Local mom keeps racing sons in check

BUCK CREEK, Ind. (WLFI) - For Shari Wagner, watching her boys behind the wheel as they fly around the racetrack is a mix of exhilaration and nervousness.

"There is a part of you that is really scared and there is a part of you that is really excited. And, part of you is saying go faster and another part is saying be careful," Wagner said.

Shari is the mother of three kids; Nick, Julia, and Brandon.

She said she never expected her family to one day own a racing team.

"This started as a fun thing on Friday, Saturday nights. We'd go out to the race tracks," Wagner said.

It was Shari's husband, John, who got the boys racing early in go-cart races on dirt tracks around Tippecanoe County. The boys were successful and expanded to midget racing. Soon the family formed Wagner Racing.

"I don't think you start off thinking it is going to get this big but pretty soon it just gets bigger and bigger," Wagner said.

Nick does the national midget racing circuit and Brandon has stepped up to race for Indy Lights. He will race at Carb Day in the Freedom 100 race. Wagner said she is proud of her boys but the nerves still get to her.

"I always say, 'I wish the guys would have taken up golf'. That would have been good. But, I also know that they have really good guys behind them and I think we have the best guys working with us. And I trust the guys, they know their limits," Wagner said.

Nick and Brandon said it is mom who helps keep the family going, with the bookkeeping, moral support, and full bellies.

"We've always traveled together, worked in the shop together, she's been making us lunch in the shop and been working in the shop long hours. Dinners and lunches," Nick Wagner said.

Brandon said his mom is always supportive and goes to all of the races. He said she is there to watch and help out with whatever is needed. He said during the race time she falls back in the crowd and likes to watch her boys in action.

For more information on Wagner Racing click here.