Texas Speedzone - J.C. Umscheid has deep racing roots

By Matt Tasler
sport@trcle.com
Cleburne Times-Review

ALVARADO - Alvarado resident J.C. Umscheid has been racing practically all his life.

One thing’s for sure, he’s been around the sport as long as he can remember. His father, David, drove race cars when Umscheid, 25, was growing up. He said he's been racing some form of car since he was 14.

He said his racing career was triggered by a single decision he made about 14 years ago.
“When I was about 11 or 12, I had a choice to make,” Umscheid said. “I could either go with my brother to an all-star baseball game, or go with my dad to a race. I went with my dad and my mom stayed home with my brother. From that weekend on, every chance I got I was at the race car shop with him.”

“That’s where it got started, going to Odessa in West Texas. From that point on, I was hooked. That’s what it took to get where I am today.”

While his life could have ended up going in a different direction if he had chosen attending the baseball game over the race.

“I think it probably could have changed,” Umscheid said. “But I think being around racing all my life, it probably would have turned out this way anyway. I really don’t think it would have had an impact on whether I would have raced or not.”

“That weekend is when it got started, so that’s what sticks out the most.”

Umscheid is originally from Austin, so his first taste of racing came at tracks around the city of the state Capitol.

“I started racing Legends cars in the Austin area and Fort Worth, but basically all around the state of Texas,” Umscheid said. “We traveled to North Carolina a few times. We also traveled to Georgia and Alabama.”

In his third season behind the wheel, Umscheid began racing pro division Legends cars.
That year, he won the Texas state championship, the Texas Motor Speedway championship and the national championship.

After graduating from high school, Umscheid moved to Dallas and ran late model cars for Hanson Motorsports for a year.

“Sponsorship kind of fell through, so we moved back to Austin and started my business [in March 2002],” Umscheid said.

Umscheid moved to Alvarado in September 2003 to be closer to Texas Motor Speedway and the Legends car series.

“The Legends car series is real big here,” Umscheid said. “Business-wise, that was the best decision for me. They don’t really have any Legends cars in Austin, the Austin area or South Texas. As far as business goes, the Dallas-Fort Worth area was the best position for me to be in.”

Umscheid also drives a modified car that is housed in Houston by his car owner, Raymond Delahouysse, so he travels south every weekend to compete in tracks on the coast.

“It doesn’t really matter where I live,” Umscheid said. “We go to Houston pretty much every weekend. Some off weekends we go to Kyle, just south of Austin. We have two races in Corpus [Christi] this year and two races in Wichita Falls.”

Umscheid said the upswing in gas prices makes travelling so regularly difficult. He said without his sponsors, he wouldn’t be able to do what he loves on a weekly basis.

Umscheid’s business, Umscheid Racing Service, is one of eight sponsors for his racing team.

Tri-Letric Heating and Air, Swenson Racing Chassis, Penske Racing Shocks, Westside Performance, Poly-dyn TX-7, Circle Racing Wheels and Davidson Motorsports also help defray a lot of the racing costs.

Delahouysse owns Tri-Letric Heating and Air, which has offices in Houston and San Antonio.

“Without him, we wouldn¹t be anywhere,” Umscheid said. “Swenson Racing Chassis also helps out a lot, as far as the car goes. Umscheid Racing Services, we do all the setups on the car. We’ve got a lot of good people behind us with times being hard.”

Umscheid said all a fan has to do is look at the track and they’ll understand the impact high costs have had. There’s not as much traffic on the race track as there used to be.

“The car counts is where you can see it,” Umscheid said. “This year, car counts have gone down over previous years. People being able to go on the weekends – and go every weekend. There's definitely some competition for who’s going to get the next best sponsor or the next biggest deal.”

Umscheid said since he owns a late model car, he¹d like to get back into late model racing again at some point.

“The car has been sitting under a cover for two years,” he said. “I'd love to go late model racing, we just don¹t have a place to go do it. The only place we can go race our late model is on the East Coast.”

“It’s hard enough to go within the state of Texas, but now we’re talking about going 1,200-1,500 miles.”

He said the crew will take a modified car to the Snowball Derby in Pensacola, Fla., at the end of the year, but that will be one of the few times they branch outside the state.

“Hopefully between now and December we can get us a ride in a late model down there,” Umscheid said. “Then we¹d be able to race the whole weekend.”

Umscheid said he has driven four different types of cars in four series this year. He is in the running for the Thunderhill Raceway Championship, the Houston Motorsports Raceway Championship, the Red River Speedway Championship and the Texas overall state championship.

At the moment, he is leading each division.

“My ultimate goal, every time I get behind the wheel, is to win the race,” Umscheid said. “Whether it¹s late model or roadster, or whatever. My goal is to win every race I enter or be competitive in every race.”

David Umscheid is the crew chief for J.C.'s car, and his mom, Sherry, goes to all the races and also plays a big role. His wife, Matty, also helps with the operation of the team.

Umscheid’s crew also consists of Todd Harboe and Mike Gabriel.

“At Umscheid Race Services, I’ve got a couple of guys that help out when I’m gone,” he said. “When I’m gone, they’re at the race track helping our customers. It keeps everybody happy that way.”

Umscheid said whether he’s testing his car or a customer’s, he is always learning about what works and what doesn¹t work at the race track.

“With my business, Umscheid Race Services, our job is to make the customer go faster, Umscheid said. “Ultimately, you want to be the fastest car at the race track every time you go. Our job is to make them go faster, but what I learn on customers’ cars I can also apply to my car.”