Where you find Jim Chisholm (24c), you’re bound to find Joe Chisholm (25). The teenage brothers from Osage, Iowa, are inseparable — both in the pits and on the track. Racing provides them and their father, Monte, with quality family time.
Monte and his wife, Lezlie, welcomed six girls prior to the births of Jim, 17, and Joe, 14.
“All six girls played sports, and we were with them through AAU competition,” said Monte. “When we got introduced to racing, I knew this was something I can do with my sons for years to come.”
Monte’s brother, Mark, and Mark’s wife, Deana, introduced Monte to the sport when they won a drawing to drive a Slingshot at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minnesota. Mark recruited Monte, who had never been to a race before, for his pit crew. Jim and Joe joined their father at the track to watch.
“My brother insisted we should have a Slingshot for Jim,” Monte said. “The next thing I knew he went out and bought one for him.”
Jim and Joe now wheel B-mods weekly, primarily at Deer Creek and Mason City Motor Speedway in Iowa. Wherever they race, you can find them side-by-side in the pits, working on their cars.
“It is the boys’ desire to win that has made them learn how to maintain and set up their cars,” said Monte.
At Mason City (pictured), Jim Chisholm and Joe Chisholm raced door-to-door until Jim passed Joe with two laps to go.
“Joe has improved a lot,” Jim said. “I’ve got to watch myself or he will blow by me. I can’t slack.”
Joe looks up to his big brother.
“He races the wall so good that he has a quarter panel with lots of wall marks on it,” said Joe. “So, I started running the wall, and I’ve got a few stripes of my own. Now, he’s moving down on the track more and I’m trying to figure how to do that better, so I can beat him.”
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.
