100 and counting: Local driver reaches auto racing milestone

WASILLA — In boxes in his garage sit the trophies Alex Schwochert has won over the course of his auto racing career.

Born into a racing family, Schwochert has been competing most of his life. As a regular on asphalt and dirt ovals around the state, those trophies are starting to pile up. But until recently, Schwochert had no idea exactly how many he had. As it turned out, Schwochert was unknowingly on the verge of a career milestone.

“One day I was sitting in the garage. All my trophies are in boxes. I was kind of bored, and I decided to count how far along I am,” Schwochert said.

There were 97.

On Aug. 27, Schwochert made it 100.

The Big Lake driver used a victory in his No. 11 baby grands car to win the 100th feature race of his career, during a night of racing on the third-mile asphalt oval at Alaska Raceway Park near Palmer. It’s a milestone that wasn’t even on Schwochert’s radar until he decided to count those trophies. But it’s an achievement he’s certainly proud of.

“I never did really think about it. I never thought about it at all,” Schwochert said. “It’s pretty exciting. It’s a pretty big career highlight.”

Schwochert has driven to each of those victories in Alaska, and he’s done it all at a young age. Schwochert, is still a young driver on the circuit, if he’s judged strictly by age. But the 25-year-old is not short on experience. Schwochert got his start racing go-carts when we was about 8, he said. By 13, Schwochert was a crew chief at the old North Star Speedway, mastering the art of chassis adjustments and engine rebuilds of a four-car mini-stock stable. At 15, Schwochert had the chance to get behind the wheel. He finished second in the mini-stock class that season, and earned North Star Speedway Rookie of the Year honors in his class.

“I’ve been racing ever since,” Schwochert said.

Born into a racing family, it’s a sport he’s been around all of his life.

“When I was a kid my grandparents knew it would keep us out of trouble, keep us away from making poor decisions,” Schwochert said. “It did.”

Schwochert followed the path of his grandfather, who had also been racing most of his own life. Schowchert said his grandfather bought a race car, when Schwochert was 6 or 7 years old, and he’s been hooked ever since.

“Immediately, I thought, this is what I want to do,” Schwochert said.

Now married with children, the passion for racing is embraced by Schwochert’s own family.

“We just love it. My wife supports it. We literally eat, sleep, breathe it,” Schwochert said.

Schwochert already has plans to get his three children involved — ages 2, 5 and 7. His kids have started racing snowmachines, and will have their own future on the race track when they’re old enough.

Aside from the competition, Schwochert said a love for the sport and the family atmosphere around the sport is much of what keeps him involved.

“People are passionate about it. There’s absolutely no money to be made racing (in Alaska). (People are) doing it purely for the love,” Schwochert said.

On his road to 100 feature wins, Schwochert has taken advantage of just about every opportunity.

“I race pretty much as often as I can,” Schwochert said.

He’s raced all over the state, on both dirt and asphalt tracks. After North Star Speedway closed its doors in 2012, like many other Valley drivers, Schwochert regularly hits the dirt tracks in both Kenai and Willow. He’d make trips to Fairbanks. Now that Alaska Raceway Park features an oval track next to its quarter-mile drag strip, Schwochert is a regular at that Butte-area speedway.

“It’s great. They built a fantastic facility,” Schwochert said of the Alaska Raceway Park, which featured its first official race in early June.

With his feature win Aug. 27, Schwochert also had the chance to reach his milestone on a NASCAR sanctioned track. Alaska Raceway Park is part of NASCAR’s Whelen All-America Series.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.