NEWTON, Iowa – I caught up with Marshall resident Craig Schafer at the ARCA racing series at Iowa Speedway last weekend.

Back in the early 70’s Craig started racing dirt sportsman late model at the local race tracks of Bird Island, Willmar, Redwood Falls with his friend Jerry Vandervoort, mostly at the county fair dates. He was hooked on the speed and thrill of auto racing.

He was two time track champion at Bird lsland speedway.

He grew up in Hector, and by the time the 80’s and early 90’s came around, he was racing go-karts with his sons Jason and Tyler which also turned to some championship seasons.

In 1994 he began involement in the American Speed Association (ASA) National touring series. What started out as giving a helping hand to the series (posting banners, technical inspections and helping out race teams with whatever they needed), his passion did not go unnoticed as in the year 2000 he was asked to do a full season of racing with the powerhouse race team of Iten Motorsports from Minneapolis with 7-time (ASA) Champion Mike Eddy and teammate Ted Smokestead.

The next year he became a (ASA) TECH inspector and would travel from track to track each weekend, mostly in the upper Midwest.

For Craig this was the start of a long friendship with racer Kevin Cywinski from the Lakeville area and Lafavre Racing and in 2003 he began the responsibility of Team transport driver and fuel specialist then it was another Championships in 2003 and 2004 season.

The next couple of seasons, they competed in the ARCA series with multiple wins. 2007 Cywinski has created WinTron Racing team, with many more race trophies to come, including the 2009 win at Daytona International speedway and driver James Buscher (the 2011 NCWTS champion).

While working for the Minnesota PCA, and living in Marshall with his sweetheart Deb from high school, he continues to do select races for WinTron racing.

Cywinski then moved his racing operation to Mooresville NC in 2012.

Craig has been to countless race tracks around the country from Minnesota to Houston and all tracks Northeast and the Southeast.

He has done this all without recieving a paycheck. In my conversation with Kevin he descibed Craig as a trustworthy and life long friend. Cywinski will often call him on short notice for his help with the race team. flying to North Carolina and driving the half a millon dollar hauler to wherever the race is that weekend.

The team’s current driver is Gus Dean and is sixth in the drivers points.

The race weekend at Iowa Speedway was one of the best this year. Last Saturday’s night race featured the young stars of the ARCA racing series. It was called the FWB (Fans with Benefits) 150 and points leader Sheldon Creed took home the victory.

Iowa Speedway then rolled out the powerhouse Indy Car series for Sunday afternoon’s race, turning lap times in 18 seconds on the 7/8 fastest short track on the planet. They had speeds of 185 mph. James Hinchcliffe won the 300 mile race.