INDIANAPOLIS — Ken Schrader’s racing experience has come full circle.

A long time ago — the mid-1980s — Schrader was a scrappy and ambitious young man determined to make a living driving a race car. After winning a USAC National sprint car title in 1983, the Indy car path looked none too promising, so Schrader turned his attention in a new direction: NASCAR racing.

With some behind-the-scenes nudging from Ford, enough doors opened that Schrader was able to make it stick in stock car racing. In late 1985, he and wife Ann moved to the Charlotte area, and Schrader has been in the midst of a substantial and successful career ever since.

I say “in the midst of” because Schrader is still hard at it, beating up and down the road racing a dirt modified and doing dirt racing experiences for longtime sponsor Federated Auto Parts.

When he moved south all those years ago, Schrader found a five-acre parcel of land west of Concord, N.C. For the past 35 years, that’s been the world headquarters of Ken Schrader Racing. Through Schrader’s NASCAR career and later with his return to dirt racing some years ago, that was home.

That long run came to a close in December when the Schraders sold the property and hosted an auction for a wide array of racing supplies and equipment along with personal memorabilia. Yes, North Carolina had been home for a long time, but now it’s time to go home.

Schrader grew up just outside St. Louis, and his dirt program races out of a shop in Missouri. Schrader had long operated an ARCA team — they won the 2017 ARCA Menards title with driver Austin Theriault — but elected to close the team after the 2020 campaign, and it no longer made sense to keep the North Carolina shop going.

So, after 35 years Schrader has found his way back to the Show-Me State.

Schrader has long talked of returning home, so this transition has been on his mind for quite some time. Still, it feels like a significant milestone.

Schrader is as low-key as any racer you’ll ever meet. He is universally respected for his passion and dedication to the sport, and for his genuine affection for the people he meets along the way. He’s a hell of a racer, but you’ll never hear him say that. He’ll usually defer any praise or adulation, because that’s just his way.

The fact is, in terms of influence Schrader has been a giant. When he recognized NASCAR as a viable pathway for a young open-wheel racer all those years ago, he blazed the trail to North Carolina. Sure, a few Midwestern drivers came before him, but Schrader’s move — and his ability to make it stick — opened the floodgates.

Look who followed him south directly from USAC: Jeff Gordon, Kenny Irwin Jr., Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart and more. Schrader was a high-profile racer and a lot of people were paying attention when he proved that the transition to NASCAR was possible.

Now we’re back to watching Schrader race on dirt, and that’s OK with everybody. Schrader’s dirt program is inspired by the most fundamental reason there is to race: genuine love for the sport.

Schrader turned 65 in 2020 and the timing of all this gives me an idea. He raced out of that North Carolina shop for 35 years, right? So let’s just plan on him racing his dirt modified out of the Missouri shop for another 35 years. After all, he’ll probably still have that same burning desire to wheel a race car when he’s 100.

I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised.