Ken Schrader
An American racing everyman whose relentless passion for competition has seen him run everything from the Daytona 500 to his local dirt track in the same week.
Born 1955 (age 71)·American racing driver·Birthday: May 29·Baby Boomers
Biography
Ken Schrader doesn't just love racing; he lives it, defining a career by an insatiable appetite for the wheel. While he found national fame in NASCAR's premier series, notching four Cup wins and the 1985 Rookie of the Year title, his heart has always belonged to the short tracks. Schrader's story is one of pure, unadulterated drive. Even at the peak of his NASCAR schedule, he was famously logging hundreds of races a year in dirt and asphalt modifieds, often driving himself to events in his own hauler. This wasn't a hobby; it was his core identity as a racer. After stepping back from full-time Cup competition, that identity only intensified. He became a touring ambassador for grassroots racing, competing in everything from ARCA to regional sprint car events, his familiar smile and approachable demeanor making him a beloved figure far from the corporate NASCAR garages. Schrader represents a vanishing breed: a champion who races simply because he can't imagine not doing it.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Ken was born in 1955, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Ken Was Born
The biggest hits of 1955
#1 Movie
Lady and the Tramp
Best Picture
Marty
#1 TV Show
The $64,000 Question
Ken's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1955Born
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $9,550Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Rock Around the Clock" — Bill Haley & His CometsBest Picture: Marty
1960Started school
Kennedy-Nixon debates become first televised presidential debates
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,900Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Theme from A Summer Place" — Percy FaithBest Picture: The Apartment
1968Became a teenager
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1971Could drive
Voting age lowered to 18 in the US
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $18,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Joy to the World" — Three Dog NightBest Picture: The French Connection
1973Could vote
US withdraws from Vietnam; Roe v. Wade decided
Gas: $0.39/galHome: $22,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" — Tony Orlando & DawnBest Picture: The Sting
1976Turned 21
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
1985Turned 30
Live Aid concerts raise money for Ethiopian famine
Gas: $1.12/galHome: $62,900Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Careless Whisper" — Wham!Best Picture: Out of Africa
1995Turned 40
Oklahoma City bombing; Windows 95 released
Gas: $1.15/galHome: $96,500Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Gangsta's Paradise" — CoolioBest Picture: Braveheart
2005Turned 50
Hurricane Katrina devastates New Orleans; YouTube launches
Gas: $2.30/galHome: $167,500Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"We Belong Together" — Mariah CareyBest Picture: Crash
2015Turned 60
Paris climate agreement; same-sex marriage legalized in the US
Gas: $2.43/galHome: $171,900Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Uptown Funk" — Mark Ronson ft. Bruno MarsBest Picture: Spotlight
2025Turned 70
AI agents go mainstream
Gas: $3.10/galHome: $385,000Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"APT." — Rose & Bruno Mars
2026Age 71 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Won four races in NASCAR's premier Cup Series, including events at Talladega and Dover.
- Was named the NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year in 1985.
- Has won numerous feature events on dirt and asphalt short tracks across the United States, amassing hundreds of victories.
- Competed in the Indianapolis 500 in 1991, finishing 21st.
- Founded and owns Federated Auto Parts Raceway, a dirt track in Pevely, Missouri.
Did You Know?
He is a first cousin once removed of fellow NASCAR driver Carl Edwards.
He famously races an extremely heavy schedule, sometimes competing in over 100 events in a single year across various series.
He drove the pace car for the 2010 Daytona 500.
He and his wife, Ann, own and operate Ken Schrader Racing, which fields entries in various series.
“I race because I love to race. It's that simple.”
