The Vault
1999 – SCOTT HANSEN’S NASCAR “EYE-OPENER”
Posted on: Friday February 27, 2026
Scott Hansen poses with his racing team. (From the Michael Clancy photo collection – seeking photo credit)
A REAL EYE-OPENER by Tom Goff
Scott Hansen learns that the next step up the racing ladder is harder than it looks
(reprinted from the Appleton Post-Crescent Monday, May 31, 1999)
For the first time in his professional racing career, Scott Hansen can finally call himself a NASCAR driver.
But, as the rookie driver of Ken Schrader’s Chevrolet in the Craftsman Truck Series, the former short-track star from Green Bay is finding out what other state stars such as Bryan Reffner, Kevin Cywinski, and Jay Sauter have discovered.
“I always wondered what happened to those guys,” Hansen said. “Now, I know. It’s so tough, it’s unbelievable.
“I didn’t give it (the series) enough credit. I thought I had enough experience. I thought the team had enough notes. I thought things would come together quicker than they have.”
He thought wrong.
With a first-year team, Hansen has been struggling in the highly competitive series. And for a driver accustomed to winning on Midwestern short tracks in ARTGO and the American Speed Association events, the best he’s done so far is seventh in the first race of the season at Homestead, Fla.
Scott Hansen (Michael Clancy photo collection – seeking photo credit)
This week, however, Hansen has come home to the Fox Cities, where he’s an icon at Wisconsin International Raceway.
The former five-time Fox River Racing Club champion is among a nine-man delegation, the largest at the track at the same time, that will appear in the NASCAR RE/MAX Challenge Series Oneida Bingo and Casino 200 today.
Hansen and his boss, Schrader, and drivers Kenny Wallace, Schrader’s Winston Cup teammate, Sterling Marlin and Michael Waltrip are scheduled to race.
In addition, Geoffrey Bodine, Jimmy Spencer, Wally Dallenbach and Busch Grand National points leader Matt Kenseth are scheduled to meet fans and sign autographs.
Kenseth, who won FRRC championships in 1994 and ’95, won two weeks ago at Nazareth, Pa., his third of the year, and took third Sunday in a 300-lap race in Charlotte, N.C.
Hansen isn’t coming all the way from Harrisburg, N.C. just to race, however. He’s coming to win.
And with his background and track record at WIR, that’s a distinct possibility.
Last year, Hansen finished fourth in the NASCAR RE/MAX 250-lap fall race at WIR, won by Steve Carlson.
And if you think Schrader is coming just to run a few laps, pick up a fat appearance check and head for home, think again.
When Schrader races anywhere, he races to win. Not that Wallace, Marlin and Waltrip don’t. They all have roots in short track racing.
But Schrader nearly did win at WIR. In the 1994 ARTGO Dixieland 250, the driver, who turned 45 on Saturday, finished second – the highest finish by a visiting NASCAR driver at the track.
“It’s tough to go in someone’s back yard and run good,” Schrader said. “We were fortunate to do it.”
The only other time he raced at the track, he was running in the top five when he broke a valve spring in his engine and finished 29th.
Hansen, Schrader and Wallace will race Ford Thunderbirds.
Hansen was at the track Thursday, shaking down the cars he and Schrader will race. Hansen raced in the Thursday night program, but had to drop out on lap 29 of the 50-lap event when the engine in his car lost all fuel pressure.
Schrader planned to fly in this morning after competing Sunday in the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, N.C.
As an established Winston Cup driver, Schrader doesn’t have to make appearances at short tracks, much less race with the locals.
“I just enjoy it. It’s a hobby besides a profession,” said Schrader, who will compete in 88 events this year.
He’ll compete in all 34 Winston Cup races and 14 Busch Grand National races in cars owned by Andy Petree. Additionally, he’ll make around 40 short-track events, such as the one at WIR.
And he doesn’t care if it’s on dirt or asphalt.
“A track is just a race track,” he said. “They’re all the same. I don’t care if it’s Charlotte, Kaukauna or a quarter-mile dirt track in Lincoln, Ill. You go around them fast as you can. There may be little unique things that make them different, but they’re all the same basic thing.”
After 11 Winston Cup starts, Schrader is 12th in points. He’s had three top-10 finishes and has won $742,587.
That may be good enough for some, but not for Schrader.
“If we’re not winning, we’re not satisfied,” he said. “I’m happy with the situation and I like working with my crew chief Sammy Johns, and I feel we’re making some gains.”
Schrader won the 1985 NASCAR rookie-of-the-year title and has raced full-time on the Winston Cup circuit since then.
In 1988, he joined the Hendrick Motorsports team, where he posted four victories and finished in the top 10 in points six times. He won 17 pole positions with Hendrick.
Schrader concluded his nine-year relationship with Hendrick and began the 1997 season with Petree, then a first-year car owner.
The combination has been a success, finishing 10th and 12th in his first two seasons in the No. 33 Skoal Chevrolet Monte Carlo.
After eight truck races in Schrader’s No. 52 Oakwood Homes Chevrolet Silverado, Hansen is 16th in points with 930 with one top-10 finish. He’s won $60,530.
He’s second behind Mike Stefanek in the rookie points battle, which is the main goal for the season. Stefanek is 12th with 1,039 points.
Hansen is coming off his best qualifying effort of the season for last Saturday’s race in Odessa, Mo. After qualifying fourth, he finished 13th.
Schrader understands what Hansen is going through and he remains supportive.
“He’s going through some learning stuff with a new team and new crew chief, and he’s not doing what he wants to do,” said Schrader, who owned the cars that Hansen raced for the past two seasons on the ASA circuit. “But we’re not going to make any changes. He will do fine. These are different types of vehicles than he’s used to. They’re more like (Winston) Cup cars. He’s used to driving lighter cars in his career.”
Hansen appreciates Schrader’s vote of confidence.
“I’ve been down here for 2 and 1/2 years and I’ve been with Kenny ever since,” he said. “I hope to stay here til I’m done.”