Ken Schrader Racing
Southern Illinois 100 (DuQuoin) | |
Races competed | Total: 627 Cup Series: 1 Xfinity Series: 92 Truck Series: 173 ARCA Menards Series: 361 |
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Drivers' Championships | Total: ARCA Menards Series: 1 |
Race victories | Total: 38 Cup Series: 0 Xfinity Series: 2 Truck Series: 1 ARCA Menards Series: 35 |
Pole positions | Total: 39 Cup Series: 0 Xfinity Series: 1 Truck Series: 4 ARCA Menards Series: 34 |
Ken Schrader Racing was an American professional
NASCAR Xfinity and Cup Series
Beginnings
Schrader began fielding his own team in
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series
Schrader began fielding trucks during the series' inaugural season in
Butler was hired as the team's full-time driver in
Rookie
Hiatus and return
KSR did not run any Truck Series races over the next two seasons, focusing on the ARCA series, fielding entries for Chris Bristol. The team returned in 2008, when Schrader returned with Federated Auto Parts sponsoring his Toyota Tundra. In his first race back, he started 28th and finished 4th.
The team returned once again in
ARCA Menards Series
For 2016, the No. 52 team ran with one driver for the full season for the first time in over three years, with Matt Kurzejewski joining the team after getting many good finishes driving part-time for his own team for a few years. Despite not winning any races, he earned a third place finish in points. Also, they picked up sponsorship from Menards (as well as Ansell), which moved over to KSR after sponsoring Frank Kimmel since 2009. They replaced Federated Auto Parts as the team's full season sponsor.[2]
The team ran the full ARCA Racing Series schedule in 2017 with Austin Theriault.[3] However, Menards did not return in 2017, and they were only able to find sponsors race-by-race. The team scored 7 wins en route to the championship, which Theriault and the team clinched in the penultimate race at Kentucky. The team struggled with finding sponsorship both that year and in 2018, and as a result, the team only guaranteed Theriault to run the car at the 2018 season opener at Daytona.[4] However, weeks before the start of the season, those plans changed as the team signed up-and-comer Will Rodgers to drive for KSR part-time, starting at Daytona and then in a second car with sponsorship from Drydene. He had previously driven for KSR at ARCA's testing at Daytona in January 2018.[5] Because Rodgers brought a sponsor and Theriault did not, Theriault was left without a ride. At the same time, they announced that Brandon Grosso would attempt to run all the races for them after Daytona (where he was still only 17 and not eligible to run there). Grosso was eventually released during the season, and Rodgers moved from the No. 11 car (which Schrader fielded in a collaboration with Fast Track Racing) to the team's primary car, the No. 52, for his remaining starts.[6]
After his own team was also struggling financially, Bret Holmes did not field his own No. 23 car at the race at Iowa and drove Schrader's No. 52 instead for that race along with two others. In 2019, the team only ran two races, at Daytona with Tyler Dippel and DuQuoin with Schrader himself.
For
On December 8, 2020, Schrader confirmed that he would be closing down his longtime ARCA team and only keep its dirt racing operations in 2021. This will be the first season since 1990 where KSR has not competed in the series. Schrader's iconic No. 52 car only competed part-time from 2018 to 2020 due to lack of sponsorship.[8]
References
- ^ "Schrader oldest pole winner in NASCAR series". The Charlotte Observer. Associated Press. 2013-07-24. Archived from the original on 2013-07-24. Retrieved 2013-07-24.
- ^ Radebaugh, Don (January 13, 2016). "Ansell and Menards to sponsor KSR in 2016; Kurzejewski to run for ARCA title". ARCARacing.com. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
- ^ Radebaugh, Don (January 10, 2017). "Ken Schrader Racing announces new driver for full season in '17". ARCARacing.com. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
- ^ Radebaugh, Don (December 13, 2017). "KSR, Cunningham, JGR make news during banquet festivities". ARCARacing.com. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
- ^ Radebaugh, Don (January 15, 2018). "Rookie Rodgers impressive in Daytona test; to race for KSR with sponsor Drydene". ARCARacing.com. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
- ^ Radebaugh, Don (June 6, 2018). "Drydene announces more ARCA races with KSR; starts at MIS". ARCARacing.com. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
- ^ Krall, Charles (January 23, 2020). "Natalie Decker teams with Ken Schrader for Lucas Oil 200 at Daytona". ARCARacing.com. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
- ^ Fenwick, Adam (December 8, 2020). "Ken Schrader Sells N.C. Shop, Relocating to Midwest". Speed Sport. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
External links
- Official website
- Ken Schrader Racing owner statistics at Racing-Reference