Racing Relatives

Todd Duchscherer has always loved racing. Growing up he and his brother Troy spent many nights at the Jamestown Speedway dirt track, watching Don Gumke race. Gumke was a Jamestown native well known in the area circuit to whom many have attributed their desire to begin racing careers, including Todd.

Although young Todd was infatuated with thoughts of getting onto the track, his life's experiences led him down a different path. After high school, he attended Valley City State University for two years, where he studied accounting and business. A "car guy" to the core, Todd soon discovered that life as an accountant was not for him.

Todd turned to a career in the auto parts industry. He moved to Carrington, where he managed the local NAPA Auto Parts for about 4 years. In 1993, Todd and Renae moved to New Rockford and opened a Big A Auto Parts store. Five years later, they opened the NAPA Auto Parts store here.

Troy took a similar path. He has managed NAPA stores in Rugby and LaMoure, N.D. Currently he's the parts manager at Lloyd's Motors in Jamestown. He also spent several years at Liechty Homes in Jamestown.

While Troy dabbled a bit into racing as a young man, Todd put his thoughts of competing aside to focus on his family and business. Troy ran a roadhog, which was an entry-level stock class where the typical cars were 1970s sedans weighing between four and five thousand pounds with little modification.

Todd finally took the leap into racing at the age of 48. His first car was an '07 Elite, which he bought from his brother-in-law. His brother Troy, not interested in driving at that stage in his life, became Todd's crew chief and mechanic. He has become instrumental in keeping Todd's car firing on all cylinders each race night.

Todd was able to snag his first feature win at the Tri-County Speedway, a little track in Wishek, N.D., in 2016, the second year of his career. He has been competing for five years now and races in the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds B-Mod class. B-Mod cars are known for their simple lightweight design and high power.

Although Todd hasn't had a "win" since that first one four years ago, he has enjoyed not only competing in his own class but also watching his son develop as a driver and mechanic. Matthew began racing last year in the Bomber class, in which the cars are mostly street stock with minor modifications. Matthew wanted to move up a level into the B Mods this season, but his dad and uncle convinced him to run one more season in the Bomber class. It has proved to be a good decision thus far, as Matthew has finished in the top 10 in all his races this season. The one exception was a race he didn't finish due to mechanical issues with his car.

In fact, it was quite serendipitous for all to see Matthew get his first feature win at the Jamestown Speedway, in the inaugural race honoring Don Gumke, his dad's favorite dirt track driver. The first annual Don Gumke Racers' Memorial was held on Saturday, June 13, in memory of Gumke, who died last January when he was pinned beneath his race car while working on it in Arizona, where he lived at the time. Matthew surpassed all that night, winning the Bomber class feature. He plans to advance to the B-Mod class as soon as the season ends so that he can grow as a driver and compete against his own father!

For now, however, all sights are on the Season Championship at Jamestown Speedway. Both father and son competed at the track on Independence Day, each hoping for a solid finish so they could gain more points and climb the leaderboard before championship night on August 29.

Currently Todd sits at the 15th position among the B Mods with 199 points. Matthew sits just outside the top 5 in the Bomber class, as he holds the sixth position with 361 points.

Make sure to come out and support both of these amazing racers as they finish up the season.