By LeAnn Hjelmeland
One could say the need for speed is in the Van Maanen family blood. The family has race fans from multiple generations, and they have come together to form the Van Maanen Family Motorsports team.
With two youth racers on the team and a crew of supportive family members helping them out, the Van Maanen Family Motorsports team has had a fast and fun start to the 2021 go-kart racing season.
The older of the two racers, Riley Van Maanen, 15, is the daughter of Brady and Amanda Van Maanen and will be a sophomore at Lynnville-Sully this fall. She and her family will soon be moving from the country to the town of Sully.
Rhett Spoelstra, 5, is the younger racer. He is the son of Logan and Krysta Spoelstra of Lynnville and nephew to Brady and Amanda. He will be a kindergartner at L-S this fall.
A Racing Family
Riley and Rhett’s involvement in go-kart racing can be credited to Riley’s dad, Brady, an avid race fan who used to race “anything and everything” he had the opportunity to drive. Brady has been involved in racing since he was a little boy, and he could often be seen following around locals Matt Zylstra, Cory Van Zante, Josh DeWitt, and Rick Van Wyhe from place to place during their racing adventures.
First-year racer Rhett Spoelstra is five years old.
“I was probably more in the way than I ever was any help, but they all put up with me and treated me like I was family,” Brady said. “That’s where my passion for racing began. The racing family you develop and the memories you make along your way are worth a million dollars to me!”
Brady quit driving when Riley was six as he turned his focus to his daughter and her racing program. Riley raced from age 5 to 9, and then took a break for a handful of years. She decided to get back into racing after her dad bought Rhett a new race kart for the 2021 season.
With both Riley and Rhett racing this year, about everyone in the family is involved in racing in some way. Brady gives a special shout-out, however, to Grandpa Bryce Van Maanen, who is a huge help at the shop and at the racetrack. He also allows the Van Maanen Family Motorsports program to run out of his personal shop and supplies them with an enclosed trailer to go racing with.
The Sport of Karting
“Karting is actually a lot bigger deal than people realize,” Brady explained. “There are races held at different facilities all over the United States. A lot of the people you see racing dirt modifieds, dirt late models, sprint cars, and even NASCAR cut their teeth racing go-karts as kids.”
Riley Van Maanen, 15, made a return to kart racing this year.
In kart racing, the races have a four-lap hot lap session, followed by two heat races of 12 laps, which are then averaged by a points system reflecting finishing position and amount of karts passed. That will set up the starting positions for the main events. Usually, there will be multiple main event races with the A Main being the targeted event that racers want to lock in to.
Racer Spotlights
Every racer enjoys different aspects of karting. For Riley, she is naturally very competitive, so karting is all about performance. She does enjoy the shop time, learning aspect, and time spent with family and friends at the track, but her performance is by far her main focus. Her other activities include volleyball, track, and softball.
Riley races in the 370 Predator Class, which is for ages 15 and up (no maximum age limit). Most of the people she races against are adults with their own programs. These karts typically run 40-50 mph in Newton, but depending on gearing and set up, they can run much slower or faster at other tracks since each track is different.
As for Rhett, he enjoys playing in the dirt in the pit area, running around with the other kids that he races with, and making new friendships.
“At this point, as long as he is having fun and enjoys what we are doing, that’s what it’s all about,” said his uncle, Brady. “Obviously, I want to win just as much as the next person, but with time, we will get there. It doesn’t happen overnight with the littles. It takes a lot of time and a lot of patience.”
Rhett races in the Kid Kart Class, which is a beginner class for ages 5-7 and first-year 8-year-olds. They all have the same engine gearing ratios, etc. to keep them as close as possible performance-wise. The little karts reach a maximum of 20-30 mph.
Rhett’s other activities include soccer, T-ball, and wrestling.
The Secret’s in the Tires
The fun of go-kart racing wouldn’t be possible without all the hard work that goes on before, during, and after each race.
“You race one night, then spend the next few days in the shop tearing everything down, cleaning bearings, cleaning chains, doing maintenance, making adjustments, and working on tires,” Brady explained.
Tire work involves cutting them with a machine similar to a lathe to make them roll true, resurfacing them on another machine, stretching them and shrinking them for different amounts of stagger, balancing wheels, and applying chemicals to both the inside and the outside of the tires. The chemicals add life to the tire, add grip, make them heat up faster or run cooler, make them softer or harder, etc.
“We also use a hot box with a rotisserie in it to roll the tires and heat the rubber to really bake in the different preps/chemicals that we use,” Brady added. “If there is one thing that people in go-kart racing will not share with you, it’s their tire secrets. Tires win races.”
2021 Races
The Van Maanen Family Motorsports crew is focused on racing at the Newton Kart Klub (NKK) in Newton and Poplar Grove Speedway in Kamrar for the 2021 outdoor season. They would also like to attend the indoor Nebraska Kart Shootout in Lincoln, NE, as well as the indoor Battle at the Barn at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines this winter if their schedules allow.
Rhett Spoelstra got his first win on May 15 at Poplar Grove Speedway, where he was the solo kid kart.
Rhett’s first race ever was Apr. 24 at NKK. He finished all of his races, had fun, and made some improvements but ran toward the tail end of the field.
In her return to the sport, Riley also raced at NKK on Apr. 24. She placed third in her first heat race and second in the second heat. With 31 karts in her class that night, she made the transfer to the A Main (Big Show). She then started seventh in the 16-kart field for the main event and finished sixth. Riley was up to third and charging at one point but spun out. She then rebounded from last place to finish sixth.
“Tires are probably the most important thing in go-kart racing, and we were off a little bit that night,” Brady said. “All in all, we had a pretty good night and definitely started the season off competitive.”
Riley and Rhett were back competing on May 15 at Poplar Grove Speedway. Rhett was the only kid kart who showed up, so he got his first win, and it was a very beneficial night for him, getting a lot of laps around the track.
That same day, in heat one, Riley started seventh and placed fourth. The team made some adjustments for heat two, where Riley started first and got the win. That placed her in the 14-kart A Main with a fourth-place starting position. With four laps to go, she was trying hard to maintain her position with another kart trying to pass her. On a turn, Riley ended up hitting the outside wall head-on at full speed. The kart was damaged, and Riley was a little banged up and bruised, but she finished the race and brought home ninth.
The third race of the season was this past Saturday, June 5, at NKK. In the Kid Kart Class, Rhett got quicker every time he was on the track and placed third in heat one, heat two, and the A Main.
Corey Van Der Wilt drove for Riley on June 5, since she had prior commitments with L-S softball. His help was appreciated since it was a points race. Corey finished seventh in heat one, fifth in heat two, and 12th in the 19-kart A Main.
The racing fun will continue throughout this summer as Riley and Rhett have three more points races remaining in the Central Iowa Predator Series (see schedule below). To follow the team and see how they do at each event, like “VMF Motorsports” on Facebook.
