CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Before he started racing an IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock, Kaden Reynolds told his grandfather he wanted to run with the fast cars.
He ran and beat a lot of fast cars this season, winning 10 features along with national and Big Daddy Race Cars Northern Region rookie of the year awards.
“This is a pretty good class with a lot of good drivers,” said Reynolds, 18 years old and a senior at Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School. “When I’m watching races, I try to learn from the fast drivers and pick up on the things they do.”
“Shannon Anderson and Eric Stanton are two of my favorite drivers to race with,” he added. “Both are very, very good at what they do.”
The former micro mod driver got his first Hobby Stock win in his second start in the class late in 2018, logging just four starts to keep his rookie status intact this season.
Thirteenth nationally, Reynolds won three times each at Independence Motor Speedway, Marshalltown Speedway and Benton County Speedway. He finished a point out of first at Indee and was third at Marshalltown and fifth at Vinton.
His final win of the point season came at Dubuque Speedway.
“At one point I was in the top five nationally,” said Reynolds, who keeps his car at grandfather Randy’s house and also counts uncle Tony Olson and cousin Kyle Olson as team members. It was pretty cool to see my name up there. I never would have thought that was possible in my rookie year.”
He wrapped up the season at Marshalltown with a weekend sweep at World Nationals.
Starts 48 Wins 10 Additional Top Five’s 17
HIS CREW: Grandfather Randy Olson, uncle Tony Olson and cousin Kyle Olson.
HIS SPONSORS: Eastern Iowa Spray Foam, D & S Disposal, Cassill Motors, FYP Rental Properties and Climate Engineers, all of Cedar Rapids; BHE Custom Suspension of Ames; Garage Works Lighting of Grinnell; Shellsburg Car and Truck Wash of Shellsburg; Prestige Masonry of Anamosa; Dynamic Drivelines of Des Moines; and Motorsports Warehouse of Boone.