The Scoop
ICEBREAKER 50 @ DRP APRIL 10 TO KICK OFF BUSY ’22 CAMPAIGN FOR VANDER LOOP
Posted on: Friday April 8, 2022
Little Chute’s Cody Vander Loop poses next to his Midwest Truck. The 18-year-old will kick off his ambitious 2022 schedule at the Icebreaker 50 at Dells Raceway Park Sunday,, April 10.
There will be no lack of seat time for Cody Vander Loop in 2022.
The 18-year-old senior at Little Chute high school plans on racing big trucks, little trucks, and even a station wagon-bodied super stock on paved tracks across Wisconsin and Michigan this year. Close to 40 races in all.
Vander Loop’s season will kick off Sunday, April 10 at Dells Raceway Park in the Midwest Truck Series at the Icebreaker 50. Vander Loop, who’s scored track championships in the smaller, snowmobile-powered Wisconsin sport trucks, dabbled with the bigger trucks a bit, competing in eight series events last year getting his feet wet.
Vander Loop plans on battling for another WIR sport truck title during “Thursday Night Thunder” action.
“Dells was one of the tracks we ran the Midwest truck at last year,” said Vander Loop, who will be part of a field of 36 trucks expected to compete – including 12 registered rookies. Because of the number of races he competed in the series last year he’s not considered “rookie eligible” and readily admits he’s got a long ways to go to become a frontrunner in the Midwest trucks.
“We ran races at WIR, Jefferson, Madison and Golden Sands with the Midwest truck last year,” Vander Loop recalled. “I’ll admit I couldn’t get out of my own way a lot of the time. My best finish I think was 15th at Golden Sands and we were as high as 12th at Marshfield but got tangled up in a wreck. It was a steep learning curve, but I learned a lot with that seat time in the trucks last year.”
Vander Loop and his pit crew pretty much went into the Midwest Truck foray blind. “Looking back at it we really didn’t have much knowledge as to what we were doing,” Vander Loop. “We talked to a few guys who steered us in the right direction to at least get the truck to handle better. And they’ve been a big help.”
The truck Vander Loop wheels was purchased from Jay Van Der Geest and wheeled by Levon Van Der Geest. “Those guys did help us out quite a bit and sort of welcomed us into their group,” Vander Loop explained. “We’ve been talking with them a lot too in the off season and we’ve made a few changes to the truck which should help us out right off the bat.”
When it came to how the truck is supposed to handle Vander Loo admitted he was at a loss. “The Weinkauf’s and Van Der Geest’s looked at the truck for us and Rob Vandermoss has been doing a few favors for us too which we appreciate,” Vander Loop said. “We took the motor to the dyno and found out there was a problem with the carburetor. We were down almost 35 horsepower. That explained a little bit too.”
Looking ahead to his Midwest Truck series schedule for ’22 Vander Loop has a few of his favorite tracks penciled in. “I’ve raced at most of them already in the sport truck so I’ve got sort of an idea of what the line to take is,” Vander Loop said. “I really like the Dells and with the large number of trucks expected you’ll always be in the mix of things and it’s more of a challenge just to make the show.
“I think my favorite track though is WIR (Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna). It’s my home track for the most part and there is just so much history there. I plan on getting enough practice there and everyone says if you can run well at WIR you can pretty much be competitive anywhere.”
The lone appearance of the Midwest Trucks at WIR will be with the popular Dixieland race on Tuesday, August 2. Another track with a storied history is another one Vander Loop has penciled on his calendar. That one is an appearance at the historic Milwaukee Mile for the Father’s Day race June 19. One track that will be a new one for Vander Loop this year with the bigger, Midwest truck will be Slinger Super Speedway. “I’ve been there before with the sport trucks so we’re not going in totally green there anyways,” Vander Loop said.
To help sharpen his skills Vander Loop has turned to some modern-day technology and has started Iracing at the suggestion of multi-time Midwest Tour series champion and NASCAR truck racer Ty Majeski of Seymour. “Ty does that quite a bit and he said it really helps you find the lines with some of these tracks,” Vander Loop. “I’ve been doing that for a couple of months now and I think it can only help.”
The chassis underneath the truck body is a Lefthander equipped with a TobyCar front end. “Toby (Nuttleman) has given us some advice too with that,” Vander Loop said. “We’re really looking to do well at WIR with the Midwest trucks and there is a little pressure along the way with that.”
Vander Loop will also pilot this Gregg Hauser-owned super stock on Thursday nights at WIR in ’22. (Ricky Bassman photo)
Thursday nights will be especially busy for Vander Loop at WIR where he’ll compete in two divisions. Vander Loop will pull double duty while battling for both the sport truck and super stock championships while wheeling the Gregg Hauser-owned station wagon. “Racing that super stock class is a lot of fun and Gregg does a great job at setting the car up for me,” Vander Loop admitted. “That car handles perfect for me everytime, and I really enjoy running with those guys as many of them have been around for a long time and they aren’t afraid to rub up against you.”
Vander Loop will also attempt to race some selected sport truck touring races. “When it comes to goals for the Midwest Truck anyway I just want to make some strides and hopefully qualify into the features on time,” Vander Loop said. “Maybe score a top five finish along the way, too.”
Odds are still good you may very well need a score card to keep track of the Vander Loop’s as Casey isn’t the only one who races in northeast Wisconsin. “J.J. (Vander Loop) will be racing a late model on the half-mile at WIR this year,” Vander Loop said. “It’s Brad Anthony’s old car. My brother Kasey (Vander Loop) will still be in the sport truck full time at WIR and plans to go run at Norway on occasion. Jerry (Vander Loop) sounds like he’ll still be in his sport truck too and both he and J.J. have their sportmods they race on the dirt. It’s a busy summer for all of us.”
40 shows are scheduled between the Midwest Truck, Wisconsin sport truck and the WIR super stock for Vander Loop.
Crew members lending a hand with Cody Vander Loop’s racing efforts in 2022 include his dad Chris Vander Loop, brother Kasey Vander Loop, Michael Kirchner, Rob Vandermoss, Jack Sanders, Noah Sanders, Bobby and Paul Wautier.
In addition to Ken’s Sports and Van Handel Auto Body, Ludwig Performance is a supporter of the racing teams along with Wienandt Performance and Boat Propeller Warehouse.
After he graduates from high school later this spring, Vander Loop plans on working full time during the summer at the family business – Ken’s Sports. “After that I may enroll in tech school and possibly learn a trade of some sort,” Vander Loop said.