The Vault
2007 – YOUNG CALMES CLIMBING THE ASPHALT RANKS
Posted on: Monday December 8, 2025
YOUNG CALMES CLIMBING THE ASPHALT RANKS
(reprinted from the May 25, 2007 edition of the Green Bay Press Gazette by Joe Verdegan)
Freedom super late-model driver Kyle Calmes for his website says it all.
The 21-year-old is one of the rising stars on the asphalt bullrings in the Midwest. His race team’s website is appropriately named thrivetodrive.com.
Calmes’ race shop is loaded with a pair of Chevrolet Monte Carlos. One is for weekly racing at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna on Thursday nights. The other is designated for a pair of touring series: The ASA Midwest Series and the Wisconsin Challenge Series.
Calmes is a rookie in late models, having run only two specials late last year. His resume boasts limited late-model track championships at WIR, along with Triple Crown Series wins at WIR and Marshfield Super Speedway.
A pair of impressive performances this year in the WCS has turned some heads. He took third at Madison International Speedway and sixth at Dells Motor Speedway. “The biggest difference between a super late model and a limited late model is the competition,” said Calmes, who was a standout wrestler at Freedom High School.
“Plus, we run 10-inch tires now, and with the limited, we only ran 8-inch tires. It’s a softer tire, too, so it’s easier to correct the car if you get yourself into a little trouble. Racing a limited certainly helped me prepare for the faster speeds we run with a super.”
Calmes got bitten by the racing bug as a youngster, when he began turning wrenches on his father Hank’s sport truck. His dad serves as his crew chief.
“We’d go to Tuesday practices at WIR, and eventually I was 13 when I got to hot lap the truck myself,” Calmes said. “When I turned 14, I started racing the truck at different tracks around Wisconsin, It was pretty cool.”
At 17, he jumped into a limited late model. He took the following year off to attend NASCAR technical school in North Carolina.
Calmes especially enjoys the ASA series. “It’s the competition that makes you better,” he said. “Each time you run a different track, you learn something new. Although I’m young, I’d like to think the guys have some respect for me on the track. I try to give that same respect back, too.”
Calmes is employed as a fabricator at Performance Welding Inc. in Freedom. Fortunately, his boss is a big race fan.
Kyle Calmes following a win at WIR in 2007. (seeking photo credit)
“With the series shows, some of them are in Minnesota, Iowa or Illinois, so some extra travel is involved,” he said. “My schedule is flexible, and if I need to get out of work early, he lets me.”
With asphalt super late model racing, sponsorship is a must. Calmes recently picked up Arby’s for one of his bigger sponsors. “We’re sure happy to have them,” he said. “There are a lot of expenses that go along with fielding these race cars. Their advertising dollars help absorb a fairly good portion of our expenses.”
Calmes’ goal is to race for a living.
“This ASA series is probably the next step we’ve got to take before we can have a chance at doing this and getting paid someday,” he said. “It’s my dream.”