WINONA, Minn. -- There's been a lot of talk this week leading up to the big movie opening around the country tonight. “Star Wars” is, of course, the tale that stretches across generations - both its characters and its fans. Believe it or not, we’ve got a similar scenario in the local racing scene!

I’ve stated this many times before in past articles or on my radio program – racing at the local level is very much a family oriented sport. It’s not uncommon to see several members of the same family immersed in the racing scene. And while the on-track battles don’t contain any ‘light sabers’ or ‘laser cannons’ (thank goodness!) the competition can be just as intense and the action does, indeed, span generations.

Whenever I stroll through the pits at FOX RIDGE SPEEDWAY there’s this mental switch which flips somewhere inside my brain, and seemingly without any ability to control it, I find myself subconsciously – and probably unfairly - segregating the competitors into two distinct groups; the ‘Young Guns’ and the ‘Old Heroes’.

Each group has its positives and negatives – but, being the eternal optimist that I am, I tend to focus only on the positives. And since I’ve opened this article with a reference to a movie spanning across generations – I’ll focus on the ‘Old Heroes,’ and one particular member at that.

If we stretched our memories back to the local dirt-track action of the late 60’s and early 70’s you may or may not be surprised to notice quite a few of today’s names mixed in amongst those listed in the results files of the time. Karl Fenske, LeRoy Scharkey, Harlan Morehart, Fred Prudoehl, Kerry Ledebuhr, Paul Hamernik amongst others ... the list reads like a who’s who of Victory Lane occupants.

Another member of this group is Winonan Rick Hauser.

After spending his youth visiting the local dirt-tracks as a spectator with his older brother Danny, the early ‘70s saw the introduction of the Hauser name into the local racing scene. And after all these years, I could still hear the excitement in Rick’s voice when he recalled that beginning, “It was a 1957 Chevy – Street Stock”.

I hate to be tactless, but hearing the way Rick said that single sentence reminded me of how a guy might refer to his first date! I’m not kidding, I could practically see his mind drifting back over the years and glossing over any troubles or problems that particular car might have given him while remembering only the joys, excitement and fun!

And while the cars, the technology and the tracks have changed over the years, the single constant across his successful career has been Hauser’s ability to consistently make his way to the front of the field – and smoothly and cleanly at that.

Any new fans to the sport need to understand that Hauser’s career is one of those careers by which most others are graded. An unfathomable number of heat race wins, a number of feature victories that would make your head spin, and track championships as well. Yep, Hauser’s time behind the wheel has been a triumphant undertaking.

He still holds the record for consecutive feature wins at the Dodge County Speedway in Kasson – “Six feature wins is a row”, he states with a crisp memory of that winning streak, “it was almost broken a couple years ago, but I still hold that record. I kind of like that one.”

And across the years, his personality hasn’t wavered. Sure, every once in a while he might display some frustration or even downright anger (an emotion which can bubble to the surface even from the most saintly of competitors in the sport), but nine times out of 10 you’ll see Rick in the pits with a smile on his face and a relaxed air of simply enjoying his surroundings; the type of clean competitive racer who never really accrues many – if any – enemies. “I’m on my fourth year with this particular Dirt Dueller Car”, Rick states with satisfaction, “and I haven’t had to fix or straighten the front bumper yet.”

That’s the type of racer who’s well liked and respected both on and off the track.

Knowing him solely through interactions in and around the race track, I look at Rick’s personality as falling somewhere in between the eternally laid back LeRoy Scharkey and the impossible to relax Karl Fenske – both of whom Hauser has battled his entire career. “You know”, Rick comments when asked about his fellow competitors, “there is a handful of us who’ve been racing together and against each other for a long long time. And I like racing against those guys, ‘cause over the years, you get to know their style and how they drive or what they’re going to do in just about any situation.”

As a matter of fact, following the most recent USRA feature at FOX RIDGE SPEEDWAY, I was talking to Karl Fenske about his feature win when Rick walked up with a grin on his face. “That was just like old times”, I heard Hauser offer – referring to their battle up front. And over the next five minutes or so, Fenske and Hauser talked about the event. But as I stood there and blatantly eaves-dropped on their conversation, I noticed that there was a secondary communication taking place as well.

Every so often they’d finish each other’s comment! Or one would refer to a spot on the track and the other would jump in with a set-up comment which was followed by a confirmation by the other. Years and years and years of racing knowledge just kind of flowed between the two. I don’t mean for it to sound mystical or foolishly sentimental ... but it was just kind of fun to experience.

And now, we come to the point in Hauser’s career where talk turns to ‘spanning generations’. Rick’s sons Grant and Blake are already making names for themselves in the world of Kart racing. And plans are already being laid for their eventual promotion into full-sized racers – Modifieds I’m sure ... just like Dad’s.

Gone are the days of Rick and his crew loading the car onto the trailer and hitting a race track every night they can. “I’m not chasing points anymore”, reflects Hauser, “Now, I’m just racing for the fun of it. Actually, I’m to the point where I’m having just as much fun, or even more fun, watching the boys race and grow.”

Saturday nights the big #19 USRA Modified sits idle while Rick takes his sons up to the ‘Thunder Hill’ Go-Kart Track and tries to pass along some of that racing knowledge to the next generation of racers.

But this Friday night at FOX RIDGE SPEEDWAY, Rick will once again strap himself into his bright yellow #19 Bob Brink INC. USRA Modified and more than likely finish the evening at or near the front of the pack. Come watch the fun and experience the excitement; hot laps get underway at FOX RIDGE SPEEDWAY in Arcadia at 7 pm with the first green flag scheduled for 7:30.