It may be cliché, but for the family of Chad and Tracy Kemenah — including son Creed and daughter Mackenzie — racing is truly in their blood, passing from generation to generation.
This season, the torch is being passed from National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductee Chad Kemenah to his son, Creed, and both are enjoying the ride.
When one examines the Kemenah family tree, the branches all point to racing.
Chad’s father, Harold, got involved in racing in the 1960s, first sponsoring sprint cars and later owning cars for drivers such as Al Liskai, Johnny Beaber, Ed Haudenschild and Hall of Famers Jack Hewitt, Fred Linder and Kenny Jacobs.
Tracy Kemenah, Chad’s wife, is the daughter of National Sprint Car Hall of Fame car owner and mechanic Bob Hampshire. Needless to say, Chad and Tracy grew up at dirt tracks.
Chad Kemenah’s racing career began in 1988 when he jumped into a street stock. Two years later, he was behind the wheel of a sprint car and claimed track championships at Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, Ohio, in 1995 and ’96.
It was only the beginning.
In 2002, Kemenah began a streak of four consecutive All Start Circuit of Champions sprint car titles. He added two more All Star crowns in 2016 and ’17. With the All Stars, he also holds two Ohio Speedweek championships, has 35 career victories, is fourth with the series in career feature starts and is third in top-five finishes.
Kemenah joined the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series tour in 2006 and was named rookie of the year. He won seven WoO features over the years and was the last to win an Outlaws race at Arizona’s iconic Manzanita Speedway in 2009.
Ironically, a day after that victory, his team shut down and Kemenah was left looking for a ride.
He eventually joined forces with Hampshire and frequently the team consisted of only Chad and crew chief Adam “Broughie” Brough, as they traveled the road with the World of Outlaws.
Owning a team, paying traveling expenses and trying to keep parts on the car, while sleeping in the toterhome, maintaining the race car and driving it, can take its toll on a person, but it can also teach excellent life lessons.
“There were times I’d call home … I was ready to quit,” said Chad Kemenah, who now owns and operates a semi to feed his family. “Tracy would keep encouraging me. She knew it was my dream and I couldn’t give up. It certainly makes you tough, resilient and most importantly thankful and humble.
“There were a lot of people who helped during those days — my wife, Hamp, my nephew A.J. (Havens), Broughie — people stepped up to give us a shop, or help with a meal. Those things all add up and I can’t thank them enough.”
Chad Kemenah was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame on June 2.
While his driving career is on hold, the 51-year-old Kemenah doesn’t feel he is “retired.”
“I won’t use the word retired until I’m absolutely sure of it. I don’t like it when people retire two or three times, so maybe I’m semi-retired,” joked Kemenah, who raced a handful of times in 2022.
But, for now, he is focused on son Creed’s racing career. Creed, 16, attends Arcadia High School near Findlay, Ohio. Like his dad, Creed Kemenah grew up at race tracks.
“I want to race sprint cars for a living. I want to focus on racing for now and maybe some sort of online college down the road — to make mom happy,” Creed Kemenah said.
The younger Kemenah started racing junior sprints in 2016 and moved into micro sprints the following year. Chad Kemenah was still very active as a driver during those years, so most of the time it was Creed and his mom traveling to Indiana to race.