What makes the stock car class appealing to a sport mod driver such as Colby Fett? If you need a hint, let’s list a few names in the field. Derek Green. Jesse Sobbing. Kelly Shryock. Just those three have enough trophies to make the strongest of mantels buckle from the weight.
“The IMCA stock car division is a melting pot of great drivers,” Fett, of Saxton, Iowa, said. “I wanted to challenge myself more as a driver. Last year, I considered going up to modifieds. Then, I did the math.”
Furthermore, IMCA rules prohibit drivers from racing in both modifieds and sport mods in the same season. However, other classes, such as stock cars, are fair game.
On Monday, Fett made his stock car debut at Clay County Fair Speedway in Spencer, Iowa. He started the feature eighth.
“I knew I had a good car on the restarts,” said Fett. “When I got around Jeffrey Larson I thought, ‘Oh my God, we’re leading this thing.’ I only wanted to go out and make the top 10 on my first night. Then came Kelly [Shryock]. A couple of times he showed me his nose. I knew he was there and that made me so nervous because I know he is flawless.”
Over the years, Shryock has mentored Fett. In fact, the stock car Fett raced was once owned by Shryock.
“It has always been my dream to race side-by-side with Kelly, and it was fulfilled Monday night,” Fett said. “Kelly called and told me I did a good job and ran a really good race. Kelly is my coach, and I listen to the lessons he gives me.”
Fett must have learned something from Shryock. Fett went on to win the feature.
“It is going to take me a while to rap my head around what happened,” said Fett. “To win a first one is great, but to do it with the guys I had behind me felt like I was Captain Jack Sparrow with the pirates chasing me.”
Colby Fett felt the energy coming from all directions during the feature.
“The win felt to me like my $10,000 win at Mason City Motor Speedway [in Iowa] last year,” Fett said. “The stock car feature was thrilling, nerve-racking, exciting, and you could see and hear that the crowd was going crazy.”
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.
