The Scoop
ANTHONY SCHIEFELBEIN – LATE START DIDN’T DETER NORWAY CHAMP
Posted on: Wednesday September 28, 2022
Pembine, Wisconsin’s Anthony Schiefelbein, shown here after capturing Norway Speedway’s ’22 super stock track title, couldn’t race until he turned 18.
While many new stock car racers can start racing as early as 12 or 13 years old in 2022, that was not the case at all with Norway Speedway super stock champion Anthony Schiefelbein.
Schiefelbein’s mother Cindy initially bristled at her son’s desire to go stock car racing. “We were at the races every Friday night at Norway (MI) Speedway and I cheered on Mark Bubloni and his black number 24,” Schiefelbein admitted. “We’d sit in the grandstand and bet quarters on who was going to win each race. And my money was always on Bubloni.”
Although the track’s policies allowed teens to race in certain divisions Mrs. Schiefelbein forbid Anthony to race. “Mom didn’t think it was really safe but the second I turned 18 I told her I was going to buy a race car and go racing,” Schiefelbein said. “John Ostermann gave me a car to use for my first season in the four-cylinder class. Once I started driving that I was hooked.”
Schiefelbein’s family lived in Milwaukee but had a property in Pembine, Wisconsin. “We had a go kart and I’d wheel that around when I was a kid when we’d come up north,” Schiefelbein recalled. “We built a house on that property and moved up here in 2006.”
After Schiefelbein’s rookie season driving Ostermann’s car Schiefelbein saved up his pennies and bought his own race car. “We started racing together as a family then,” Schiefelbein said. “My career path was a little different than most as nobody in my family had ever raced before that.”
Anthony (left) stands next to his dad Bob Schiefelbein after winning best appearing at a car show at Richard’s in Dunbar, Wisconsin September 25.
Anthony’s Dad Bob was always in the pit area helping his son. Although his feelings about Anthony not racing maybe weren’t as strong as Anthony’s mothers, Bob still had reservations. “Initially I still thought it was a little but scary,” Bob Schiefelbein said. “But once we got him in a car and saw what he could do behind the wheel we discovered rather quickly that it’s something he might be pretty good at.”
After a couple of seasons of helping Anthony with his racing operation Bob decided to join the fun behind the wheel himself as the father-son tandem battled in the now defunct Mod 4 division.
Anthony became a three-time Norway champion in the Mod 4’s from 2014-2016 and then bumped up to the full-sized sportsman class in 2017. After earning rookie-of-the-year honors in the 18 second bracket division Schiefelbein bumped up to the super stocks. Dad stayed battling in the sportsman class which a few years later would be renamed the stock car class.
In 2022 Schiefelbein captured the super stock title after playing bridesmaid with some second place points finishes in years past. “We were finally able to get it and this year had a lot of other challenges outside of the racetrack,” Schiefelbein admitted. “Not only did we buy a new house and had to move into it, but my wife and I had a baby later in the year too. It was a very hectic summer to say the least.”
Schiefelbein started the season off with a bang on opening night, shattering the division’s track record. “We had it for one week until John Komp broke it the following week,” said Schiefelbein, who beat out Marinette, Wisconsin’s Kevin Peterson by 115 points when the final checkered flag fell on the track’s 2022 season. Schiefelbein scored three feature wins along the way in ’22.
Anthony’s teenage nephew Cameron Schiefelbein made his racing debut in ’22 and will move up to the stock car class at Norway in 2023.
Bob Schiefelbein had to sit out the 2022 season due to health reasons, but Bob’s grandson Cameron Schiefelbein made his four cylinder class debut this season. “I’m planning to come back and race in 2023 and I’ll be racing against my grandson in the stock car class,” Bob Schiefelbein said. “We’ll have three generations of Schiefelbein’s racing at Norway and all of us will be in full sized race cars. I’m looking forward to getting back behind the wheel.”
To win a track championship – even racing just one night a week – comes with a ton of sacrifices. “I’m not sure the fans sometimes understand what it takes to get the cars to the track every Friday night,” Anthony admitted. “We’re in the race shop most every night working on these things and that’s just to race one night a week. And when things don’t go well, and you wreck stuff you’re paying more to order parts overnight Monday morning to make sure you have them in time for the next race. And throw in some late nights in the shop on Wednesday and Thursday nights along with working your full-time job. It’s a lot and our pit crew pretty much consists of just family. We couldn’t do it without them.”
Those crew members include Bob and Cameron Schiefelbein along with Anthony’s sisters Amanda and Ashley, Anthony’s wife Ryan, his mother Cindy and Quincy Band.
As for Anthony’s plans down the road? “Obviously everyone would love to run a late model someday but financially it’s something that just isn’t in our family budget right now,” Anthony confessed. “But if an opportunity ever came about, I’d most likely just at it in a heartbeat. But I really love the super stock class. I think we all race well together and there is a little bit of bumping and rubbing going on. Fans like that. At Norway there are many cars capable of winning the feature most nights.”
As far as his nephew Cameron and his rookie season in the 4 cylinders? “I’d give him a solid C to a B letter grade,” Schiefelbein said. “I think he did all right. He had a very good car to start out with. There are lots of fast cars in that 4-cylinder class. All three of us next year will be in bigger cars.”
Schiefelbein’s racing operation is supported by the following marketing partners – The Brick in Niagara, Driftwood Sport & Fuel, Dark Horse Bar & Grill, U.P. Pawn Northside Treasure Shop, Paris in Pembine, Niagara Animal Hospital, The Chippewa Bar and Sal’s Foods in Wausaukee.