For Love of the Game
They say once racing gets into your blood, there's no going back.
That's certainly true for Steve Schmitt, who's been dirt track racing for 26 years. Steve was bitten by the racing bug as a child, when his dad, the late Don Schmitt, was on the pit crew of the No. 29 car. Steve and the whole Schmitt clan, along with several other crew members and their families, spent summers traveling from state to state in the name of the great race — and they were ALL great.
As soon as Steve was old enough to get his driver's license, he wasn't just thinking about driving on the streets of Grand Island, Ne. His thoughts turned to figuring out a way to drive in a circle ... in the dirt ... as fast as he could go. He built the first edition of the No. 04 car — a 1974 Chevy Nova — in 1985 and has been racing ever since.
And while Steve certainly loves to win, and tries his damndest to win each and every time the green flag waves, he's in it for more than the checkered flag. He just loves to drive. He loves it when he can feel the car hooking up going into turn 1. He loves flying by another driver on the back stretch. He loves the smell of fuel and oil and exhaust that fills the pits. He loves talking to the fans and reliving each race with the other drivers at the end of the night.
He loves everything about the sport. It's in his blood, after all.
