Fenton, Mo. native Ken Schrader will have a busy Saturday.

He is racing in the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers Ram Tough 200 at Gateway International Raceway and following that up by heading to I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo., the track he co-owns with Ray Marler, and competing there immediately following the action at GIR.

And now, in addition to not only racing the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at GIR, Schrader, a native of Fenton, Mo., will also give the command to start engines from the seat of his No. 18 Bobby Hamilton Racing Dodge.

"I am looking forward to this weekend's race for many reasons," Schrader said. "First of all, I get to go home to St. Louis and race in front of my hometown crowd. It always seems no matter what happens on the track, you will have a hometown fan out there pulling for you in the stands."

GIR Vice President and General Manager Lenny Batycki said he was pleased that Schrader accepted the invitation. "Kenny's a fan favorite in this area and if there's one thing his fans know about him is that he's a racer's racer," Batycki said. "There's nothing better than sitting the driver's seat of a Dodge pickup truck, especially one with about 750 horses under the hood. It's a great way to kick off the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers Ram Tough 200 here at Gateway."

Fans wanting to take part in the excitement and on-track action that is a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Gateway International Raceway can get tickets by visiting GatewayRaceway.com.