By Ben Deatherage
PIERCE, Neb. (Oct. 29, 2025) — Fourteen-year-old Kiegan Werner wasted no time making a name for himself in the Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compacts in his Tom’s Service/Meyer Family/TC Agronomy no. 1K entry. The first-generation racer from Pierce turned his rookie season into a breakthrough year, winning six times, capturing both the South Dakota State championship and Park Jefferson Speedway track title, finishing seventh in the national points, and showing the poise of a veteran. He also became the sixth driver since 2008 from Nebraska to win the National Rookie of the Year award, and the second straight Nebraskan to achieve that honor.
“We decided to go down to the Beatrice Spring Nationals,” Werner said. “The first night went well, but the second night I got taken out on the first lap in the main event and it junked the race car. After that, we decided to make another go at it at Redwood in Minnesota and ended up winning up there. We then made the decision in June to try and go for national rookie of the year.”
The start of the season tested Werner’s resilience. After the Beatrice crash in March, he clawed back with a May victory at Redwood Speedway, followed by a surge through June and July that cemented his reputation as one of the Midwest’s toughest young competitors in the class. Park Jefferson and Worthington Speedways became his proving grounds — he captured three wins at Park Jefferson, two at Worthington, and one at Redwood, collecting six total victories and 14 podiums across 32 starts.
“At one of the races in Nebraska, we got wrecked again on June 14 and had to start from scratch,” Werner recalled. “Once we got a new car, we kind of went everywhere — Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, pretty much anywhere.”
That tenacity paid off. Werner scored 21 top-five finishes and 31 top-tens on the season, nearly every night ending near the front of the field. Along the way, he gained valuable experience at tracks that were all new to him.
“There are a lot of places that race similar somehow,” he said, “but there are places like Redwood that are big and fast.”
Racing may be new to the Werner family, but it quickly became a shared passion. Kiegan is the first to drive, with his father Harry by his side at every turn — turning wrenches, hauling trailers, and keeping his son’s dream alive.
“My dad went and talked to the Meyer family about getting me started in racing last year,” Kiegan said. “My dad is friends with Ramsey and went to school with him, and they were all about it.”
Ramsey Meyer, a three-time national IMCA Sport Compact champion, became a key mentor for the young driver — offering guidance, equipment, and encouragement throughout the season as Werner learned the ropes. After a season full of travel and rebuilding, Harry Werner reflected on the grind of the summer with pride.
“It was a long and crazy summer,” he said. “We ended up running four different cars. We were two cars in and I was ready to quit, but Tom Meyer told us, ‘Winners never quit.’ That became our motto. We got Ramsey’s old car pulled out of the spare garage and ran that for three weeks until we got another one put together. If it wasn’t for that, we wouldn’t have been able to be as fortunate as we were to end up where we did.”
Feature Wins 6
Total Top Five’s 21
Total Starts 32
His Pit Crew: mom Kelsey, dad Harry, brothers Kason and Brixton; Tom, Ramsey, and Cameron Meyer
His Sponsors: Tom’s Service, the Meyer Family, TC Agronomy,, Smith Trucking, MAC tools with Cameron Meyer, Farm Bureau Financial Services with Scott Race, Warneke Bros, Pinman Construction, Champion Construction, Bretscneider Farms, Kelly Lueken Trucking, White Farms, Extreme Decals, Reaper Racecars