If the weekend concludes the way it began, then Ken Schrader will bring home all of the honors from the Rockingham Speedway.

The track renamed the grandstands in turn four in Schrader’s honor, which he said he was glad to receive, but not happy about how it made him feel.

“It makes me feel old,” Schrader laughingly said. “And I’m not old. I guess Andy (Hillenburg) thought I accomplished enough. Seriously, it’s really an honor. But that still doesn’t make me feel any younger.”

Schrader got the final laugh Saturday when he captured the pole for today’s Carolina 200 at “The Rock.”

“I want to sit on the pole and then win the race,” he said. “And let everyone else worry about themselves.”

Last year, Schrader was on the opposite end of the starting grid. He qualified 31st and squeezed his way to the front. In the end, Schrader was unable to chase down Joey Logano for the checkered flag.

“We didn’t go test last year and we didn’t again this year,” Schrader said. “We were being cost effective. Joey tested a lot here last year and his car had a lot of Joe Gibbs Racing in it.

“I feel I have a pretty good car. At the end, I hope I’m the winner and I will sit on the fender and have a cold beer.”

Schrader’s history at the track dates back to 1985. He qualified 16th for the Carolina 500, but engine problems sent him home in 40th in his first race at “The Rock.”

Schrader put together a stretch of five consecutive top-five finishes at Rockingham Speedway from 1989-1992. He won the pole for the AC Delco 500 in 1990 and finished fifth behind Alan Kulwicki, Bill Elliott, Harry Gant and Geoffrey Bodine. His best finish at the track was second to Kyle Petty in the 1991 GM Goodwrench 500.

Even though he has had a good deal of success at the track, Schrader understood the decisions to take the NASCAR Sprint Cup dates away from Rockingham and other tracks like Darlington.

“It wasn’t NASCAR who forced the tracks to go up for sale,” he said. “It was the families who owned the track. They decided it was a good time to cash out.

“Plus, I don’t think we (NASCAR) could keep going to Charlotte, Rockingham, Darlington (S.C.) and Martinsville (Va.) twice a year. NASCAR needed to grow.”

While Schrader knows the chances of a NASCAR race returning to Rockingham Speedway is slim, he enjoys having the ARCA Series racing on the track.

“I really kind of like what is happening there now,” Schrader said. “Hopefully, we will have a good crowd out there.”