The Scoop
KYLE FREDERICK – ‘IF YOU CAN WIN IN AN IMCA STOCK CAR YOU CAN WIN IN ANY CLASS’
Posted on: Saturday April 24, 2021
Oconto Falls, Wisconsin’s Kyle Frederick won in his first outing of 2021 – a heat win at Shawano Speedway on April 17.
Kyle Frederick came out swinging in his maiden voyage in 2021.
The 47-year-old IMCA stock car racer from Oconto Falls, Wisconsin copped his first race of the season – albeit a heat win – at Shawano Speedway in his first outing on April 17.
The quest for ‘W’s’ never gets old for Frederick, who now in his 25th year of racing currently sits seventh in all time career IMCA stock car victories among Wisconsin drivers with 64 feature flags. “It never gets any easier,” quipped Frederick in his enclosed hauler after his heat win on the half-mile. “A little over a month ago this car was nothing but a pile of sandblasted metal. A lot of weeknights and weekends thrashing on it later, we made it out for the Shawano opener in a nick of time. In fact, a lot of people that came into the shop in the last month seriously doubted we’d even make it out here. But here we are.”
For this season Frederick is wheeling the K and E Sales and Service of Clintonville ‘house car.’ “The car is a 2021 Wolfe chassis by Czarapata,” Frederick explained. “Ed (Bertram) was talking to some guys about putting a driver in his car weekly at Shawano for this year and my name came up. We talked at the Luxemburg Swap Meet and the rest is history as they say.”
After the hot rod was constructed at Bertram’s shop Frederick brought it home to his shop where it will be maintained this year. “The plan with this car is Shawano weekly but Ed said if things are running well take it on the road for some big dollar shows,” Frederick explained. “We just might do that. I still have my old car I was going to play with on Sunday nights at Luxemburg. We’ve got some tweaking to do with this new one but it’s pretty fast.”
The landscape of local racing has changed whereas the focus is no longer as much on grinding it out week-after-week chasing a weekly points title but instead opting for the plethora of big dollar shows and there is no shortage of them in Wisconsin in the stock car class this year. “It’s sort of nice you don’t have to travel out of Wisconsin anymore to race for big money,” Frederick explained. “I mean I’d like to win three or four features here at Shawano and the track championship, but we’ve got a $5,000-to-win show at Luxemburg and $10,000-to-win at 141 (Speedway) plus there are four nights of $10,000-to-win shows in Minnesota too,” Frederick said. “We plan on hitting some of the big money specials and maybe even the IMCA Supernationals in September. It’d be nice to be able to run the annual Race of Champions qualifier.”
In addition the class dubbed ‘too-tough-to-tame’ has lured drivers from other divisions to battle in some of this high-dollar shows. Luxemburg native and IMCA modified standout Benji LaCrosse and Green Bay native and late model racer Jared Siefert are two names that come to mind.
Frederick is no stranger to winning big money outside of Wisconsin. In 2016 Frederick hauled home a $4,000 payday down in Britt, Iowa. “I’ve also qualified for the big dance at Boone seven or eight times,” Frederick said. “But the IMCA stock cars are the toughest class around here. I mean there are guys who’ve been in this division more than 25 years. They are still tough that’s why you’ll take any win you can grab because they don’t come easy. Plus, we’re all on a pretty close motor so the driver skill and chassis setup really come into play. But I’ve always said that if you can break into the IMCA stock car class, run well and win you can pretty much be competitive in any division. I firmly believe that.”
Of the top ten drivers in Wisconsin’s all time IMCA stock car feature win ranks, eight of those drivers still race competitively. That list is lead by Pulaski’s “Hot Rod” Snellenberger who as this story was penned leads the way at 217 sanctioned wins. “Honestly it’ll be really tough to catch those guys,” Frederick said. “You’ve got three national champions ahead of you and they are all still at the top of their game. You just take things week-to-week when it comes to that kind of stuff. I still see a lot wins for those guys down the road big time.”
Frederick has captured track championships at 141 and at Outagamie Speedway in Seymour as well as a brief stint wheeling an IMCA modified on occasion. “It can drive you crazy sometimes when you chase points that’s why you try to focus on the wins,” Frederick said.
Crew members who lend a hand with Frederick’s racing effort include Mike “The Coach” Jost, Paul White, Andy Brantmeier and Brandon Gagnon. “A lot of these guys also have their own race cars so for them to come out and help me with my deal I appreciate it,” Frederick said. “The good thing with that too is they all know what they’re doing.”
Frederick’s team of sponsors in his 2021 racing efforts include K & E Sales & Service in Clintonville, Wolfe Racing Chassis by Czarapata, Choice Management Construction & Design, Schaal Repair, KSI (Kozak Supply Inc., L & J Trucking, Lemirande Motorsports, The 5th Wheel Saloon, Out-On-A-Limb and Frederich Hay Sales.
WISCONSIN IMCA STOCK CAR DRIVERS TOTAL FEATURE WINS UPDATED AS OF APRIL 24, 2021
(This list courtesy of IMCA’s public relations director Bill Martin)
Rod Snellenberger, Pulaski 217
Brandon Czarapata, Pulaski 126
Travis Van Straten, Horicon 120
Jeremy Christians, Horicon 101
John Heinz, Green Bay 85
Charlie Kroll, Forestville 80
Kyle Frederick, Oconto Falls 64
Dan Michonski, Marion 51
Brian Bruechert, Kewaunee 50
John Gregorich, Kewaunee 50
Larry Karcz Jr., Pulaski 50