DAVID CITY - The Butler County Raceway opened in the early 1990's with Scott Styskal winning the first ever race at the track. Well in 2016, the Butler County Raceway is opening back up for the season and Scott Styskal is looking to win yet again.
Styskal is beginning his 36th year racing and the David City native has spent even more years in the racing world. His dad Don, was a legendary racer in the area and he was always was forced to take his son Scott to the track.
“My mom kind of had a deal I guess, where if my dad was going somewhere, he had to take me, so I ended up going everywhere with him. For years I smelled like rear-end grease, cause that's where I ended up, was always in the back,” says Styskal.
While Scott may not have smelled the greatest, he was falling in love with the sport. He says he started racing when he was 18 and that his father was not thrilled when his son followed in his footsteps.
“When I bought my first race car he didn't talk to me for a month. He told me I'd be race car broke for the rest of my life, which he might be right I don't know,” says Styskal.
Now his dad loves that his son is a race car driver and he attends many of Scott's races. As a matter of fact, Don has told his son recently to keep racing, as Scott has considered retiring over the past few years.
“I just keep thinking, I used to be the youngest guy at the track, now I'm about the oldest one. Sometimes I feel a little bit that I've gotten lost in the shuffle, you know there's a lot of young guys and I'm the old guy there,” says Styskal.
Styskal has a new car for the 2016 season, the B-mod SSR race car is pretty similar to the one he used last year. That being said, Styskal isn't sure how well the vehicle will run until it gets out on the track.
So what has kept Styskal racing for all these years? Well, he says that he adores the feeling of moving through the traffic.
“I don't need to win I guess, I just like to pass the most cars. When we come in at the end of the night, I like to be able to say 'who passed the most cars? I did,'” says Styskal.
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