Revved up for racing

Garet DeBoer was a member of family friend Matt Steuerwald's pit crew since he was in sixth grade. Now he is racing against him.
DeBoer, a senior-to-be at Minneota High School, has "been around racing practically my entire life."
DeBoer's father, Ken, worked with Steuerwald for 28 years in his pit crew. When Garet got old enough, he joined the team.
"I was changing tires and shocks and things like that when I was in sixth grade," Garet said. "I loved being around the track."
DeBoer began racing on the 3/8th of a mile track at the I-90 Speedway in Hartford, SD, last August.
"We knew a guy that was selling his car, and I told my dad I wanted to buy it," Garet said. "My dad was okay with it, so we bought it last July and worked on it, and I entered my first race last August."
With no practice runs, the rookie Late Model Street Stock driver wasn't accustomed to racing on such a dry track and spun out twice, causing a second caution flag. By rule, a driver is sent to the pits following two caution flags.
"I finished nine of the 18 laps," Garet said. "After that, I was really excited to get back out there and race again. The thing I like most is the adrenaline rush I get when racing."
He raced three more times after that in 2021 and has raced six times so far this summer, finishing all nine of those races.
Garet's number 33 car is sponsored by Bangum Outdoors, Mule Motors and Zipp's Pizzaria.
"I have number 33 because my favorite Formula One driver is Max Verstappen and that's his number," Garet explained.
His best finish has been seventh place, which was impressive when you factor in that he started in the 18th position. He also currently sits in 10th place out of 26 drivers in the point standings at I-90 Speedway.
Generally, when a son tells his mother that he wants to play football, she is afraid he will get hurt. So, what did Garet's mom, Nikki, say when he told her that he wanted to get behind the wheel and race against much more experienced drivers that can get up to 100 miles per hour?
"I was nervous when he said he wanted to race," Nikki said. "That first night, I sat on the edge of my chair and took a lot of deep breaths. But now I'm excited to watch him drive out there and race. I still sit on the edge of my chair, but I am also cheering him to 'go, go, go' when he is passing someone."It's not hard to watch him race with those experienced drivers. I prefer him to race with people who know what they are doing on a race track. He races with a great group of guys."
Then Nikki admitted one other thing that helped ease her mind when watching her son race.
"Ken and I also made sure Garet had every piece of safety gear he could wear," she remarked.
Garet is also involved in other sports. He is a forward on the Minneota boys' basketball team, and was the top shooter this past spring on the clay target team.
Garet has a large contingent of followers, including his parents, older sister Zoe, and a large pit crew. There is even Garet DeBoer Racing apparel for sale online.
While he considers Matt Steuerwald his "mentor" for helping him learn the ropes of racing, Garet also credits his pit crew for their work.
His pit crew consists of his dad, Ken DeBoer, as well as Chase Steuerwald, Karsten Hamilton, Alex Swenson, Troy Hamilton, Chance Wagsdale, Nate Theil, Landon DeSmet, Sawyer DeSmet, Tucker Thooft, and Joe Verschelde.
Garet has only been involved in one accident in his two years of racing. He damaged the front end of his car in a heat race earlier this year, but the crew was able to piece it together in order for him to run in the feature race.
Racing at I-90 Speedway continues through September, typically on Saturday nights.
"I really enjoy it," Garet said. "Racing has always been a part of my life."