Making dad proud

CEDAR RAPIDS - In his almost 30 years of racing, Randy Schmidt hadn't seen his son's car prepared so well for a race.

Like father like son. Brad Schmidt followed his father's footsteps from as early as his first year of life. However, it took a couple more years for Brad to fully grasp the atmosphere of Hawkeye Downs Speedway.

Twenty years of spectating glazed over in Brad's eyes as he reminisced about wanting to watch his father from the pit area. However, with an age limit for the pits, the stands had to do for a couple more years.

'He'd be cheering me on ‘go Dad, Dad,'” Randy said. 'It's cool getting to see my boys out here.”

At about age 15, Brad said he began to dabble and demo in the hornet series. They haven't been able to get him out of the car since.

A special moments came last year when Brad clinched the track's rookie of the year award, becoming the third in his family in two generations to earn the honor.

'Both my boys got rookie of the year,” Randy said. 'And then my first year in the hobby stocks, I got rookie of the year.”

Dan Schmidt is out the rest of this season after blowing both motors.

Like most father/son duos, there are conflicts. However, when it comes to strapping on the helmet, Brad and Randy agreed they focus on making the car better.

'He'll listen, but sometimes he'll get pissy because it's not going the right way,” Randy said. 'You just got to go with the flow and work on next week.”

Now acting as his sons' crew chief, Randy said it's been special seeing Brad and Dan racing Friday nights.

'It's nice to see my boys out here running hard, like I used to,” Randy said.

And that well-prepared car? Brad placed first in the hornets feature Friday night for his first win at Hawkeye Downs this year, beating out second-place Kurt Bohnsack.