Racing can be family affair

Racing families pass on a love for fast cars from generation to generation – as evidenced in the pit area of Merced Speedway. Here, fathers and mothers teach youngsters to channel their desire to race at purpose-built facilities, where they can do so safely and have fun.

“Sharing stock car racing with a child is one of the greatest things you can do as a father,” offers Mike Hausmann, a Merced businessman who has raced alongside son Shane for 14 years and is serving as his crew chief.

“The ups and downs, the joy and the heartbreak are all there in racing – just like they are in many sports,” said Mike Hausmann. “Racing teaches you life’s lessons.”

Shane Hausmann, a winning driver in the Hobby Stock division, disappeared from the racing scene for more than a season. He had good reason. His three daughters – Aubree, 2, and 4-month-old twins Brooklynn and Brielle – became his top priority.

“Having children, especially twins, is a life-changing experience,” Shane Hausmann said. “You should have seen the look on my wife’s face when I told her I was taking the Hobby Stock out and racing this weekend.”

But his visit to the track put a smile on his dad’s face. Mike Hausmann is a happy dad, preparing his son’s car in the pits, just as he did time and time again over the years.

“It may be the only night that we race this year, so we’re having fun,” Mike Hausmann said.

Atwater’s Darren Thomas is having a pit-area experience much like Mike Hausmann’s 14 years earlier. Thomas, a Merced Speedway multi-year track champ in the 1990s, may soon be a car owner instead of driver. Sons Tanner and Chase want to drive SportMods.

Tanner is wide-eyed and eager to help his dad with their IMCA SportMod.

“He’s working me right out of the driver’s seat,” Thomas said with a laugh.

A drywall carpenter, Thomas commutes to job sites in San Francisco from Atwater, leaving little time to work on his car. Tanner and Chase have taken up the responsibilities associated with the race car. They even prepare tires for the car during the week.

Tanner, 14, is a “cage” go-kart champ. The McSwain School eighth-grader hopes to be driving at Merced Speedway soon. On Sunday, his dad let him take the SportMod out for “mud packing,” which is when the cars slowly parade around the track to smooth the surface.

“It feels a lot different driving a big car,” said Tanner. “I can’t wait to drive dad’s car in a race.”

As the night progressed, the Hausmanns found themelves in the Hobby Stock victory lane. The Thomases had a fun night, finishing fifth in the SportMod feature.

“We picked up right where we left off,” Mike Hausmann said. “It was a great night.”

This week at Merced Speedway

A four-division program will see qualifying heats and features for the IMCA Modified, SportMods, Hobby Stock and Mini-Stock divisions this Sunday evening.

The speedway will have a two-week Labor Day break after Sunday’s event. The week after Labor Day is the IMCA Supernationals in Boone, Iowa. The organization does not sanction any races anywhere else on that weekend because drivers from throughout the country compete in the Supernationals.

Merced Speedway is located inside the Merced County Fairgrounds, 900 Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Merced. Admission is $12 for adults, $10 for senior citizens and $8 for children 6-12. A family four-pack of tickets admits two children and two adults for $32.

Racing begins at 6 p.m. Sunday. The grandstand opens at 4:30.

This story was originally published August 28, 2015 at 4:53 PM with the headline "Racing can be family affair."