Ken Schrader Linton Motors, LLC

The following article appeared in the January 12, 2006 edition of The Daily World newspaper in Linton, Indiana.

Hamilton, Schrader have been friends for a long time.

By Halea Franklin, staff writer

An area business now has a new name as Linton Motor LLC is now Ken Schrader's Linton Motors LLC.

Roger Hamilton said he and Schrader, a popular race car driver, have been friends since 1979.

He said his uncle Gene Hamilton owned midget race cars that he helped with as a teenager. Hamilton said his uncle hired Schrader to race their midget race cars.

While Schrader was racing in Indianapolis, Hamilton's uncle had competed against him.

“My uncle liked what he saw and offered him a job,” Hamilton explained. “At that time, Ken would've been, maybe, 24.

“At that time, he was just another young race car driver.”

Schrader drove for the Hamiltons through 1983.

In 1984, he participated in his first NASCAR race. According to his biography on www.schraderracing.com, he rented a race car from Elmo Langley and participated in three races before running out of money. Because he was smart on the race track and careful with the equipment, Langley allowed Schrader to race in two additional races.

In 1985, Schrader began driving full-time for car owner Junie Donlavey. At the end of his first full season, Schrader had picked up three top 10 finishes and was named Rookie of the Year.

In 1986, Hamilton said, Schrader moved to Concord, N.C.

“When he moved to North Carolina ... every vacation day I had, I spent down there,” Hamilton said.

From Donlavey Racing, Schrader then moved to Hendrick Motorsports in 1988. Schrader earned all four victories in nine seasons with Hendricks Motorsports behind the wheel of the No. 25 Chevrolet. Throughout his nine seasons with Hendricks Motorsports, Schrader earned 15 poles, 54 top five finishes and 110 top 10 finishes. He also scored his career best Winston Cup points finish with a fourth place finish in 1984.

In 1997, Schrader moved to the fledgling Andy Petree Racing. In three years, Schrader earned five poles and 25 top 10 finishes.

From 2000 to 2002, Schrader drove for MB2 Motorsports, where he earned seven top 10 finishes.

In 2003, Schrader moved to BAM Motorsports to drive the No. 49 car. In two-and-a-half seasons, Schrader had five top 10 finishes.

Over the past 20 years in the Nextel Cup Series, Schrader has had 640 starts and more than $25 million in earnings. He has four wins to his credit in the Nextel Cup ranks - Talladega, 1988; Charlotte, 1989; Atlanta, 1991; and Dover, 1991. He has 64 top five finishes and 181 top 10 finishes. He's also led the field to the green flag on 23 occasions during his career.

Since forming Schrader Racing in 1987, he has claimed 25 victories in a variety of series. The Schrader Racing team as also won 17 races with drivers at the helm.

In January 1990, Hamilton became business manager of Ken Schrader Racing.

“I dreamed my whole life to make a living in racing,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton worked for Schrader Racing for 11 years until he and Terry Wisemen purchased Linton Motors.

Hamilton said working around racing requires a grueling schedule. But because of racing, Hamilton said he's visited all but four states as well as Australia.

During his last year with Schrader Racing, Hamilton was on the road 265 nights. Most of the time, he said, he'd leave for the track on Wednesday and come home on Sunday. Sometimes, he said, they didn't even get to come home before heading to the next race.

Even though the name of the dealership has changed, Hamilton said service and people have not changed.

“Ken's been a long time friend and the opportunity came for him to get involved with us and we decided it was a good thing to do,” Hamilton said.

Although he's unsure of when, Hamilton said, Schrader will be making some appearances in Linton. He plans to meet up with Schrader toward the end of this month to try and schedule some appearances.

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For more information:
Ken Schrader's Linton Motors, LLC
259 A Street NE
Linton, IN 47441 US
(812) 847-4448
(888) 625-4455

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