MADRID, Iowa — Tracen Glick did most of his racing and most of his on-track learning close to home.
But it was the results of a late-season trip to Indiana that made him the 2024 Stealth Racing IMCA STARS Mod Lite national rookie of the year.
Fourteen years old and a freshman at Madrid, Iowa, High School, Glick was in a tight as could be battle for the rookie title with Show Me State speedster Zach Christopher.
He’d join the Hoosier State Mod Lites and score his best finish of the season, finishing second in their Sept. 21 show at Lincoln Park Speedway and earning what eventually proved to be the tie-breaking difference in determining rookie of the year honors.
“I was probably about a car length behind at the finish,” said Glick, whose father Joe was track champion at Boone Speedway. “That was very exciting, it was a very fun race.”
Moving up this season following a brief go kart career, Glick made 45 starts this season, more than he’d originally planned, at seven different tracks in five states. He finished in the top 10 in point standings at Boone, Marshalltown Speedway and at East Moline Speedway.
Lessons learned on the track and in the shop emphasized patience, let other drivers race their race and not wrecking the car.
“What my dad taught me was not to expect to win every week, to be patient and if I let everyone else battle, that would get me further,” Glick said. “And I learned that your racing family (uncle Austin also ran a Mod Lite last season) will help you a lot.”
Glick also made starts at Nebraska’s Beatrice Speedway and Boone County Raceway, before wrapping up his ROY campaign with starts at both Electric City Speedway and at Valley Speedway in Missouri sandwiched around his epic Hoosier State Mod Lites outing.
He ran with more of the big dogs in the division, finishing eighth at Grain Valley’s David Raffurty Memorial,
“We were racing for rookie points,” said Glick, who gained invaluable seat time while doing so, “and we wanted to have fun. I got to race with a lot of fast guys and they made me a better driver.”
While he hopes his racing career takes him to a Sprint Car someday, Glick’s focus now is on the hardwood, playing basketball at Madrid.
