Ken Schrader has seen the development of UMP racing from a variety of perspectives since Bob Memmer founded the organization in the 1970s.
Initially he was a young racer in the St. Louis area whose career path was complicated by the same inconsistent rules — often lack of rules — that prompted Memmer to start by bringing together the tracks in states just across the Mississippi River.
While finding driving success first with USAC and since 1985 as a NASCAR Cup Series regular, he’s always stayed close to his roots. Most notably, he has continued to race on short tracks across the nation when his ‘day job’ permits.
Since 1996, Schrader and partner Ray Marler have promoted the UMP-sanctioned I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo., 25 miles downriver from the Gateway Arch, and for several years he was a part-owner of the organization as well.
It’s appropriate that the inaugural UMP DIRTcar Roundup should be set for I-55 Raceway the weekend of Oct. 15-19. “They could have scheduled it for some better known tracks, but we’re right on the heart of UMP country,” Schrader noted.
With all eight UMP divisions on the program, the Roundup offers the potential to become a Midwestern equivalent to the long-established Super DIRT Week at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse.
While a major late-season race promotion is full of challenges, weather and football among them, Schrader is confident of success. “After all these years,” he declared, “Bob Memmer’s vision still works.”