with it, the D.W. truck at Michigan, that just came out of the blue. I got a phone call the other day. Heck yeah, I will drive that thing. That will be fun.

Ken, when they gave you that wheelchair a couple of weeks ago [for your 50th birthday], I heard you weren't too amused.

No. It's not really a wheelchair. It just got wheels on it. It doesn't roll, that way I don't have to worry about hurting myself.

I haven't got to get it over to my shop now, it's sitting in the lobby over at the BAM shop, the boys really did a nice job on it, it's a neat little piece of work.

I went to the driver's meeting and I came back and there was a bunch of people by the truck. I knew I wouldn't get out of this day -- this 50-year-old deal -- clean, but it was pretty painless.

You were expecting something even worse?

I wasn't expecting anything. In my mind, I had thought that nothing had happened yet, and I didn't know what to expect when I saw all the people gathered around. I knew who was going to be the center though.

Was 50 an 'Oh, no!' Or just a birthday?

Just a birthday. Just a birthday. Kind of neat, boys at the shop -- Brian at the shop, he runs my office, he got me an AARP card, so hey, I can get some savings now. I am trying to get something with it at Goodyear but they won't accept it yet.