SCHRADER TAKES A BUSINESSMAN’S HOLIDAY TO COMPETE IN CRATE RACIN’ USA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RACE AT EAST BAY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CARTERSVILLE, GA – Nextel Cup driver Ken Schrader of Fenton, MO is looking forward to the off-season. While many of his fellow Cup drivers will take a long-awaited vacation by traveling to places like the Rocky Mountains for skiing, or the Caribbean for deep-sea fishing, Schrader is going Crate Late Model racing in Tampa, FL.
Schrader is going to East Bay Raceway Park for the $10,000-to-win Crate Racin’ USA-sanctioned Jasper Engines Crate Late Model World Championship Race presented by American Race Tire on December 1-3.
“It’s a weekend, and I’ve always thought you needed to be at a race track,” Schrader said. “Florida is where it’s at that weekend because you’ve got the Performance Racing Show going on in Orlando, and there’s a race close by in Tampa, so I couldn’t think of a better place to be.”
Schrader is a rare breed of race car driver. He is at the top of his profession, a full-time Nextel Cup driver with four career wins since 1985. Schrader spent the early portion of his career in the 1970s and early 1980s racing anything with wheels on dirt and asphalt short tracks to make it to the big time.
In the mid-1980s, Schrader landed a full time ride in what was then known as Winston Cup. When most drivers get to that point in their careers, they quit coming to the short tracks. Most are too busy with sponsor commitments, testing, and all of the other jet-setting perks that come with being a full time driver on the nation’s premier stock car racing circuit.
Now a few of Schrader’s counter-parts in Nextel Cup racing will return to their roots in racing by making a paid appearance at a short track, and might even run in a staged exhibition race. What sets Schrader apart from the rest of his fellow Nextel Cup drivers is that he will show up, unsolicited, to race at a short track every chance he gets.
Schrader maintains a team of short track race cars that include dirt late models, and open-wheel modifieds. Schrader is well-known for just showing up at a dirt track anywhere in the country and race wheel-to-wheel with drivers that have the same desires he had 30 years ago.
By coming to East Bay Raceway Park on December 1-3 for the Jasper Engines Crate Late Model World Championship Race presented by American Race Tire, Schrader will not only be coming for the enjoyment to race, but it will also be a business trip of sorts as well. Not only does Schrader love to compete on the dirt tracks, he also owns two.
Aside from all of the glitz and glamour that comes with being a Nextel Cup driver, there is also a lot of money to be made. Schrader takes a portion of his earnings and puts it back into dirt track racing. Schrader is a part of ownership groups at I-55 Raceway in Pevely, MO and Paducah International Raceway in Paducah, KY.
As a short track promoter, Schrader has to know what are the latest trends in that form of racing. By competing and traveling to short tracks nationwide, Schrader can get a first-hand account of what’s going on.
“I’ve heard a lot of good things about what Crate Racin’ USA is trying to accomplish in dirt late model racing, and by coming to East Bay Raceway Park and competing, I can get a good idea about it,” Schrader said. “I really think the concept of the Crate Engine is going to be good for the sport.”
The concept of the crate engine is quite simple. Competitors can buy these engines for one-tenth of the cost of an unlimited engine. The engines are sealed at the factory, and competitors are not permitted to break the seals and make any modifications. They take the engines from the factory, take them right out of the crate they come in, and go racing – hence the term “crate engine.”
Good short track promoters know that in order to be successful, they must keep a tight “economic balance.” They have to keep the costs down for the competitors in order to pay them a fair purse. That purse money comes from ticket sales from the spectators, and the promoter has to charge a fair amount for a ticket that the market will bare.
When a racer has to race for more money to maintain a $40,000 engine, the promoter has to charge more at the grandstand gate to pay them. When the race fan won’t pay the higher ticket price, the promoter can’t pay the racer without losing his profit margin to stay in business.
In addition to making dirt late model racing more affordable for everyone, the crate engine also levels the playing field when it comes to competing on the track. Crate Racin’ USA has created a good mix of seasoned veterans, weekend sportsman racers, and young up-and-coming drivers looking to someday be where Ken Schrader is at.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CARTERSVILLE, GA – Nextel Cup driver Ken Schrader of Fenton, MO is looking forward to the off-season. While many of his fellow Cup drivers will take a long-awaited vacation by traveling to places like the Rocky Mountains for skiing, or the Caribbean for deep-sea fishing, Schrader is going Crate Late Model racing in Tampa, FL.
Schrader is going to East Bay Raceway Park for the $10,000-to-win Crate Racin’ USA-sanctioned Jasper Engines Crate Late Model World Championship Race presented by American Race Tire on December 1-3.
“It’s a weekend, and I’ve always thought you needed to be at a race track,” Schrader said. “Florida is where it’s at that weekend because you’ve got the Performance Racing Show going on in Orlando, and there’s a race close by in Tampa, so I couldn’t think of a better place to be.”
Schrader is a rare breed of race car driver. He is at the top of his profession, a full-time Nextel Cup driver with four career wins since 1985. Schrader spent the early portion of his career in the 1970s and early 1980s racing anything with wheels on dirt and asphalt short tracks to make it to the big time.
In the mid-1980s, Schrader landed a full time ride in what was then known as Winston Cup. When most drivers get to that point in their careers, they quit coming to the short tracks. Most are too busy with sponsor commitments, testing, and all of the other jet-setting perks that come with being a full time driver on the nation’s premier stock car racing circuit.
Now a few of Schrader’s counter-parts in Nextel Cup racing will return to their roots in racing by making a paid appearance at a short track, and might even run in a staged exhibition race. What sets Schrader apart from the rest of his fellow Nextel Cup drivers is that he will show up, unsolicited, to race at a short track every chance he gets.
Schrader maintains a team of short track race cars that include dirt late models, and open-wheel modifieds. Schrader is well-known for just showing up at a dirt track anywhere in the country and race wheel-to-wheel with drivers that have the same desires he had 30 years ago.
By coming to East Bay Raceway Park on December 1-3 for the Jasper Engines Crate Late Model World Championship Race presented by American Race Tire, Schrader will not only be coming for the enjoyment to race, but it will also be a business trip of sorts as well. Not only does Schrader love to compete on the dirt tracks, he also owns two.
Aside from all of the glitz and glamour that comes with being a Nextel Cup driver, there is also a lot of money to be made. Schrader takes a portion of his earnings and puts it back into dirt track racing. Schrader is a part of ownership groups at I-55 Raceway in Pevely, MO and Paducah International Raceway in Paducah, KY.
As a short track promoter, Schrader has to know what are the latest trends in that form of racing. By competing and traveling to short tracks nationwide, Schrader can get a first-hand account of what’s going on.
“I’ve heard a lot of good things about what Crate Racin’ USA is trying to accomplish in dirt late model racing, and by coming to East Bay Raceway Park and competing, I can get a good idea about it,” Schrader said. “I really think the concept of the Crate Engine is going to be good for the sport.”
The concept of the crate engine is quite simple. Competitors can buy these engines for one-tenth of the cost of an unlimited engine. The engines are sealed at the factory, and competitors are not permitted to break the seals and make any modifications. They take the engines from the factory, take them right out of the crate they come in, and go racing – hence the term “crate engine.”
Good short track promoters know that in order to be successful, they must keep a tight “economic balance.” They have to keep the costs down for the competitors in order to pay them a fair purse. That purse money comes from ticket sales from the spectators, and the promoter has to charge a fair amount for a ticket that the market will bare.
When a racer has to race for more money to maintain a $40,000 engine, the promoter has to charge more at the grandstand gate to pay them. When the race fan won’t pay the higher ticket price, the promoter can’t pay the racer without losing his profit margin to stay in business.
In addition to making dirt late model racing more affordable for everyone, the crate engine also levels the playing field when it comes to competing on the track. Crate Racin’ USA has created a good mix of seasoned veterans, weekend sportsman racers, and young up-and-coming drivers looking to someday be where Ken Schrader is at.
