Daily News Sports Editor
SLINGER — Cody Erdmann is beginning to notice the itch.
Erdmann, a 17-year-old junior at Mayville High School, is in his rookie season with the midwest sportsman division at Slinger Superspeedway. He comes to Slinger after a successful two-year run in the American Super Cup Series.
He’s in racing for three years, but doesn’t have his driver’s license. While he wants to be mature about it and also doesn’t believe he needs it at this point because he lives two blocks from Mayville High School, the itch to get his license is growing.
“It’s starting to,” he said, insisting it’s not that much, though.
Being involved in racing without a driver’s license is quite common. At Slinger, Grant Griesbach won a feature last season in the Bees division at just 10 years old. There are some tracks in the country that will allow drivers as young as 8 years old. There are go-kart divisions for kids even younger than that. To get involved at such a young age, aspiring race car drivers have to go through a test process.
Erdmann didn’t get behind the wheel of a race car until about three years ago and it went quite well.
In 2011, driving in the American Super Cup Series, Erdmann finished second in the Rookie of the Year standings. Last season, he finished second in the overall points standings, won a feature and finished second four times and had seven top fives. He finished 15 points short of the championship to Ken Jones (472 to 457).
“I thought it went good,” Erdmann said about his tenure in the super cup cars. “I think I gained a lot of respect from the drivers.”
This year, Erdmann made the move to the midwest sportsman division at Slinger.
Right away, Erdmann noticed the drastic difference in horsepower. In the American Super Cup Series, the cars are half the size of a regular-sized race car with a Honda GX390 390cc sealed motor and runs at about 2,000 to 2,500 RPMs, similar to that of your car on the road.
In the midwest sportsman division, those cars, which are a slightly smaller version of a stock car can run at around 5,000 to 6,000 RPMs. A Sprint Cup car in NASCAR can get to around 9,000 RPMs.
“I’m getting used to the horsepower,” Erdmann said. “With these things, there’s a lot more weight thrown around.”
So far, he’s had an uneventful two races in his new car. He has a pair of top-10 finishes to start the 2013 season.
“It’s been good,” he said. “It feels good. I’ve picked it up, in my opinion, fairly quickly.”
Erdmann said, for now, he’s OK with not having his driver’s license. He plans to get his license when he’s 18.
At that time, he knows there will be a lot of pressure on him to pass the test the first time around because of his background behind the wheel by then.
“I walk home so it keeps me in shape,” he said with a smile.
In the super cup series, he learned a lot about reference points, staying conscious to what’s around him, checking his mirrors and driver etiquette, of course all areas covered in a driver’s education class.
“The main thing I learned is patience, take my time,” Erdmann said. “Don’t force anything.”
In his first trip on the track, Erdmann was just a bit too strong on the throttle and almost spun the car.
“I was like, ‘Whoa. Let’s take our time here,’” he said.
“I’ve got a lot more horsepower than I did in that,” he added with a smile, looking at a nearby super cup car.
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Joe Shear Classic
Travis Sauter won the 5th annual Joe Shear Classic on Sunday at Madison International Speedway.
Sauter passed Jacob Goede with two laps to go in the 100-lap feature. It was Sauter’s seventh-straight feature victory at the track and second in a row in the ARCA Midwest Tour, also winning the Howie Lettow Memorial last summer at the Milwaukee Mile.
Three-time Slinger champion Rich Bickle Jr was fourth. Other notable finishes include 2005 Slinger Nationals champion Nathan Haseleu in sixth, Ross Kenseth in seventh, former Slinger super late feature winner Andrew Morrissey in 13th, 2010 Slinger super late model Rookie of the Year Austin Luedtke in 14th, 2013 Slinger Opener winner James Swan in 15th and 2012 Slinger super late model champion Dennis Prunty in 22nd.
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Plymouth and Beaver Dam were each rained out last week and will hope to open their 2013 seasons this weekend.
At Beaver Dam, a $500 prize awaits the winner in the street stock division.
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