Three generations of racing on display
Alf Hieb was in the pits during the first ever race at the Medicine Hat Speedway in 1985. It was then his racing passion ignited, which has led to 37 years of Hieb racers.
Alf, his son Kevin and his grandson Marcus, who debuted this season, have all raced at the Medicine Hat Speedway this summer, marking the first time all three have been on the track. Their first season together will draw to an end this Saturday at Just Smok’n Eavestrough fan appreciation race.
Having all three of them put on jumpsuits and get in their respective cars means a lot to the 64-year-old who said he never pushed it on his kids, but was glad to see them also take up his passion.
“It’s been a lot of fun. We all work on each other’s cars,” Alf said. “Kevin’s brother, Jason, he’s also involved. He doesn’t drive anymore but he has he has raced in the past, he’s driven given my car.”
Alf’s wife Patti is also involved. She runs the tower, taking care of the scoring and timing, and used to race powderpuff races when it was a dirt track. Jason works in the pits on their cars, Kevin’s wife Nicole, his daughter Miley and aunt Pauline are also involved in racing at the Speedway.
Kevin says he is proud to be a part of the racing family.
“It’s pretty special, I’ve been watching my dad race for a lot of years. So when I got the opportunity to get my own car, I kind of stepped into it, and it’s been fun ever since,” Kevin said. “Right from Day 1, Marcus has been out helping us out. He’s always been around my dad’s car ever since he was born. When he had the opportunity to get his own car, he jumped right into it as well.”
The 2022 season is the third full year Kevin has been racing, as he got started in 2020 before things were shut down due to COVID-19. He said he was a little apprehensive when Marcus, who is only 15, wanted to get into racing before he had driven on the road.
“For him to jump into to a race car at 15 years old, it’s pretty nerve wracking, but he’s done so well, he’s picked it up so fast,” Kevin said. “To be honest the only reason we even entertained this idea, we’re both really into go karts, we raced quite a bit and my son, me and him have battles on the go kart track like you wouldn’t believe.”
Alf would not answer who the best racer in the family is, but Kevin did not waver to give the honours to his dad.
“If you lined us all up in the exact same cars, I have no doubt in my mind, my dad would win that race,” Kevin said.
Kevin and Marcus both race in the same class, the Just Smok’n V6s, and Alf races in the elite street stocks class. The 40-year-old said racing alongside his son is a lot of encouragement in his rookie season, but he could see that changing as he gets more experience.
“I wouldn’t call us teammates. It’s tough to go out there and actually race as a team.
Next year might be a different story should we race together again,” Kevin said. “My number one goal this year was Marcus having fun.”
Kevin’s goal for Marcus while racing is the same lesson Alf wants his family to learn from racing as well.
“Use it as a pastime, don’t take it too seriously. I’ve just had a lot of fun over the years doing it and you make a lot of friends here,” Alf said. “It’s more fun to be competitive for sure, to run up front all the time. Even if you’re not, go out and have fun and see if you can do better next time.”
The three Hieb racers will be competing in the Speedway’s final race of the summer on Saturday. Races get underway at 6 p.m.