Kevin Schmidt Inducted Into Hall of Fame

The competition for racing always pits the racers against something no one gets back which is time.For Kevin Schmidt of Fairbury whether it was time on different tracks, traveling, or preparing for the next race it was time well spent for a racing career. Starting the career in the early 1980's and into the 90's Schmidt would have made the transition from flyer class to Pro-Am class and then Modifieds.With successful races being done in each class Schmidt had plenty of memories in the career, noting, “You know when people have asked me which was the favorite to drive, I'd say flyer class, or Pro-Am, as it's not to much of an adjustment. Though in reality I could care less which it was because I enjoy racing so much.”From an early age, racing was just in Schmidt’s blood.“I've always had that need for speed and wanted to go fast, racing gave me that excuse to do it legally instead of the streets where I probably would've got in trouble,” he said.Schmidt will be inducted into the Beatrice Raceway hall of fame this weekend and has fond memories of the track.“I've been to a lot of tracks, loved racing on Beatrice as that's been the one track I've won the most times. I had forgotten how many, but it's been a lot, much like winning enough times in Belleville, some times here in the Jefferson County Speedway,” Schmidt said.Schmidt won a lot in his career, and the love of racing hasn’t waned, even when some folks didn’t like his winning ways.“All in all, though I love racing and found success on it, heck I even had a bounty on my head for winning as often as I did. I still vividly remember coming up on the turn and getting bumped before being set flying which had me feeling angry about it, but nature of the sport. Somehow despite all the things going outside of racing, thankfully with the people I was helped with getting new motors since we had motors getting claimed every week it seemed like.”When asked what about the sport he'll miss the most despite still being involved in some capacity, it's the people racing and people who love it, “It went by fast, I mean it was a good 14-15 year career with my last race season being in 1997, but it's always been the people,” Schmidt said. “Racing fans were always so supportive and the racing community is as tight knit as it could be.”Like his times on the track, his career went by fast.“It goes by too fast but I enjoyed every second I was able to race. Honestly, I still got that fire in me to compete, I'd probably have people tell me not too, but who knows maybe one day I'll be out on the track again because I love it so much.”

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