It didn’t come easy, but Jarrett Getzschman finally made it to victory lane. Battling through a back injury suffered just two days before, he claimed his first late model win in 7 years of trying.
“I cried in victory lane, but it wasn’t because of the pain, it was because of the emotion of winning,” Getzschman, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, said. “All I ever wanted was a win, especially against veteran drivers, and I finally got one.”
Getzschman starts racing late models as a young teen in 2018. His father, Karl, competed in the class at the time.
“Dad wouldn’t put me in anything else but a late model,” said Getzschman. “He told me, ‘Let’s put you in one and see what happens.’ I never gave up.”
That never-quit attitude was bound to pay off eventually for Getzschman. This past winter he traveled down to All-Tech Raceway in Florida. Getzschman’s friend and seasoned veteran Jesse Sobbing joined the family team to drive the other car.
“I got wrecked the first night,” Getzschman said. “The second night I advanced from the F feature to the E feature, but blew a tire. Most importantly, racing in that event changed my driving style. I learned how to race hard because the drivers were tough and competitive. I became more aggressive and held my line, not letting other racers push me around. The 20-hour trip was worth it.”
Jarrett Getzschman works as a lightning rod installer. He fell 18 feet from a ladder two days prior to last Saturday’s event at Shelby County Speedway in Harlan, Iowa. Getzschman fought off the pain and other challengers to win his first late model victory. Teammate Jesse Sobbing finished sixth in the other family car.
“Jesse congratulated me in victory lane and told me this was a big day, one that I will always remember,” said Getzschman. “He said the first win is always the hardest to get. The rest will come easier.”
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.
