Rule changes to this year's Budweiser Shootout raised some eyebrows when the eligible drivers list was announced, particularly when it came to the addition of Ken Schrader, who will pilot the No. 82 Toyota on Saturday. But even though he hasn't been behind the wheel of a Cup car in more than a year, it seems altogether fitting that Schrader, who became the first driver to win back-to-back Busch Clashes, should return 20 years later to the site of some of his greatest glory.

“

Three weeks ago, I ran in a midget race in Milwaukee for $1,000. A thousand dollars! That's doesn't even pay for the fuel I used flying up there and running the car.

”

-- KEN SCHRADER

According to the biography posted on Schrader's Web site, Schrader literally started going around in circles at an early age. Growing up in Fenton, Mo., his father Bill tied Kenny's go-kart to a post in the backyard with a rope, allowing the 3-year-old to speed around until the vehicle ran itself out of gas. He made his public debut at I-55 Speedway as a teen -- a track which he now owns -- then began traveling all over the midwest, mainly running open-wheeled cars.

He captured the USAC Silver Crown championship in 1982 and the USAC Sprint Car title a year later, and had one aborted attempt at making the field at the Indianapolis 500. But by that time, Schrader wanted to give stock-car racing a try, and in 1984, rented Winston Cup cars from Elmo Langley for three races. He finished 19th at Nashville in his Cup debut but soon ran out of cash. However, Langley was impressed enough to allow Schrader to run twice more.

Junie Donlavey signed Schrader to a full-time ride the following season, and he scored three top-10 finishes en route to rookie of the year honors. Schrader won the first of his 23 career poles at Darlington in 1987, allowing him entry into the 1988 Busch Clash, where he finished seventh for new owner Rick Hendrick. The Busch Clash at that time was a 20-lap sprint exclusively for pole winners, with the starting lineup drawn at random.

That same weekend, Schrader began a stretch where he sat on the pole for three consecutive Daytona 500s. In addition, that assured him a spot in the following year's Busch Clash. And in 1989, Schrader led 15 of the 20 laps, naturally from the pole, to score the victory and take home the $75,000 winner's purse, his biggest paycheck up to that point.

In fact, Schrader made more in the Busch Clash than he did for finishing second to Darrell Waltrip in the 500 a week later.

"Three weeks ago, I ran in a midget race in Milwaukee for $1,000," Schrader said. "A thousand dollars! That's doesn't even pay for the fuel I used flying up there and running the car."

And for the 1990 Busch Clash, Schrader proved once again to be the man to beat. He floored the gas pedal of his No. 25 Chevy Lumina to a pole-winning speed of 196.515 mph, then challenged the rest of the Busch Clash field in a game of "catch me if you can."

For the most Greg Sacks, driving another Hendrick car -- the No. 46 City Chevrolet that would be used in the filming of "Days of Thunder" a week later -- was able to lead four laps. But once Schrader went to the front, he was gone. He beat Sacks to the line by two car-lengths.

"On the last lap, I took a shot up the track out of Turn 2 and tried to get a better run at him," Sacks said. "But it didn't happen.

The rest of the 10-car field was suitably impressed.

"Kenny just accelerated right away from me on the green flag," fifth-place finisher Bill Elliott said. "I called my guys at the end of the first lap and said, 'No way, guys.' Schrader had the horsepower."

But for all his Busch Clash success, Schrader was never able to match it in the 500. He blew an engine 58 laps into the 1990 edition and finished 40th. He would come close again in 1996 (third), 1998 (fourth), 1999 (sixth) and 2000 (ninth), and then pilot the Wood Brothers No. 21 Ford to a ninth-place finish in the 2006 Daytona 500.

At 54, Schrader continues to race "any time, anywhere." Even though his last Cup start came at Phoenix in 2008, his racing calendar is overflowing.

How much has changed since Schrader's second Busch Clash victory 20 years ago? North Wilkesboro and Rockingham were still mainstays on the schedule, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was still a sanctuary for only open-wheeled cars, and tracks in Fontana, Fort Worth, Kansas City, Las Vegas and Joliet were either under construction or in the planning stages.

In 1990, the NFL had not one, but two franchises -- the Raiders and the Rams -- in Los Angeles. And included in this year's Budweiser Shootout field is Joey Logano, who wasn't born until May of that year.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.