By Ben Deatherage
MENA, Ark. (Sept. 19, 2025) — The Ouachita Mountains rise green and rugged around Mena, a town shaped by timber, trains, and resilience. It’s here that 65-year-old John Shoptaw calls home — a critical care paramedic by profession, and a racer by passion. His journey has carried him from Carthage, Missouri, to firehouses across Arkansas, and back behind the wheel of a Modified long after many thought his driving days were over.
On July 30, 2017, at Diamond Park Speedway, Shoptaw’s career nearly ended.
“I had a horrendous wreck,” he said. “Broke my lower back, my coccyx, my collarbone, and suffered a concussion so bad you wouldn’t think I’d ever climb back in a car.”
With help from a friend, he patched together a car for the Speedway Motors IMCA Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s that fall. But it never came around, and by week’s end, he sold it off. For years, he stayed away entirely.
“I didn’t watch, didn’t go, didn’t want anything to do with racing,” he admitted.
Golf became his outlet instead, and he played competitively enough to scratch the itch. But the fire never fully went out.
In 2023, William Gould offered him a chance to drive one of his cars. That brief return stirred something inside.
“My wife Staci Ann kept saying, ‘Why don’t you get back into racing?’” Shoptaw recalled. “Then we heard about a ‘buy of a lifetime’ from William. One thing led to another, and here we are.”
The comeback was on. This year, Shoptaw returned to the Super Nationals for the first time since 2017, a full circle moment that few expected — least of all himself.
“People say, ‘Shoptaw’s lost his mind crawling back in a car at 65,’” he said with a laugh. “But it’s passion. I just want to stay competitive.”
Under the Boone Speedway lights, John Shoptaw keeps his no. 10 Friesen Performance IMCA Modified steady at the Speedway Motors IMCA Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. (Photo by Bruce Badgley-Motorsports Photography)
A Life of Racing and Service
Shoptaw first fell in love with the sport as a boy, when his father took him to the races in southwest Missouri. The sights, sounds, and smells of the dirt track left a lasting impression.
By the mid-1980s, he was back at the track on his own, watching the legends of northwest Arkansas at a small oval near Grand Lake. “I was sitting there thinking, ‘Man, I could do this — this is cool,’” he remembered.
By 1985, he was behind the wheel in the local Stock Car ranks, and before long he had made the jump into Modifieds. Over the decades, his racing came in stretches — stepping away at times for family and work, then finding his way back when the passion pulled him in again. Today, at 65, he laughs at those who say he’s lost his mind climbing back into a race car, but the fire has never gone out.
Away from the track, his career has been defined by service. He began as a volunteer firefighter in Goodman, Missouri, before joining the Siloam Springs EMS in 1987. By 1992, he had become a paramedic, and his career carried him through Russellville before finally bringing him to Mena in 2008.
Now with Pafford Medical Services, he serves as both a ground and flight paramedic, often called to rural emergencies where helicopters are the only lifeline.
“It’s been 38 years,” he said. “Most of the time it’s medical issues. But sometimes, it’s critical. And you’re the one who has to make the difference.”
Away from the track, Shoptaw works as a critical care flight paramedic with Pafford Medical Services, responding to emergencies in rural Arkansas and beyond. (Photo by Pafford Medical Services)
A Town with a Story
Mena was founded in 1896 by railroad builder Arthur Edward Stilwell during the construction of the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf line, linking Missouri to Port Arthur, Texas. Stilwell named the new town after Folmina Margaretha Janssen-De Goeijen — the wife of his financier and friend, whom he called “Mena.”
The railroad made Mena a hub almost overnight. Within just a few years, it had its own bank, and in 1898 it became the county seat. Timber, agriculture, and mineral extraction formed the backbone of the local economy, and the town was even promoted as a spa destination in its early years thanks to its mountain air and natural setting. Janssen Park in the city center still carries the name of the woman who inspired the town itself.
Mena has endured its share of hardship. A tornado devastated the community in 1911, and again in 2009 when an EF3 storm caused $25 million in damage. In the 1950s, a federal program to stockpile manganese reopened long-shuttered mines, briefly reviving the town’s fortunes before closing again.
Yet, like the people who live there, Mena has always rebuilt. Today it anchors the eastern end of the Talimena Scenic Drive, offers the outdoor paradise of Rich Mountain and Wolf Pen Gap, and remains the heart of the Ouachitas — a small town with a big history.
Downtown Mena, Arkansas, sits in the shadow of the Ouachita Mountains, where Shoptaw has made his home since 2008. (Photo by Wide Open Country)
A Number with Meaning, A Circle of Support
His race car carries the no. 10, a family marker with meaning.
“My son was born on September 10, 1983, and my birthday is in October, the tenth month,” he said. “Ten has always been our number.”
Through it all, Shoptaw points to the people who have carried him forward: his wife Staci Ann, William and Dana Gould with Gould Race Cars, Maggie and Kyle Brown of Harris Auto Racing, Chrissy and Bubba Ables, and a host of local sponsors — Miner’s A&B Tire, Booth Land & Dirt Services, Velocita by Melissa Markewitz, and Kevin Rogers at KR Productions.
“My wife is amazing — every time I don’t think I have the answer, she does,” Shoptaw said. “I couldn’t do this without her.”
And above all, he sends a heartfelt mention to his close friend Bubba. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Bubba,” he said. “He’s been such an important part of my racing family, and I’m thinking of him all the time.”
For John Shoptaw, racing isn’t just about speed. It’s about resilience, gratitude, and proving that even at 65, some passions are worth chasing again.
