The night before Shelli Lind (55) was on oxygen. Then she raced Steve Schicketanz for the win on April 30 at Wyoming’s Sheridan Speedway, eventually finishing runner-up. That felt like a win for Lind.
She then followed that up another second last Friday at Black Hills Speedway in Rapid City, South Dakota.
Lind battled the aftereffects of Covid in 2021, and was on oxygen for a year. After she got off it, although albeit weak, she returned to racing in late 2022. Then, last February, she contracted the flu, which required her to resume using oxygen.
“It has been a long, long road to recovery,” Lind, of Gillette, Wyoming, said. “I tried to race last year, but I got so tired. This year I did not know if I could race. I hoped I would be strong enough to finish the feature. My anxiety was out of control.”
The 12-lap WISSOTA Mod Four feature wouldn’t phase many drivers, but for Lind, it tested her stamina.
“I was tired,” said Lind, “but I made it through the race.”
Typically, Lind heads to the track quite a bit, but her health battles changed that.
“I don’t usually race at Sheridan Speedway, but I’m going to try racing weekly at Black Hills Speedway and Gillette [Thunder] Speedway [in Wyoming], which is close to home,” Lind said. “Racing three nights a week may be a little tough for me. I’m 56 years old and I just battled sickness for almost two years.”
Shelli Lind has set seemingly modest goals for herself in 2023. However, for her, they’ll be quite an achievement considering what she’s been through.
“Get out there and finish first, that is the plan,” said Lind. “I’m in physical therapy twice a week. I’m working to build up more strength so I could race more.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
