For brothers Matt and Ryan Schow of McIntosh, the relationships and friendships off the racetrack are as much fun as racing itself.
The Schows race their midwest modifieds weekly at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks. They’ve also raced at Devils Lake Speedway, Bemidji Speedway, Greenbush Race Park and Norman County Raceway this season. The time spent together working in the shop and hanging out after the races is a big source of enjoyment for the Schow family.
“The shop and after the races is as much fun as we ever have on the track,” said Matt Schow.
Another Schow brother, Tyler, has raced in the midwest modifieds as well in the past few years. Matt’s wife Ashley is the sister of Wissota Midwest Modified driver Reise Stenberg.
“We’re a very competitive family. so we like that portion of it,” Ryan Schow said. “It’s mainly the family and friends we’ve got (through racing). If you quit racing, you don’t have any of that any more.”
The Schow family has a long background in tractor pulls — Matt and Ryan’s dad and uncle have done it for decades. But stock-car racing was fairly new to them when they started years ago. Matt, 36, is in his 13th year while Ryan, 31 is in his 12th year in the midwest modified class.
“(Matt) told me that we should start racing together,” Ryan Schow said.
Matt Schow, who farms, trucks and runs a small excavation company, will be the 2020 Wissota Midwest Modified track champion at River Cities; he has an insurmountable 157-point lead heading into Friday’s season championship. He’s finished in the top five nine of the 11 times he’s raced at RCS. It will be his second track title at RCS. He has two wins and 16 top fives this season in 28 shows.
“We were pretty spot on at the beginning of the year,” Matt Schow said. “The last couple of weeks I’ve been struggling. I’ve got to figure out what’s going on here.”
Matt Schow also has won the midwest modified portion of the John Seitz Memorial twice.
Ryan Schow, who owns Sandhill Heating, Plumbing and Air Conditioning, has 14 shows in and four top five finishes in 2020. He was in strong position for a top five at River Cities Speedway last week before something broke in his steering late in the race.
“I’m hoping to get the car to drive the way I want it to,” Ryan Schow said. “The car’s either been really good and been fast; otherwise I’ve been towards the back. It’s a challenge to keep these cars working and find the next thing to make the car faster.”
The two have had a few on-track incidents with each other, but nothing major.
“We’ve run into each other. Obviously we don’t try to do it,” Ryan said. “We haven’t been too bad.”
Perhaps the most memorable on-track moment for the Schow brothers came in June 2019, when Ryan Schow picked up his first career feature win at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks.
“I started in the front row and just held off Lance (Schill) and my brother,” Ryan Schow said. “I got the checkered flag and the right rear link broke. The car didn’t even make it to victory lane.”
“Last year when he won his first feature here, he ran first and I was third,” Matt Schow said. “To see him be able to do that was really fun for me.”
Driver Profiles
Ryan Schow
Wissota Midwest Modified #28S
Age: 31
Residence: McIntosh, Minn.
Sponsors: Sandhill Heating, Plumbing and AC, Dakota Cat Motorsports, MDS Services, Epic Solutions, Schow Farms,
Matt Schow
Wissota Midwest Modified #2S
Age: 36
Residence: McIntosh, Minn.
Sponsors: Amsoil (Katie Stenberg), Lindfors Insurance Agency, MDS Services, Millennium Chassis, Rob-See-Co, Sandhill Plumbing, Heating and AC, Lucken Motorsports, Nelsonink and Todd Erickson Farms
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