The Scoop
RYAN ROSENOW – CHASING PERFECTION IN DIRT TRACK SHOCK PERFORMANCE
Posted on: Wednesday October 13, 2021
Appleton, Wisconsin native Ryan Rosenow has earned a reputation as being one of the best in the ever-changing shock business in dirt track racing. Rosenow is a co-owner of Jerovetz Motorsports Shock Services in Suamico, Wisconsin.
When it comes to the local and regional dirt modified and stock car scene Ryan Rosenow makes the business of shocks his business.
The 35-year-old Appleton, Wisconsin native has had a front row seat to the evolution of dirt track shocks into its own cottage industry. Rosenow, who is a partner in Jerovetz Motorsports Shock Services located in Little Suamico, Wisconsin, has earned a reputation as being one of the best in the biz when it comes to not only building racing shocks but providing tech support along the way.
Shocks weren’t always on Rosenow’s mind initially. “I was a welder by trade out of high school,” Rosenow explained. “My uncle (late model champion Troy Springborn of Shawano, Wisconsin) and I had a little business together building shocks. It was more of a side gig and at the time was something I did in the evenings and on weekends when I wasn’t welding during the day.”
After Rosenow got laid off full time from his welding gig he began building and servicing shocks for local dirt track competitors as a full-time job. “After I got laid off that’s when I really got into the shock deal full time for about a year,” Rosenow said. “That’s when Sean (Jerovetz) approached me and we talked about him buying me out.”
That’s exactly what happened and Rosenow started out at Jerovetz Motorsports Shock Services as a part timer. “Well, it didn’t take long until that evolved into a full time deal and I’ve been doing shocks full time for more than six years,” Rosenow said.
Formerly a welder by trade, Rosenow works in his “office” on a shock at Jerovetz Motorsports Shock Services. Rosenow ships out shocks daily to dirt track drivers all across the United States.
Rosenow has seen the massive technology growth of the shock industry on the dirt track scene and has been an integral part of it. “I remember when I was in high school, I pitted for my buddy David Werbelow who was running an IMCA modified,” Rosenow recalled. “That was around 2005 to 2007. Shocks were slowly starting to become such a critical part of the modifieds especially. That’s when shocks started to become their own animal so to speak. The components really began advance from a technical standpoint.”
According to Rosenow what worked around 2005 wouldn’t even be close to competitive in 2021 and beyond. “Probably the biggest change between then and now is the valving of the shocks,” Rosenow said. “Stuff you’d run 10 to 15 years ago simply wouldn’t be competitive now with the different spring packages they run now. The cars are moving around more now than they ever did 15 or 20 years ago. That makes the shocks so much more critical on your modified, sportmod or stock car.”
At Jerovetz Motorsports Shock Services Rosenow has a solid base of local customers but also builds and maintains shocks for some of the top modified pilots in the United States. In addition to International Motor Contest Association (IMCA), United Midwest Promoters (UMP) and United States Modified Touring Series (USMTS) are a pair of sanctioning bodies Rosenow has a solid customer base of drivers. “Truth be told a big chunk of our business is doing shocks for guys to the south of us,” Rosenow explained. “I mean locally we’ve got modified guys like Johnny (Whitman, six-time 141 Speedway champion) and Josh Long who’ve been with us for a while. And in the stock car deal we work with Brandon Czarapata (former IMCA national stock car champion) and Trent Nolan.”
Among Rosenow’s top clients are a pair of modified aces from North Carolina – Kyle Strickler and Nick Hoffman. Hoffman recently earned the UMP national modified title. Hoffman is also the leader in all time feature wins in the DIRTcar Summit Racing Series. “UMP is actually a very big deal for us in terms of the shock business,” Rosenow said. “Nick (Hoffman) is one of our guys we handle the shocks for. He’s won 34 out of 40 races using our shocks.”
Rosenow relies upon solid feedback from his customers to constantly improve the performance of the shocks they sell and service.
Hoffman has his own chassis company. “That’s huge for us because you’re not going to get Nick’s support without using our shocks, for example. We get a lot of feedback from Nick and everyone else for that matter. That feedback is critical for us to keep improving our game.”
Fox and AFCO are among the multiple brands of shocks that Jerovetz Motorsports Shock Service is a dealer of.
At Jerovetz the two shock brands most frequently utilized are AFCO and Fox. “Those are the two biggest ones for us obviously,” Rosenow said. “We also do Penske, Integra and QA1 too. We’re factory direct with everything that we service. Many around here who want to be shock builders locally don’t have that factory direct support. We’re authorized to work on those shocks and getting them back right. That allows us to have better competitive pricing, too. We ship stuff out daily to customers all over the country.”
According to Rosenow each shock brand has its own unique characteristics. “But at the end of the day the (shock) dyno doesn’t lie,” Rosenow explained. “Each shock is not always going to act the same for each individual driver. It’s all about the velocity and oil flow. With every manufactured brand the oil flows through the pistons a little bit differently than a competitor’s piston. When it comes to the shock ‘bleeding’ per se it’s all different. So, there are 100 different ways to skin the cat so to speak when it comes to that. This technology of these shocks has evolved so much it’s to the point where the days of coming here or going over to GSR (Gold Star Racing Supplies) and buying a shock to mount on your right front to go racing somewhere on a Saturday night? Those days are over with.”
With some of the bigger paying specials Rosenow takes the Jerovetz Motorsports Shock Services trailer on the road, providing hands on technical support. “People see our trailer at the races and think we’re just making money hand over fist when we bring that trailer to a show,” Rosenow said. “Truth be told the only time we make money with that trailer is at Boone (Iowa) for the IMCA supernationals. Whenever we’re camped out at the same spot for a week. Most other shows we’re losing money but we’re there to provide tech support. It’s something you have to do.”
In addition to building and servicing shocks Rosenow puts together Rage chassis modifieds and stock cars. “We’re more of a modified company,” Rosenow said. “But we do have some stock car and sportmod customers, too.”
Rosenow points to customer Matt Looft of Swea City, Iowa. “Matt’s won the IMCA national title with our stuff,” Rosenow said. “So, with guys like Matt and locally with Johnny and all of our other customers we always take that feedback to stay on top of stuff,” Rosenow said. “With my OCD and being a control freak of sorts, I guess I’m always concerned about falling off that proverbial cliff. I’m always looking for ways to do things better.”
With that said, Rosenow admits it’s much more difficult for him to go to the races strictly as a fan and enjoy the show. “When I help pit for Johnny (Whitman) for example, I may not get to 141 Speedway until 6, 6:30 or sometimes even as late as 7 p.m.” Rosenow said. “I go there to make sure the cars we build are working well. I don’t go there soliciting business. Fortunately, we don’t really need to. But working in this industry full time yes, it does make it tougher to go to the races and ‘enjoy’ the show sometimes. It’s all business and I build every single shock that gets shipped from our business. I take a lot of pride in it.”
You know the old saying “advice is free?” “In this day and age that almost isn’t true in our business,” Rosenow explained. “Truth is when it comes to our shock business, people can pay pretty good money for consulting and what not. What can sometimes annoy me is when I’m at the track and drivers will constantly come up and ask me for advice on their shocks. Obviously if it’s a paying customer it’s o.k. But at some point, you’ve got to draw the line. Since I live, eat and breathe racing it’s sort of ruined things for me a little bit in that regard.”
Growing up Rosenow’s mother told him racing was dumb and a waste of money. “15 years ago, I never thought I’d be able to make a living of sorts in the stock car racing industry,” Rosenow said. “It’s something I’ve been around my whole life. I feel we’ve done well for ourselves here. I mean here at Jerovetz Motorsports Shock Services we have anything and everything to put a race car together. We have complete and bare motors for sale including both the 602 and 604 crate motors in stock. We also have tires and wheels and everything in between. It’s been a good ride so far but you’ve got to stay on top of that technology. Constantly.”
You can reach Ryan or Sean at (920) 615 2508