The Shoe Returns to "Home Track" Route 66 Raceway

by Erin Gallagher

Don Schumacher calls himself a "regular guy." Yet, there is nothing ordinary about him.

The Chicago native returned Friday to his "home track," Route 66 Raceway, Joliet, with a new accolade. He earned the prestigious induction into the Motorsports Hall of Fame in March.

After closing the 2018 with an unprecedented 333 event tiles, including its 17th championship, Don Schumacher Racing is at the top of the all-time winners list. He is a team owner, former driver, and business man.

After the Funny Car and Top Fuel qualifying Friday, Schumacher paused to discuss the person beyond the racing legend.

"I hope everybody know that I'm just a regular guy," he said. "I've been tremendously blessed with success, and I'm blessed every day."

Interrupting a brief moment of watching golf and eating sushi in his hauler at the NAPA Hospitality Tent, he called Route 66 Raceway a "great facility" that "in hindsight, I wish I would have gotten involved" when it was built, he said.

"It's a great track," Schumacher said. "It's really my home track."

Born in Grand Rapids, Mich., he moved to a Chicago apartment above a tavern in 1947, age 3.

While it is well known that his parents' bookmaking operation likely spurred his career, it's less known how it all started.

Shortly after WWII, Schumacher's father met up with some sailors stationed in Michigan. What started with a friendly game of dice, ended with the Schumachers having enough seed money to move to Chicago.

"Never shoot craps with someone who knows the game – on a blanket," he advised. His dad "cleaned them out."

When his father died in 1988, Don had already earned tremendous accomplishments, both on the track, and in the family business, Mount Prospect-based Schumacher Electric Corporation.

"My father saw that success, and I'm thrilled that he saw it before he passed," he said.

Now, at 74, Don has no intention of retiring, though he has a new perspective.

"I'm really focused more today on family and friends and employees more than anything else," he said. "I'm a recent cancer survivor. That really changes your outlook on the world."

Though the easy question was to ask how his father's legacy projected to the future with his son, eight-time Top Fuel World Champion Tony Schumacher, Don would not allow question to sail by without also lauding his three daughters, elaborating about their successes and passions as well.

"I couldn't be prouder as a parent of the father that Tony is, what he's accomplished in motorsports," Don began. "The speaker that he is, he is just a great individual. I am also blessed with three daughters."

With business operations on every continent, Schumacher Electric is the market leader in the automotive battery charging and jump-starting category, and the largest manufacturer of battery chargers in the world, according to a company release.

Between the racing and the electric businesses, he travels about 200 days a year, he said.

"I move around a lot, and if I could change one thing, it would be to spend more time with my family and friends," he said, reminiscing about a week fishing with his grandson in Costa Rica.

"But I also know I'm a business man, and that's just not me," he said.

What did he expect at the NHRA Nationals Saturday and Sunday?

"It's early in on in the weekend," focused on qualifying first, he said.

Competition "drives me every day," he said. "I hate to lose."

Erin Gallagher is a public relations consultant who serves her clients as community liaison. Unlike other gun-for-hire PR pros, Erin's community-liaison approach ensures clients maintain credibility and lasting relationships within their communities. Erin Gallagher is no ordinary spin doctor. Her clients are confident in putting forth a message that is genuine. With a reputation for integrity, transparency and fairness, "Erin Gallagher drives it straight up the fairway!"
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