Taylor Kuehl (2) topped a field of 56 of the finest IMCA sport mods. The triumph occurred during the season-opening IMCA Frostbuster at Boone Speedway in Iowa. Three days prior, she had just moved back to Boone, Iowa, from her native Arizona.
“I hope to be racing at my new hometown track [Boone Speedway] every week,” Kuehl, originally of Cave Creek, Arizona, said. “My hope is to make it permanent move.”
Kuehl started outside of Kenny Wyman Jr. of Marshalltown, Iowa, in the front row. Timothy Warner, of Malone, Wisconsin, soon challenged her for the first spot.
“Oh my gosh, I didn’t expect to hang on to the lead the whole race with all of those talented drivers behind me,” said Kuehl. “[Warner] raced me hard for most of the race.”
Kuehl stayed in control — of her car and her nerves — as the checkered flag neared.
“I kept telling myself to stay calm and collected,” Kuehl said. “Luckily, everything went smoothly. Staying calm and being excited at the same time played into each other.”
Kuehl stood on the roof of her car in victory lane. She relished the biggest win of her young career.
“When I got out of the car, I was super excited,” said Kuehl. “Jerry [Vansickel] was announcing and he got the crowd going. The people were cheering loudly. I was ecstatic when I stood on my car. I felt accomplishment for working so hard.”
Kuehl’s work ethic is well known in the racing community. She does most of the work and maintenance on her car by herself. (See “Taylor Kuehl: Racing Solo, Away From Home”.)
“To win in my car means a lot,” Kuehl said. “I work on it every day.”
In addition to sport mods, Kuehl also races a stock car owned by Jerry Schipper, of Dike, Iowa. During the IMCA Frostbuster, she failed to transfer from the B-main to the feature by one spot. However, earlier this year, she won in Schipper’s car at Canyon Speedway Park in Peoria, Arizona. Ultimately, Taylor Kuehl looks to move up the dirt racing ranks in the Midwest.
“It’s a big step up to the modified division, but someday I hope to be there,” said Kuehl. “Driving a super late model is my dream, and hard work makes dreams come true.”
The Outside Groove Director of Photography has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
