The Scoop
KROHLOW & OTHER KARTING ALUM RETURN TO LITTLE BUCKAROO
Posted on: Tuesday July 25, 2023
17-year-old Skyelin Krohlow recently returned to her racing roots at Little Buckaroo Jr. Motorsports Park in Cecil, Wisconsin.
For young racers like Suamico’s Skyelin Krohlow it’s important to be a mentor to the future stock car racers.
The 17-year-old Bayport High School student was recently among a handful of other former kart racers who returned to their roots at Little Buckaroo Jr. Motorsports Park on a Friday night in Cecil, Wisconsin as part of “Driver Alumni” night.
Krohlow has been racing an IMCA northern sportmod on the local dirt tracks for three years now. Prior to that she cut her teeth racing in the karts. “To me it’s very important to be a mentor to these kids who have aspirations of moving up someday to the full-sized stock cars,” Krohlow said. “I remember how I looked up to all the girl racers when I was their age. So, to me it’s important to return to my racing roots and keep that tradition going.”
These days you can find Krohlow at Outagamie Speedway in Seymour Friday nights, 141 Speedway in Francis Creek Saturday nights and even at The ‘Burg Speedway in Luxemburg on an occasional Sunday night.
Before she jumped into the big cars, Krohlow struggled to find the right line to follow on an ever-changing dirt track. “That was the thing I struggled with the most when I was younger was running the right line,” Krohlow admitted. “With the kart you’d just mash the gas to the floor and hold on for dear life. With these bigger cars, you’ve really to go baby the throttle.”
What advice does Krohlow offer to any kids or parents of young karters who aspire to race full sized stock cars someday? “I would suggest just get a lot of connections and ask questions. Anybody would be happy to help you.”
Shawano’s Jeffery Teske poses with his IMCA northern sportmod at Little Buckaroo Jr. Motorsports Park.
It’s been seven years since Shawano’s Jeffrey Teske turned laps in a kart at Little Buckaroo. In 2023 Teske is in his fifth year of racing IMCA northern sportmods. “I’m back here tonight because it’s really a neat reminder of what my racing career was like when it all started out,” said Teske, who in addition to piloting an open wheeled sportmod also races a lawn mower on Wednesday nights at GSR Kartway in Clintonville.
Teske recalled racing karts against some of the same folks he battles on occasion on the half-mile at Shawano Speedway. “Yeah, we’d go up against guys like Johnny Holtger, Matthew Radtke and Max Oreskovich here in Cecil,” Teske said. “They’ve made some improvements since we raced here a while ago. We love bringing our cars out here to give these kids racing karts something to look forward to.”
According to Teske, kart racing taught him the art of throttle control, consistency and how important it is to remain smooth through the corners. “My advice to the youngsters and their parents are to stay consistent and stick with it,” Teske suggested. “Learn from the older drivers. When you do make that move up into the bigger classes it will help you out so much in the long run.”
Green Bay’s Kaden Kostichka has gone the asphalt route with his sport truck after his karting days were over with.
Not all Little Buckaroo graduates move on to the dirt track scene after their karting days are over with. 13-year-old Kaden Kostichka of Green Bay will be an eighth grader this Fall at Red Smith middle school. After racing the karts at Little Buckaroo for six seasons Kostichka, with his dad former racer Jason Kostichka, purchased a Wisconsin sport truck from Jamison MacDonald to race on the pavement.
The trucks compete weekly on Thursday nights at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna, Wisconsin. The snowmobile engine powered racers also race at other paved tracks throughout Wisconsin and Upper Michigan.
“We decided to do this for a year because at 13, I’m not quite old enough to race in the bigger cars yet on the dirt,” Kostichka said. “Racing on the pavement – it’s a lot less forgiving than the dirt tracks are for sure. If you make a mistake on the pavement, it will take you a lot longer to recover compared to the dirt tracks.”
One similarity Kostichka has found with the truck compared to the karts is the suspension – or lack of it. “There is virtually no suspension underneath these trucks or power steering, and you really do feel it getting bumped around on WIR’s quarter-mile oval,” Kostichka said. “I’d like to get into a dirt car someday down the road, but I don’t know exactly which one that would be down the road yet.”
Kostichka said he’d “most definitely” return to Little Buckaroo someday down the road when he’s racing a full-sized stock car.
11-year-old Carson Bohm poses with his kart. Bohm plans to move into full-sized stock cars down the road.
11-year-old Carson Bohm races weekly with his brother Logan at Little Buckaroo. Together they are part of the team known as the “Krakow Mafia.” The Krakow resident will be a sixth grader at Pulaski Middle School this Fall. “My plans are to race big cars someday down the road when Dad thinks the time is right,” Carson said. “We mostly go to Shawano on Saturday nights. Maybe a sportmod will be the division. I’m not sure though.”
During this scribe’s recent trip to the Cecil oval, it seemed everywhere you turned there were 2nd, 3rd and in some cases even fourth generation racers. There were also some very seasoned full-time racers who came to play on this particular night. Appleton’s Brandon Reichenberger and Shawano Speedway late model champion Kyle Raddant competed.
A young fan climbs behind the wheel of karting alum Tay Hoffman’s IMCA northern sportmod.
Some Little Buckaroo alum, like Tay Hoffman, give back by working at the track. Tay brought her No. 7 sportmod to show off and worked one of the corners as a flagger.
A trip to Little Buckaroo on a Friday night in Cecil, or a Wednesday night visit to GSR Kartway in Clintonville would be well worth the trip to see some of the future stars of the local and regional stock car racing scene.