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Nuttleman Tops 30th Season With Wisconsin State Championship

A Wisconsin dairy, crop and livestock farmer stands tall as one of the all-time greatest drivers in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.

Kevin Nuttleman, 48, of Bangor, Wis., capped his 30th year of racing by winning the Wisconsin NASCAR state championship in 2009. He’s been racing at LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway for two decades. He’s amassed an enviable record that includes 10 NASCAR track championships, and under different series formats, a NASCAR regional championship, divisional championship and a state championship. He placed 23rd in the 2009 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national top 500 ranking.

Nuttleman drives for a three-car NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model team owned by Tim Jacobs’ DMT Motorsports. Teammates included 2007 series national champion Steve Carlson, 52, of West Salem, Wis., and 2009 NASCAR Drive for Diversity member Emily Sue Steck, 22, of Holmen, Wisc. Steck led the team with three Late Model feature wins. Nuttleman and Carlson each won twice.

To put Nuttleman’s career in perspective, he’s gotten to compete over the years at LaCrosse with some of the all-time greats in pavement Late Model racing. In addition to teammate and Carlson, some of Nuttleman’s on track peers over the decades have included Dick Trickle, Joe Shear, Tom Reffner and Tim and Johnny Sauter. Even Mark Martin, Darrell Waltrip, Jimmy Johnson and Adam Petty made stops at LaCrosse’s fast, wide .545-mile paved oval.

“I’m glad I was part of that,” Nuttleman said. “They raised the competitive bar for many years. We learned a lot from them and that helped our team.

“Sometimes I think maybe time is catching up to me, but I love racing. I love the fans and all the people from NASCAR. They’ve been great to us. When we head to the track, we still have to put on a show, and that’s part of what keeps us coming back.”

A young Nuttleman first competed in snowmobile racing. When the LaCrosse track was originally paved in 1970, he and some school friends gravitated toward the track. When he graduated from high school in 1979, Nuttleman bought his first race car.

Nuttleman paid particular attention to Trickle, who barnstormed all the big Late Model short track races. Nuttleman’s uncle, Neil Jacobs, a pilot, flew Trickle to a lot of races, and usually flew out with a trophy and the winner’s share of the purse. Jacobs was lost when his empty plane went down in 1986.  

Tim Jacobs founded Dutch Mill Trucking (DMT) Motorsports in 2005 and quickly won its first championship at LaCrosse with Nuttleman. The team expanded to two cars with the addition of Carlson in 2006. Steck made it a three-car team in 2009.

Nuttleman’s RanderCar Frames/Tom Thurk Tomcat-powered Chevrolet Monte Carlo is sponsored by Nuttleman Farms, CC106.3, Miller Lite, Lloyd’s Speed Shop and Dutch Mill Trucking. The driver’s brother, Toby, works full-time in the DMT Motorsports shop. Among his 14-member crew are Mike Schmitz, Andy Lochen and Dustin Pfaff.

Nuttleman and his wife, Lottie, got engaged at LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway in 1982. They have two daughters Amanda, 22, and Rebecca, 18.

The widespread youth movement in motorsports abounds across the nation. Nuttleman thinks the youngsters arriving at LaCrosse are a little better prepared than most.

“The kids we’ve got coming up at LaCrosse, I’m not used to working that hard to race them,” Nuttleman said.

Nuttleman credits the LaCrosse County Agricultural Society for constructing a .200-mile paved go-kart track known as Coulee Raceway that features compound banking. The track is located outside turn four of the big fairgrounds oval, and is sanctioned by the International Kart Federation.

“The biggest thing here is the kids coming up from the go-kart track. We’ve got some 16-year-olds with a great seat-of-the-pants feel for their cars. They get in a Late Model and their all-out. I give a lot of credit for their abilities to that track. Jay Sauter’s son Michael won their Nationals, and he is so smooth.” Nuttleman said. Young Sauter won the 2009 track championship in the Junior 2 division.

Nuttleman’s Agri-Business
 
Nuttleman Custom Grain Cleaning is Kevin Nuttleman’s latest off-track venture.

“We’ve cleaned oats since high school, but didn’t have the facility to do much more,” Nuttleman said.

Cleaning grain is an important part of processing seed crops and corn. The cleaning process removes incidental shells, husks and cobs that can clog planting machinery in the field.

“We’ve set up a new facility at my place, and we do everything ourselves,” Nuttleman said.

Corn’s use to produce Ethanol for fuel is well known. In some parts of the country, corn-fired furnaces are replacing some gas, propane and electric powered furnaces. The corn furnaces use a mixture of wood pellets and corn. Cleaned corn reduces resulting ash in the burning process.

One bushel of shelled corn can provide four times the heat generated by a single gallon of propane. Corn as a bio-fuel is a renewable, environmentally friendly energy source.