While much of Matt Kocourek’s childhood was spent in the stands of racetracks admiring top drivers, today his time at the track is spent in the driver’s seat.
Kocourek, a project manager at Brookfield-based R.A. Smith National, owns Kocourek Motorsports under which he races at the wheel of Super Late Model racecars.
Kocourek has been racing cars for the past 14 years with a team of family, friends and sponsors by his side, but his racing career has a much deeper history.
“I’ve always been racing something,” Kocourek said. “I wasn’t really a typical stick and ball sport guy. So I started racing motocross bikes when I was younger. Then I went into racing jet skis and then finally kind of graduated up to racing cars when I felt I was a little too old for those other two.”
Last year, Kocourek’s racing ventures included competing against NASCAR giants Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch.
During the 2014 racing season, Kocourek aims to win the championship in the ARCA Midwest Tour, a 12-race tour held at tracks across the Midwest. He also hopes to capture first at the Slinger Nationals at the Slinger Speedway in July. During his first time racing in the Slinger Nationals in 2005, he placed second.
“I just like the speed,” Kocourek said. “I like the competition (and) the adrenaline rush you get from racing. I’ve done a lot of things, but there’s nothing like competing in a race.”
