The Scoop
BROOKLYN KELNHOFER – DANCING ON & OFF THE RACE TRACK
Posted on: Wednesday August 14, 2024
Brooklyn Kelnhofer, a freshman at West De Pere High School, will be a rookie in the Wisconsin sport trucks in 2025.
Brooklyn Kelnhofer is looking to do some ‘dancing’ both on and off the race track in 2025.
The 14-year-old soon to be freshman at West De Pere High School will try out for the school’s championship dance team. But she will set her dance poms aside and don a racing helmet to begin a new chapter racing a Wisconsin sport truck at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna.
Ironically it was through dance competitions where Kelnhofer got hitched up with her truck owner – former WIR sport truck champion John Roeser of Green Bay.
“I wanted to race since I was little kid,” Kelnhofer recalled. “NAPA would sponsor nights in the Dick Trickle pavillion at WIR and my Dad Jon Kelnhofer would bring us. We watched the races from there and since I was four years old I was hooked on racing. I thought the trucks were very cool.”
Brooklyn enjoying the races at WIR as a youngster from the track’s Dick Trickle pavilion.
Kelnhofer’s middle school dance team’s coach Tori Rosik is Roeser’s daughter. “I was at a Christmas party at her place and there was a picture of dirt car on the refrigerator,” Kelnhofer recalled. “When I asked her about the picture Tori said “my family has been big into racing” to which I replied “I’ve always wanted to race.”
Tori told Kelnhofer that her dad will most likely sponsor your racing efforts. “I had gone to some of my daughter’s team dance competition but I didn’t really know Brooklyn all that well,” John Roeser said. John and his daughter Tori began texting back and forth with her dad regarding Brooklyn and her willingness to go racing.
Soon after that, John began having some ‘in earnest’ conversations with Brooklyn’s parents about what it took to go racing. “It sort of broke the ice a bit for all of us,” John said. “I let Brooklyn’s parents know about me and my background in racing with what I did. I was happy to have a young girl that has shown some genuine interest in learning HOW to race because honestly sometimes with younger boy racers they seem to have an attitude like they know everything. That’s not the case with Brooklyn.”
Brooklyn poses with truck owner John Roeser.
To get the ball rolling, Brooklyn accompanied John on a visit to a fellow racer’s shop for a ‘shop night’ trip. “I wanted Brooklyn to see a vehicle and Tommy Gee had started putting a truck together,” Roeser said. “So we swung over on a Tuesday night which is their shop night. She got to sit in the truck and from there is how we really started to get things started. She already seemed hooked.”
The following week Roeser purchased a chassis in mid-January of 2024. Roeser’s background with the trucks includes a phenomenal 2011 season where at WIR on Thursday nights he scored 13 fast times along with 13 feature wins in a row en route to earning the track championship. “I went all out that year as I wanted to win a championship for my Dad Jerry,” Roeser said.
So in the winter months Roeser and Brooklyn began putting the truck together. “We really didn’t have any specific nights to work on the truck,” Brooklyn said. “We’d often stop by after church.” The truck was housed at Roeser’s place of employment Team Motorsports.
“For us it worked out great for a couple of reasons,” Roeser explained. “For one I don’t have a heated garage. We were able to use all of the shop tools and space. It worked out great. These days Brooklyn can walk into that place like she owns it because she knows me.”
According to Roeser the technology within the trucks chassis and components hasn’t changed much at all since his banner season back in ’11. “Most of it is all the same and the theories you use when you set the trucks up remain pretty close. If you maintain a truck properly and don’t roll them over the chassis’ themselves can last quite a while. And if your truck is setup right you can use the same set of tires pretty much all season long.” All of the sport trucks are powered by Yamaha, two-stroke Phaser motors.
Brooklyn is all smiles following a practice session at WIR.
As this story goes to print, so far Brooklyn has a pair of practice sessions under her belt at WIR. “Watching it from the stands is a whole different story than actually being on the track and doing it,” Brooklyn admitted. “I didn’t realize how many muscles your body uses when you’re on the track. It’s a good arm workout and it’s got some physical demands somewhat similar to dance competition.”
According to Roeser, a race car driver either has “IT” or doesn’t have “IT.” “Brooklyn has IT,” Roeser exclaimed. “She handled WIR’s quarter-mile well. That track has a lot of ‘character.’ We look for certain patch marks for where she should turn on the track. Her exit out of two has been perfect and she’s still pretty good heading into (turn) three. Coming off of turn four she needs a little work yet.”
The game plan for Brooklyn is for her to get a couple of Thursday night races in at WIR in August with a full on campaign for the division’s rookie-of-the-year honors in 2025. “We’d like to finish off with the Labor Day weekend special at Plover,” Roeser explained. “But our first goal is to always have fun. Plus she plans on trying out for the dance team and that will take priority for her.”
Brooklyn’s parents are ‘all in’ and 100 percent supportive of her racing efforts. When it comes to going door-to-door with other competitors, Brooklyn is well aware that’s a entirely different ball game. “It’s important for me to earn the other drivers respect,” Brooklyn said.
According to Roeser, rookies in the division must start in the back for a number of races. “Once she is able to start in her assigned starting spot for any races that decision will be hers and hers only as to whether or not she feels comfortable,” Roeser said. “Brooklyn can start wherever she wants. Again we’re in this to have fun.”
The Wisconsin sport trucks remain an affordable way for many to get into the sport of short track racing.
“You can expect to spend between 7 to 10 thousand dollars on a halfway decent used truck,” Roeser said. “If you want to be competitive maybe you can spend slightly more. Some guys are happy to just turn laps. I’m a little bit more competitive. Then you’re talking motors, clutches and that kind of thing. Safety is a really high priority of mine – especially with another driver behind the wheel. You can spend a lot of money on safety and it’s not a place to cut corners. Just because you spend a ton of money doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be fast. Again we go back to that IT factor.”
Pit crew members include Crew Chief Ashtyn, with a special thanks for the support going out to Alex Crawe, Garrett Flanigan, Kassie Ott, Tom Burns, Matt Roeser, Don Holtger, Derek Rosik and Brett Van Horn.
Brooklyn’s team of marketing partners includes Revolve Dance Company, Holtger Bros. Inc., Team Motorsports, Best Edge Roofing, R-TEK Power Coating, Victory Sign, Janssen Motorsports, Dean Daul Painting, joeverdegan.com and Spacely’s Sprockets.