By Bill Martin
FAIRBURY, Neb. (Oct. 23, 2026) – Adam Wasserman was so focused on winning a track championship that he’d forgotten about an even bigger prize.
The second-season Karl Kustoms IMCA Modified driver clinched the Jet Racing Central Region crown, along with the track and Nebraska State titles with a third-place finish in the Aug. 29 finale at Eagle Raceway.
“I wasn’t paying attention to regional points until about the last three weeks, then somebody said, ‘hey, you should look at the standings,’” he said. “I did and told myself I’d better try. I was so focused on winning the track championship that I kind of forgot about the region.”
“It still feels surreal that I put my name up there with guys like Johnny Saathoff, Jordan Grabouski and David Murray Jr. as a regional champion. It’s cool to have your name with guys like that.”
From Fairbury, Wasserman cut his racing teeth running with the best of them for five seasons in a Sunoco IMCA Hobby Stock. His Modified rookie season was a learning one, with a trio of top five finishes in 36 starts at seven different Midwest tracks.
He’d get his career first Mod win on May 2 of this year.
“I had a so-so heat race and barely made the redraw, then started outside pole in the feature. There were no cautions and I think I won by a straightaway,” Wasserman recalled. “Jordan Grabouski got second and I thought that was pretty cool. Granted, he started a little deeper and I was on the front row, but I never thought I’d beat him in an ‘A’ feature.”
Wasserman’s other win came in July at Beatrice Speedway, where he’d end up third in points. Statistics for his sophomore season also showed another 14 top five finishes in 30 home region starts.
Defending champion Shawn Harker and six-time champ and chassis builder Saathoff completed the regional top three.
“I felt like I wanted to give myself a new challenge. I thought it would be cool to pull out on the track and race with guys like Ricky Thornton Jr., Tim Ward, Johnny and Jordan, and see how we stacked up against them,” Wasserman said. “Johnny had a fairly priced turnkey Modified (a 2018 Jet Mod) that we could get in and go. I’ll always be grateful to him because I don’t know if I’d have been able to get into a Modified without that.”
“The biggest thing this year was that I got a lot of help from Johnny maintenance-wise and what to look out for. I had a pretty good idea what could go bad or what the track would do to your car in a Hobby Stock,” he continued. “Johnny gave me a lot of tips on what to do to avoid mechanical failures and Norm Ziegenbein, a former Modified racer, stepped in and helped me with setup. He helped steer me in the right direction and I’ve been way faster since.”
His dad Bruce raced Late Models with Saathoff, so their families go way back. Wasserman, now 26, also got his first Hobby Stock feature win in a Jet-built ride at Eagle, in 2021, and agrees that he’s lucky to have the Saturday track just an hour and a half from home.
“Roger (Hadan) does track prep every night at intermission, and he’s always got moisture in the track. If it does slick off, you can always moisture hunt, look around and find yourself a line. Very seldom is it a one lane track,” he said. “That makes it fun for a guy who likes to race. You can pick a groove you like and pass people, so starting in the back is not as demoralizing as starting in the back on a one-lane track.”
A graduate of Doane University, Wasserman played football at the Crete school before completing his bachelor’s degree in business. He works for the Budweiser distributor in Fairbury and takes the week off to race at the Speedway Motors IMCA Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s when those responsibilities allow.
“We always have very good competition, but Eagle is my weekly track and I know how to get around it,” said Wasserman, who made two weekly visits to Iowa’s Action Track this season. “Going to Boone, you get to race against different competition, at a track you usually just race at during Super Nationals.”
Wins – 2
Top Five Finishes – 16
Home Region Starts – 30
HIS CREW: Father Bruce, brother Brendon Stigge, Chris Hamilton and Nick Warnke.
HIS SPONSORS: Chris Hamilton and Hamilton Construction and Jet Racing, both of Beatrice; BA Wasserman Trucking, Black Diamond Exteriors, Fairbury K Lawn, Miller Seeds, Judd Martin and Schaefer Oil and Warnke Tree Shearing, all of Fairbury; Hergott Farms of Gilead; Criner’s Corner Bar & Grill of Endicott; and C & N Outdoors of Dillard.