NHRA News: Beard and Don Schumacher brave the elements to chase their passion (2/12/2004)

Beard and Don Schumacher brave the elements to chase their passion

2/12/2004

Don Schumacher

The real hardcore racers in NHRA competition like to say they never take a day off. Even in the three-month-long off-season, gearheads love to say they don't have the luxury of a respite. There's simply too much work to do. For the confident few who sheepishly admit to an occasional vacation, the getaway locales are almost always warm. That's especially the case in the brutal winter months.

But Lee Beard and Don Schumacher have their own idea of fun. The crew chief on Whit Bazemore's Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Stratus and his multiple-car team owner opted to spend part of December wallowing knee-deep in the frigid waters of Elk River in Erie, Penn., on a fly-fishing adventure. As it turns out, the duo picked some of the coldest days the Northeast has ever had to endure.

Guests of the Orvis Corporation, which recently formed an alliance with Oakley, a Schumacher Racing sponsor, to distribute its sunglasses, Beard and Schumacher spent two days fly-fishing for Steelhead trout.

Beard displays one of the massive Steelhead
trouts he caught in frigid Pennsylvania.

"It was very chilly," said Beard, an avid fly fisherman since he was 5 years old. "The air temperature was in the low 30s and the water temperature was extremely cold. But the river was absolutely full of Steelhead. We had a fantastic fishing trip. Between myself and Don, and I know this sounds way out of line, we honestly caught about 60 fish in one day between the two of us.

"The fish averaged about six to 12 pounds. We had hooked a couple of other big ones, but we were using very lightweight line, so the bigger fish broke off the line."

As "catch-and-release" fishermen, Beard and Schumacher returned the trout to their natural habitat for other fishermen to catch and enjoy.

"It was really exciting, very challenging, and it was a great escape from a really hectic schedule this winter preparing all the new equipment, re-doing transporters and race cars and the entire operation," Beard said.

Schumacher and Beard estimate they caught and released over 100 fish. They also claim they didn't talk about drag racing during their excursion.

As for the extreme cold, Beard said, "I've fished all across the United States under all different kind of conditions. It's no different than going snow skiing. You have to be properly outfitted. If you have the right apparel right on down to the socks you wear and the gloves you wear. It's really fairly comfortable."

The river itself wasn't frozen, he added, but some of the small streams leading into it were frozen solid, and walking on the shoreline was difficult because of ice.

"My grandfather was a very avid fly fisherman," Beard said. "Growing up in Colorado we spent our summers in the mountains so fly fishing has always been a passion of mine. I don't get to do it as much as I'd like to because of the racing schedule, but Don Schumacher, when he was a younger, he was a pretty avid fly fisherman too, so it's something we have in common and it was a great escape.

"It's pretty amazing, the two days that we were up there we talked very little about the racecar operation."

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