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DARCY EWING
Life Athletes® Biography
Darcy Ewing
Motor Sports Ace
Darcy Ewing grew up on the farm, so he needed to learn about engines, and
the workings of his family's tractors. Gifted with a sharp mind, Darcy
was mechanically adept, as he puts it, 'a gearhead'. During the lazy
winters on the farm, a young Darcy raced his snowmobile around the
wide-open fields. It was the 1960s, and snowmobiling was a new sport.
Baseball was Darcy's first love, but when this future star mastered his
snowmobile, he was unstoppable. By the time he was 14 he was off to a
long and illustrious career spanning 30 years, so far.
Darcy is a usual competitor at Eagle River, WI, in what is termed the Indy
500 of snowmobiling. In '95-'97 he has won the pro sprint at Eagle River.
He is a world champion, owning 9 world titles overall! Success of this
magnitude has not gone to his head. Darcy says his wife and 5 children
are more important than any titles.
Darcy is also a very supportive guide to his son Cory, who at the age of
17 just joined his Dad in sweeping the Canadian Power Tobaggon Race.
Together they accounted for 5 First-places in the oldest organized
snowmobile race in North America. Darcy credits motor sports for keeping
him away from bad things like drugs during his own teenage years. To
this day he has never had even a beer. What a testimony to Darcy's
strength, in a sport where drinking to excess is common. But remember who
is winning the big events!
Snowmobiling is a hot sport in the cold Midwest, New York, Maine and
Canada. But snowmobiling does not end when the warm spring winds come to
town. Darcy spends most of his year on personal physical training and on
machine projects. One reason he believes he has enjoyed such a long
career is his experience in tuning machines. "In the Indy 500, you would
bet on Foyt instead of a young guy, because experience counts for a
lot."
Thirty years after he fell in love with the snowmobiles, Darcy Ewing is
still winning every time. Darcy's level-headed approach to races and
life certainly contributes to his success. Some guys, he says, are
reckless on the track, neither respecting their own lives nor the lives of
others. "I enjoy competition, but not macho things. I won't do risky
moves, because I have a wife and family. I would forfeit the race rather
than endanger someone." This attitude reflects Darcy's strong respect for
life (It runs in the family...his wife Heidi, who is a nurse, spends her
whole day helping the sick). Darcy found his grounding point when he
became a Christian at the age of 6. His faith also gives him peace of
mind when he is flying around an icy track on his snowmobile at 100
mph!
As much as Darcy has learned through competition, he has learned even more
through his autistic son Sean. Autism is a severe disability that requires
round-the-clock attention. Even though time is not a commodity the busy
Ewing family has very much of, they cannot imagine life without him. "The
biggest change Sean has made in my life is that I am more aware of others,
and the struggles they go through," says Darcy. It has also made him feel
as if he were disabled, because he is up against a problem that he cannot
fix. This realization is especially difficult for a mechanic/father like
himself. He realizes more than ever that just as Sean needs his father, he
Darcy, needs his heavenly Father to survive this disability. "I'm the
disabled child," he says.
Darcy is also involved in sports leadership organizations. He encourages
young people to get involved with sports and benefit from them. "Sports
are great. I knew I wanted to be an athlete in as big a way as I could.
Motor sports are exciting, and now lots of kids look into them because
bigger sports have a bad name. But good athletes are around, and they
have to get the word out, in all sports. And the big message with sports
is this: sports do not equal God. So let God be God and all the other
things will work out," he says.
Sports are to be enjoyed: this is Darcy's motto. Everyone can get
enjoyment out of sports, not just the pros.
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