Family mourns racing death of Brookfield-native Scott Semmelmann

BROOKFIELD -- Brian Semmelmann walked through his brother's garage Sunday, knowing Scott Semmelmann would never walk with him again.



\"We lost a great human being,\" Semmelmann said.  \"And an uncanny talented driver.\"



Serving as his brother's crew chief, Brian was on the track at the Beaver Dam Raceway for Sprint Car races Saturday  night.  Scott was finishing his warm up laps on a greasy track, but according to Brian, was driving great, until he bumped into another driver.



\"Scott tried to adjust and, in sprint car racing when a tire touches a tire, there's no fenders and it never ends up good,\" Semmelmann said.  \"The car got upset and flipped.\"



Scott flipped and crashed into the wall.  Brian waited for his brother to pop out of the wreck, but he never did.   The 47-year-old Scott Semmelmann was pronounced dead at the track.



\"Scott's touched a lot of people,\" Brian said.  \"He was a quiet, keep-to-yourself guy, but he had a heart of gold.  And the people  he did touch, he touched them deep.\"



Brian says he and his younger brother always had racing in their blood, but really got into it while racing each other on a Playstation video game.  About a decade ago, Scott signed up for racing school and was hooked.



\"He had a passion like most people would love to have, whether it's anything,\" Semmelmann said.  \"But he had a drive and passion of  racing that was undeniable.\"



Something only matched by a love for his family, Brian says.  Scott leaves behind two sons, a daughter and his wife - a family that will always take pride in Scott.



\"That moment in time he was one hundred-fold over what [I] felt and I have to take that with me, to comfort me that he was doing what he loved,\" Semmelmann said.

The family has not set a funeral date yet, but the family has a fund to help Semmelmann's wife and children.  You can find that account through this link.