VERONA, Wis. (BVM) — You wouldn’t think of Verona, Wis., as a hotbed for auto racing. But one of the hidden facts of its sports scene is located around Commerce Parkway and South Nine Mound Road. There, you will find at least four racing shops among the nondescript, industrial-looking buildings. One such shop is the home of Beale Racing — a racer and gearhead’s paradise.

On a typical day early in the week, you will find racing partners John Beale and Dalton Zehr along with some crew members, plying their craft. They may be working on repairs from the previous weekend’s races or fine-tuning their machines to gain a competitive edge — which is measured in just tenths or hundredths of seconds.

Late in the week and on weekends — almost any week of the year — Beale and Zehr are “out of the office” and at the racetrack where they both were seemingly born to be. Beale and Zehr are an inspiration to those in the punch-a-clock, cubicle-bound, 9-to-5 world, as these two Verona area residents have had the courage to follow their passion.

Beale and Zehr are both products of special father-son bonds.

“My dad was part of several teams and owned his own team,” Beale said. “I worked on his team for several years. Racing is all I ever wanted to do.”

“My inspiration is my dad, Marty,” Zehr said. “I started racing when I was 7 years old. I wanted to be just like him.”

Maybe it is because of their common starts in racing that Beale and Zehr got connected. The two initially met as competitors.

“I raced against Dalton for a few years,” Beale said. “He wins everywhere, so I thought he would be a great asset to our team.”

Beale and Zehr have formed a tandem that is now a dominant force on the regional racing scene. Beale’s list of accomplishments is impressive. He has been particularly successful in 2020, with three feature wins including the Dick Trickle 99 at Golden Sands Speedway in Wisconsin Rapids. He has three other career feature wins and four different rookie of the year awards from 2013 to 2017, as he has progressed through different levels of the regional racing scene.

But as Beale said, Zehr “wins everything.” Most recently, Zehr won twice at Wisconsin Dells. On July 4, Zehr won the Tundra Super Late Model and on Aug. 1, he won in the Super Late Model Alive for 5 Series Capital 100.

Zehr has racked up over 100 feature wins. But his biggest victory came in the 2018 Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) Tour Championship. Winning this race proved he was the best driver on the circuit based on season-long results.

ARCA – headquartered in Oregon, Wis., at the offices of Madison International Speedway – is popular in the Midwest racing scene and is just a small step below NASCAR.

If it is a weekend between April and October, you will likely find the “John Beale RV” on the region’s highways. They have also raced at some of the most famous venues in the country, including Daytona International Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, the Milwaukee Mile, Virginia International Speedway and Gateway Motorsports Park.

With at least 42 weeks on the road in a typical year, the team has no plans on slowing down.

“I want to continue to see the team grow and move up the ranks,” Beale said. “Then we can start traveling to some bigger races across the country.”

To reach these goals, the team must maintain and fine-tune their equipment in a disciplined and technically proficient manner. But the racers themselves need to be fine-tuned, and the notion that racers are not athletes is often invalid.

“Working out is a critical part of surviving the week,” Beale said. “To survive 200-lap races in the summer heat, you better have a great workout program along with nutrition and hydration.”

Beale and Zehr are always mindful of the people who help them achieve success and aspire to reach their goals.

“A lot of people have helped along the way,” Beale said. “My dad has a passion for auto racing. Whatever needs to be done, he will do it. My mom is always at the track to support and watch. My cousin, Brian, and my uncle, Jim, help whenever they can. My crew members also sacrifice time with their families to help me pursue my dreams which means a lot.”

“I have always had good mentors that helped me grow in racing to the point where I could make a career of it,” Zehr said. “Gene Coleman became a mentor of mine at 14. I have also had great support from sponsors, along with a tremendous pit crew.”

If you keep an eye on the area racing results this summer and fall, you likely will see Beale and Zehr in the winner’s circle. And perhaps one day you will also see them racing on the weekends with NASCAR’s greats.