Herb Neumann Jr. has crashed so many times that he has lost count. But one awful wreck sticks out. It happened on a track in New Smyrna Beach.
Another car had problems and leaked oil. Lots of oil. As Neumann raced down the straightaway, his car hit the oil and spun hard and fast. He went directly into a wall.
"When you're going backward, you never see it coming," Neumann said. "You're tense, and just waiting. And then ... BAM!"
Neumann ended up with a concussion. His body tingled for months. Naturally, he was racing again in no time as if it never had happened. Like many in the sport, racing isn't so much a hobby as it is a passion. And in the Neumann family, love of the track is in the blood. Neumann's father raced. His brother races. His son races.
"We all started really young," Neumann said. "With go-carts and all of that. We traveled all around the country."
Neumann, 43, owns a local auto shop with his brother, George, 48. The two grew up in New York. Their father, Herb Sr., now 71, owned his own auto shop back then. Together, the three raced and tinkered with cars.
Herb Jr. moved to Florida 24 years ago, working as a machinist in Tampa. His parents landed in Citrus County in 1984 and his brother followed two years later. By 1988, they all lived in Inverness.
"I finally got them away from that rat race," Neumann said.
From one kind of race to another. The Citrus County Speedway has been the Neumann's home away from home for years. To many, they are the area's first family of racing.
Herb Jr. drives in the Late Model class.
George competes in Mini Stock.
Herb Jr.'s son, 16-year-old Curtis, a student at Citrus, is a Hobby Stock driver.
Herb Sr. has retired from racing, but does public relations work at the track and often serves as the pace car driver. He founded the shop his sons now own.
This is a true family affair.
The Neumann's not only race, but assist each other with the cars.
"They're very unique," track announcer Larry MacMillan said. "And they have been very competitive." Among family, Herb Jr. is the most accomplished driver. He estimates he has won more than 100 races and about a half-dozen seasonal point titles. His biggest payday was $10,000, but this racing thing really isn't about the money.
"The speed is what I like," Herb Jr. said. Fearless in the car, Herb Jr. has a different take when his son is on the track. He becomes the concerned father.
"He's learning something every day," Herb Jr. said of Curtis. "He's learning a lot quicker than we did. We did everything on our own. It was trial by error. Now we can teach him the wrongs right away. He's doing things in his second year of driving that I didn't do in my fifth or sixth year of driving."
