Published: July 16, 2014
Knowing the pressure
Kyle Shear trying to live up to family name, knows
expectations
By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News
SLINGER — There wasn’t much Kyle Shear could do about the
pressure put on him once his racing career started.
Some of it was his own doing, which is why he believes he is
more motivated to succeed at whatever track he goes to than any other driver.
But for the rest, there was no way to avoid it.
Shear’s second cousin is legendary area short-track racer
Joe Shear.
That’s the same Joe Shear who won the Superseal Slinger
Nationals four times, one of only five drivers in the 35-year history of the
event to accomplish that feat.
Kyle Shear also has the No. 36 on the side of his solid blue
super late model, which is the same number Joe Shear had during his Hall of
Fame career.
On top of all that, the 26-year-old Roscoe, Illinois, native
didn’t help his cause by finishing second in his first career super late model
race at Madison International Raceway in May. The name of the race? The Joe
Shear Classic.
“That was awesome,” Kyle Shear said. “That was something I
never could’ve dreamed of doing, it really was. I was very thankful to be able
to do that.”
While he’s a distant relative of the late legend, Kyle Shear
knows of the history surrounding Slinger Nationals.
“I can’t speak for the whole family, but it means a lot for
me,” Shear said.
The first time he attended Slinger Nationals was in 2007 as
a spectator.
“I knew about them; I had heard about them,” Shear said. “I
knew Joe had a lot of success up here. So it was a race I always wanted to be
involved with. I’ve never had the chance and now I have the chance and in a
super late. It means a lot for me to be here.”
Kyle Shear started racing in 2006, racing with the
Mid-American Stock Car Series and the Big 8 Late Model Series.
Joe Shear was inducted into the Southeastern Wisconsin Short
Track Hall of Fame in Hartford in 2013. It is believed he won an estimated 600
races in his career, including four of his last five before he died of cancer
at the age of 54 in 1998. After the late Dick Trickle, Shear is considered one
of the most successful short-track racers in history.
He won more than 30 track or touring series championships in
his career, including the first super late model track championship in Slinger
Superspeedway history in 1974.
The Shear name is one of those that is synonymous with
Midwest short-track racing. His son, Joe Shear Jr., is the crew chief for
Dakoda Armstrong in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. His stepson, Steve
Strasburg, is a crew chief, and chassis and shock specialist for various late
model teams and is the owner of RaceCarHelp.com. And that’s only to name a few.
Shear said he’s often asked if Joe Shear is his father.
While he’s not, he still has to fight through the comparisons — the pros and
cons — when you have a famous last name, especially in stock car racing.
It’s no different with the last name of Shear.
“I hope I can live up to the Shear name,” Kyle Shear said.
With all that preceding him, Shear knew it wasn’t going to
be easy to step out of Joe Shear’s shadow and try make a name for himself.
He admitted it’s cool to have a last name like Shear in auto
racing. It means people will come to watch him race.
At the same time, that’s also the downside of having a last
name like Shear. There is a certain expectation to do well and do so often.
He didn’t help his cause at May’s Joe Shear Classic, a race
won by 2005 Slinger Nationals champion Nathan Haseleu.
On Tuesday at Slinger Nationals, it was just the fifth time
he has competed in a super late model event.
“Coming into this year, our goals and expectations were to
just make races, run well and hopefully win a couple here and there,” Shear
said. “You always want to win races, but being our first year in a super, we
have high expectations, but at the same time, we’re not going to be
disappointed if we finish fifth by any means.”
Then there is that matter of him racing with the No. 36 on
his car, which he admitted there is pride with it.
“I’m not trying to live off his name,” Shear said. “The only
reason why I run it is to keep his legacy going. There’s kids that don’t know
who Joe Shear even is and ask why Kyle Shear runs the 36. Then they finally
learn about Joe and that’s why I run the 36.”
It wasn’t his choice to run the 36, however.
He was bestowed the number by Strasburg, who had a car with
36 on it, and let Shear race it.
“It worked out really well and we just kept running it,”
Shear said.
Since he’s had it on his car, it’s had its moments.
“It’s very tough running that 36,” Shear said. “Lot of
people look at it and expect to see a little bit of Joe in me.”
“I’ve loved racing since I was a little kid,” he added. “I
didn’t get to start until I was 18 and now I’m being able to do this, it’s a dream
come true, and it’s really cool to be able to carry on the Shear tradition.”
No comments:
Post a Comment