When you think three-time national champ, you might picture a grizzled face, but that’s not the case with Cade Nelson. The 15-year-old won his third consecutive USRA late model championship this year.
Cade first sat in a late model at age 12. He got up to speed fairly quickly as he had honed his racing skills beforehand.
“iRacing put me on the scene as a kid, long before I actually experienced real racing,” Cade, of Hermantown, Minnesota, says. “I anticipated moves and knew when to make passes, and I attained reflexes I’d later use on an actual track. I feel like I was ahead on the learning curve during my rookie year because I found simulation being so much like the real deal.”
When it came to setup, his father, Darrell, a modified and late model racer, helped mentor him.
“At age nine, Cade understood technology,” Darrell says. “He went to the track with me and talked about what he learned on a simulator — springs, Panhard bars, camber, caster, springs and ride heights.”
Cade also soaks up knowledge whenever it comes his way, even if the circumstances that brought it weren’t desirable.
“When Cade wrecked earlier in the season, he was at MB helping to tear his car apart and jigging it,” Darrell says. “We scale the car with Jimmy and Chris Mars, and with A.J. Diemel — they have taught us a lot. CMD Race Shocks’ Mark Gerth does the shocks for Cade, and Cade has a remarkable understanding on how everything works. Going to and from races he often talks to me about shocks, discussing numbers from smashing springs and what those numbers mean. Cade’s confidence is crazy — it’s fun to watch him in the shop and on the track.”
Away from the track and shop, Cade also plays hockey year-round. He’s a forward on the junior varsity team of his high school.
“Hockey helps me keep my composure to be a better driver and to keep calm in high stress situations,” Cade says. “Physically, it helps quicken my reflexes and helps me maintain awareness in constantly changing situations. Plays on ice are never the same. You have to read and predict them, just like moves on a dirt track.”
Cade says the winning mentality carries over between the two sports.
“I may not win every night, but I keep chasing the wins,” Cade says. “I work on my car to be better and faster. I work on myself off the ice to be a better player on ice. I don’t win every race or help win all the games for my team, but I never stop trying.”
This year Cade Nelson came home with 17 feature wins, with seven at Cedar Lake Speedway, six at Eagle River Speedway, three at Rice Lake Speedway and one at Mississippi Thunder Speedway. While Cade enjoys hockey, he sees his future path headed toward professional late model racing.
“I love hockey, but have my sights set on a full-time late model ride,” Cade says. “Not because it’s been my dream, but I genuinely believe it is attainable with the commitment I have.”
Mike Adaskaveg 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.
