Schmidt piling up Top 5 finishes during consistent summer

Brennan Schmidt’s 32B Wissota Midwest Modified had been running well, often in the top five, through the month of June. He was craving a feature win. Then came July.

He won three features in July, all at his hometown track of Bemidji Speedway, and has continued the consistent finishes in the top five. In 24 starts this year, he’s finished in the top five 17 times.

“The season has been great, very consistent in the top five and podiums compared to previous years,” said Schmidt. “I just haven’t had the greatest redraws. (I’ll) keep on trying to be consistent and maybe we’ll end up in the top 10 national points.”

Schmidt is also fourth in the Wissota Midwest Modified points at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks despite missing two nights there; he’s finished in the top five in five of his seven starts there heading into this week. He is ninth at Norman County Raceway in Ada.

Schmidt’s father, Bret, has been a big influence on his racing career, which started in 2019 in the Wissota Hornet class.

“My dad, he was racing since ’96,” Schmidt said. “He decided to retire, and he sold all of his stuff; I decided I wa

nted to race and he bought it all back.”

Brennan’s career got off to an auspicious start – he totaled his car the first night out.  A couple of nights later, he made it to victory lane.

“Third night, I got my first feature win,” Schmidt said.

That year, Schmidt was the national Wissota Hornet Rookie of the Year and finished 10^th in the national points.  He won seven features that season.  In 2019 and 2020, he won 12 hornet features.

He then jumped into the Wissota Midwest Modified class in 2021, where he’s been every since. He picked up his first Wissota Midwest Modified feature win in 2023 and has 10 wins in the class overall.

He said starting to race against other competitors at other tracks like River Cities and Norman County has helped his development as a driver.

“Last year I ventured out a lot more, to (Ada) and Grand Forks,” Schmidt said. “Just racing with these faster guys has improved me as a driver.”

Bret Schmidt is by his son’s side through his racing career, and even hopped into the car last year and won a feature at Bemidji.

“He is a big help,” Schmidt said. “He knows everything and teaches me along the way. He’s a great mentor to have.”

As racing moves into August, Brennan Schmidt has momentum.  But besides the success, there is another thing he enjoys about racing.

“If the people weren’t in it – the friends and the family – I wouldn’t be doing it,” Schmidt said. “It wouldn’t be fun.”

Driver Profile

Brennan Schmidt

Wissota Midwest Modified #32B

Age: 21

Residence: Bemidji, Minn.

Sponsors: Millennium Chassis / SRT Specialties, Shocks by Hammer – Brian Diede, Tim’s Automotive Machine, Auto Value, Barb Sundvall Daycare, Chipper Pine Designs, Crossroads Auto Glass, Dale Schmidt Agency, K & Z Waterfowl Studios, King of the Road Trailers of Bemidji, Kroening Concrete, Lauraz Salonm Portable John Rentalm and Service, Reds Racing Supply, River Cities Speedway, Ryan Loewe, Sandberg Brothers