In his only third night in an IMCA RaceSaver sprint car, Karter Heiskell won. What led to the 14-year-old catching on so quickly? Heiskell cited his experience in 600cc-powered mini mods as a big contributor to his win last Friday at Rapid Speedway.
“Racing in a mini mod, and in karts before that, I learned to arc into the corners nicely — on a slick track that’s important,” Heiskell, of Canton, South Dakota, said. “The difference is that a mini mod leans on the right, while sprint cars lean on the left. I had to adjust to that, but it’s more important to take control of your car no matter if it’s a sprint car or a modified. Each lap I raced in the sprint car, I got more confidence.”
Another factor? His family. Heiskell’s mother, Trisha, and grandfather, Doug Underberg, both raced.
“I get plenty of setup and driving advice from my mom, dad, and grandfather,” Heiskell said. “You can’t be wrong on your setup or you could have a bad situation get worse in your next race. Being smooth helps control wheel spin, and with the right setup I was able to put thought into driving a line and keep my car where it was fastest. On a slick track you can move around more. When I came up on a lapped car, I moved up a bit, got around them, and then moved right back to my line. I did the same for the next car.”
The win came as a surprise for Karter’s mother, Trisha. “I figured we’d be filling in the back of the field for good chunk of the season,” she said.
With the first win out of the way, Karter Heiskell hopes to frequent victory lane more often. He already has new car waiting for him. Karter said he would like to compete in the RaceSaver Nationals at Eagle Raceway later this year and also follow the Midwest Sprint Touring Series (MSTS), too.
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.
