Watertown veteran Schmidt still having 'a lot of fun' in 49th year of racing

Al Schmidt has been racing longer than many of his fellow competitors have been alive – he’s in his 49^th year behind the wheel.

What keeps the Watertown veteran – approaching 50 years of racing – at the track each week?

“I still have a lot of fun,” Schmidt said.

But the enjoyment of racing is only part of the reason the 75-year-old is still at Casino Speedway in Watertown every week. And it was his late life, Judy, who died of cancer in 2020, who offered him the advice.

“It gives me something to do. I needed to stay active,” Schmidt said. “Before she passed away, she said you need to keep racing, that’s where all of your friends are and keeps you active.”

Schmidt is still active. The big motorhome that pulls the enclosed trailer sits not too far from the turn one exit at Casino, a track he attended as a child 70 years ago.

“I grew up around racing; my uncle raced back in the 50s,” Schmidt said. “We’d come to the races here every Sunday night.”

He helped a friend who was into racing and then hopped into the hobby stock division in the 1970s.  He raced in a sportsman class for a few years and then got into the street stocks, where he has had his greatest success.

“My Biggest win was 1989 when I won the Winter Nationals up in Aberdeen. That was really cool,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt tried a modified for a year – but totaled that car out at Madison, Minn. He raced a few years in the super stocks before returning to the street stocks. A highlight for him was winning the Wissota Street Stock feature at Casino Speedway on Aug. 1, 2021 – at the age of 70.

“I won when I was 70 years old. At that time, I was the oldest guy in South Dakota to win a feature with a race car,” Schmidt said.

Then there’s a family connection for Schmidt. He raced against his son, Jay in the street stocks and most recently raced against his grandson, Trajan. Al and Trajan Schmidt have each won track championships at Casino.

“All three of us have won features out here,” Schmidt said.

His daughter, Brooke, is married to former Wissota Modified driver Andy Gordon, and their two kids, race winged go-karts.

“Schmidt Racing has always been about being together as a family either in the shop or at the racetrack,,” Al Schmidt said. “You win some, but you always lose more than you win. The main thing is to have fun.”

This year he battled some mechanical issues early, but is fourth in the points at Casino heading into this week’s program.

“I want to go out and have fun and finish in the top five,” Schmidt said. “My goal is to get in the top five in points and in the features.”

Schmidt estimates he’s won 5-6 track championships in his career, which has lasted longer than most of his competitors have been alive.  But in the end,  racing has been about one main thing for Schmidt: fun.

 “I used to tell my wife, I’m going to mark on the calendar – if it was a red ‘X’ if it wasn’t fun and a black ‘X’ if we had fun,” Schmidt said. “At the end of the year, I’m going to count them up and if we had more black Xs then red Xs, then we’ll keep on racing.”

Driver Profile

Al Schmidt

Wissota Street Stock #12

Residence: Watertown, S.D.

Age: 75

Sponsors: Jay Schmidt Real Estate, Bodies by Vandykhorst, Two T’s Sales & Service, Kaiser Well Drilling, Rooster Sports Bar, Crawford-Osthus Funeral Chapel, Dutchboy Carwash, R & H Repair & Services, Batteries Unlimited, Overby Health Insurance, Jayson Maguire/Exit Realty, Arrow Products, Reilly Auto Repair, Popham Precision Farming, Mark Kruse Const., Cannon Electric, Bob/Jackie Ward 37, Nygaard Concrete, Grosz Excavating, #2 Welding, Shawn’s Small Engine, Smitty’s Graphics