The Scoop
DARREN OTTO – PARTNERING WITH IOWAN HOTSHOE RANDY BRANDS
Posted on: Tuesday May 26, 2026
Iowan Randy Brands in victory lane at Clay County Speedway (IA). (Randy Brands Racing Page)
Darren Otto has partnered up with an Iowan hotshoe for the ’26 season in his IMCA stock car.
The Pulaski veteran, who not long ago returned to battle in the IMCA stock car division after a 12 year hiatus, has hitched his wagon to two-time IMCA supernationals winner Randy Brands of Boyden, Iowa.
The pair have a few things in common. First off, they both sport the number 27. Also, both run Wolfe Chassis, with support from another IMCA national champion – Otto’s longtime friend and Pulaski native Brandon Czarapata.
For the 2026 season, Otto plans a few trips out-of-state while running a very limited schedule. Brands, who calls Clay County (IA) Fair Speedway his hometrack, will head north to Wisconsin, and wheel Otto’s racer in the $10,000-to-win King Of The Creek race at 141 Speedway in Francis Creek July 17 and 18 this year.
“I actually met Darren last Fall at the Supernationals,” Brands said. “We actually met through Brandon (Czarapata) so there is that common denominator.”
The Iowan has been in the stock car racing game for 32 years now. While Brands is best known for being a top-flight, stock car wheelman, He’s also run some IMCA hobby stock and even had a stint on a modified as well.
Brands recently made the eight hour trek north to shakedown Otto’s No. 27 racer on a Friday night at Outagamie Speedway in Seymour. “This is all a shakedown for that 10k to win show, and any other bigger paying deals up this way,” Brands explained. “The main focus is that King of The Creek at 141. But we may run some other stuff, too.”
Randy Brands in victory lane. (Randy Brands Racing Page).
Brands has raced against the best in the Midwest – no matter if it’s in his home state of Iowa, or in the Badger state. “No doubt, I’ve raced against a lot of tough racers down in Iowa,” Brands admitted. “And, when those Wisconsin guys come down to Iowa, they are always tough. Then, when I come up to Wisconsin to race, they are even tougher on their home turf.”
For Otto, loading up the race car and hitting the road keeps things fresh for him. “We are very blessed in Wisconsin to have so many good tracks around here,” Otto said. “Nothing against Seymour or some of the other tracks. I used to be a two to three night a week guy. Those days are gone. I got back into this sport during the Covid year of 2020. Traveling out-of-state to me, it just breaks up the monotony a little bit. With diesel fuel at $6 a gallon, that factors in a little bit, too.”
According to Otto, his first race may be running as one of the support classes for 141 Speedway’s World of Outlaw late model race in mid-June. “When I started racing, tires were like $95 apiece,” Otto said. “Now, the price is close to $165 a tire. To me, that pretty much wipes out guys racing two or three nights a week anymore. It’s just too costly to do anymore.”
Brands noted that there are many similarities with the Wisconsin and Iowa racing scene. Tracks in both states struggle to put butts in the grandstands. “The other thing that is similar in Iowa compared to Wisconsin is it’s getting harder to find crew help during the week in the shop,” Brands explained. “It’s easy enough to get guys here at the track. But shop help during the week? It’s a struggle.”
Otto’s marketing partners include McKeefry and Sons, Woody’s Signs, Twisted Team, Wide Open Electric, Kelsey Coatings, Dude Wipes, Wolfe by Czarapata, Cornerstone Chiropractic, Jerovetz Motorsports Shock Services.
2026 REGIONAL DIRT TRACK FEATURE WINNERS (as of 05-25-26)
(Tracks included, but not limited to: Outagamie Speedway, Gravity Park USA, Luxy Raceway, 141 Speedway, The Hill Raceway, Plymouth Dirt Track & Shawano Speedway. We’ll also include feature wins by N.E. Wisconsin drivers scored at other tracks, including out-of-state and series victories. These include both IMCA sanctioned & non-sanctioned wins)
LATE MODELS
Joel Bennett 2
Turk Letizia 1
Nick Anvelink 1
IMCA MODIFIEDS
Johnny Whitman 3
Cole Czarneski 2
Lucas Lamberies 2
Mike Mueller 2
Russ Reinwald 1
Benji LaCrosse 1
Joel Seegert Sr 1
Zachary Raab 1
Travis Hansen 1
Greg Gretz 1
Jesse Cullen 1
Dylon Waldvogel 1
Kevin Feck 1
IMCA STOCK CARS
Trent Nolan 4
Tyler Wilson 2
Brad Lubach 2
Brett Wenzel 2
Benji LaCrosse 2
Rod Snellenberger 1 (FLA)
Marcus Hoeppner 1
Cole Czarneski 1
Presley Harrington 1 (IA)
Luke Lemmens 1
Brandon Schmitt 1
Jerry Wilinski 1
Tyler Schrimpf 1
Nick Buckarma 1
Mitch Stankowski 1 (ERS)
Dan Michonski 1
IMCA NORTHERN SPORTMODS
Coy Vlies 6
Tony Gates 1
AJ Springborn 1
Brad Buckman 1
Ryan Schmidt 1
Carsin Cullen 1
Brady Harshbarger 1
Matt Urban 1
Cole Magnin 1
Max Oreskovich 1
Logan Brass 1
Cole Thomas 1
Travis Schmidt 1
Kaden Besaw 1
Trevin Veeser 1
Tim Jorgenson 1
UNIFIED DIRT STREET STOCKS
Trey Van Straten 4
Derek Moede 2
Paul Diefenthaler 2
Phillip Wuesthoff 2
Dave DeGrave 2
Travis Zirbel 2
Cory Romenesko 1
Todd Berzowski 1
Hope Eisel 1 (ERS)
Roman Blank 1
GRAND NATIONALS
Jeff Richards 3
Jake Richards 3
Nate Ruh 1
Tyler Kulow 1
Mavrick Ruh 1
Jeff Muehlbauer 1
Will Sorce 1
Luke Scholten 1
FOUR CYLINDERS/IMCA SPORT COMPACTS
TJ Everard 3
Lucas Hacker 2
Kyle Jorgenson 2
Brian Watzka Jr. 1
Cody McLain 1
Autumn Allard 1
Brian Hillringhouse 1
TJ Everard 1
Cody McClain 1
Jake Peters 1
Robbie Holst Jr 1
Tanner Westphal 1
James Reese 1
Brian Watzka Jr. 1
Scott Schlafke 1
Thomas Schulte 1
LS/USRA LATE MODEL
Eric Klawitter 2
Mark Hoeppner 1
Jason Zdroik 1
Corbyn Wassenberg 1