At Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, operations manager Dave Schwall found a perfect outdoor job

LEXINGTON — Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course will rev its engines to celebrate America’s independence July 5-7 when the Honda Indy 200 is run. The 80-lap NTT IndyCar race is the biggest of the season for the track and its staff.

Meet your neighbor and operations manager for the sports car course, Dave Schwall.

Tucked away in Morrow County, the track is “220 acres of motor mayhem," Schwall said. He describes it as "loud and somewhat obnoxious."

"If that’s not something that trips your trigger — if you don’t like the sights, sounds and smells of auto racing — the only other reason to visit would be the parklike atmosphere," he said.

Each second counts in a race and every driver wants to be a winner.

"If you’re not first, you’re last. That's the way I envision our country,” Schwall said. "(Americans) always want to be the leader in pretty much everything we do.”

A career spanning 40 years

Schwall attended Ashland University right out of high school, but it didn't last long. He left after two years because he said "the specter of a large college debt was growing."

One year, his neighbor was the ticket office manager at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. She said if he was looking for a summer job, he could work there.

“So I did, and that turned into a full-time job,” Schwall said.

As a youngster who grew up farming, he knew he wanted to work outdoors. He helped farm grain, some cattle, a couple hogs and worked on a few dairy farms.

“That’s always been my thing work outdoors — winter, summer, spring, fall, doesn’t matter; I enjoy being outside,” Schwall said.

A wide-range of employees, spectators and competitors have made their way to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course over the run of Schwall's career.

“I’ve come in contact with literally hundreds of people,” he said.

He is sure to meet many more this weekend.

Meet Your Neighbor is a weekly series profiling people in Richland County and surrounding areas. Correspondent Joe Di Lullo can be reached at muckrack.com/dilulloj or jp.dilullo0926@gmail.com .

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: At Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, operations manager Dave Schwall found a perfect outdoor job