Since starting Aeromotive, Inc. more than 20-plus years ago, there have been plenty of times when things got difficult for Steve Matusek.

The same can be said for a standout racing career that included his first NHRA Pro Mod win earlier this season.

But it’s all about finding proper perspective and for Matusek, he doesn’t have to look far.

His father, John, was a freedom fighter who escaped Hungary from the Russians in 1956, while his mother escaped Poland a decade earlier after hiding in an attic for a year to avoid going to a Nazi Germany concentration camp.

Both fled to Buffalo and eventually met and married after Matusek’s father taught his mother how to drive. His dad taught himself to read, write and speak English, became a mechanic, and eventually a successful businessman and racer, providing a rock-solid example of work ethic to his son.

Through it all is also a lesson on perspective Matusek still holds close to his heart.

“It changes your perspective,” Matusek said. “When people born here bellyache about opportunity and say they’re underprivileged, I just look at what my parents did and had to go through. I didn’t live through it, but I saw their work ethic and that’s why it formulates my opinion. I see there is the American success story and you can help yourself.”

Matusek and his business embody the American success story and the American dream, and he is quick to note just how much that work ethic and disciplined mindset came from two parents who persevered. 

After escaping Hungary, Matusek’s father, who died last August, found a Hungarian refugee house in Buffalo, which ended up being across the street from his future wife. 

She had escaped her own tragedies, as a large part of her family was executed after the Germans took over their family farm.

Matusek’s mother was put in a ghetto in Poland, which were holding areas before being sent to a concentration camp. But she met a nearby Christian family, hiding in their attic for a year before escaping the country.

His parents rarely talked about their past – Matusek didn’t even find out his mom was Jewish until he was in 10th-grade - but on some level it continues to be a driving force for Matusek.

“We’ve just been blessed and don’t have that type of travesty,” Matusek said. “We had a strict upbringing. You don’t whine or complain, put your head down and work. But no challenge seemed close to what they had to go through. It put everything in proper perspective.”

His father learned how to read and write primarily by looking at automotive magazines, becoming a mechanic at a Ford dealership and developing a strong passion for racing. 

After their marriage, they loaded up their car with the goal of reaching California. The car they drove had different ideas.”

They had just passed Pittsburgh and the car broke down. There was a Hungarian neighborhood there and they stayed there,” Matusek said.

Matusek was born in 1961, which meant Pittsburgh and later Pittsburgh International Dragway became home before going to St. Louis University in 1982. 

Summer vacations annually took place at the U.S. Nationals and most weekends were spent at the racetrack. The first car Matusek remembers his father having success with was a 1932 Bantam, an A/Altered with a single overhead cam motor. After rolling that twice, he got his first dragster, a car Matusek said went in the 9.00s in the late 1960s.

He enjoyed plenty of success – match racing Connie Kalitta in 1972 with another dragster – and Matusek was right there the entire time, with his chief motivation at the time a promised trip to Kennywood, a popular Pittsburgh-area amusement park for children, each time his father won.

“He would tow us back and I would steer it back down the return road,” Matusek said. “On the weekends, that’s what we did. Everything he did was different. He had a Ford when everyone had a Chevy. That innovation carried over to me.” 

That has been evident since the day Matusek started Aeromotive in 1994. 
An aerospace engineering background has given him a distinct advantage, but a passion for innovation and the non-stop work ethic he learned from his father has paved the way for an impressive amount of success.

Combined with his racing knowledge and application, Matusek has managed to stand out in the industry.

“Our company really thrives because we’re very application-minded,” said Matusek, who worked at McDonnell Douglas for four years. “We’re out here running and developing, and we’re learning about problems, figuring out ways to solve those in way of a product. 
“There’s a specific problem we’re trying to solve and we’re not making gimmicks, but rather real products that solve problems. We’re out here for the real reasons and innovative racers is what grew the sport.”

By the time a competing company attempts to copy it, Matusek said he is 2-3 steps ahead, consistently focused on the company reinventing itself.
When adversity does come – whether in the form of an economic downturn or a problem that’s difficult to solve – Matusek never wavers. He continues to push ahead, always going back to lessons his mother and father taught him.

“We are in control of our own destiny,” Matusek said. “I don’t listen to the bad news and draw from the strength I saw from my parents. A downturn in the economy is nothing compared to what they went through. We have just continued to innovate, and continued to solve problems.”

Matusek’s ultimate dream was to own a super comp dragster and work for a motorsports team. He has far surpassed that, becoming an extremely successful business owner as well as a talented driver in the NHRA’s Pro Mod class.

Matusek, who has lived in Kansas City for the past 22 years, will race at his home track, Heartland Park Topeka, raced in last weekend’s NHRA Heartland Nationals. It was a race added to the Pro Mod schedule this season as it expanded to 12 races and it’s a welcome addition for Matusek. But the race was also an opportunity to showcase his first car, a 1970 Maverick his father built and Matusek just bought back a month ago.

Matusek drove it in Super Gas growing up and his oldest daughter, Amanda, was also licensed in the car. It was displayed in Topeka, one further reminder of just how important a role Matusek’s family played in his development.

“It was all hand-fabricated by him,” Matusek said. “You can see his trademark and his signature all over the car. He hand made everything.”

And for Matusek, he wouldn’t want it any other way.