Cody Kalmer: Digging Deep On and Off the Track
By Ben Deatherage WINNEMUCCA, Nev. (Jul. 2, 2025) — For Cody Kalmer, every lap behind the wheel is built on grit — both on the dirt and deep underground. The Friesen Performance IMCA Modified driver from Winnemucca, Nevada, spends the middle of the week more than a mile below the earth’s surface as an underground gold miner. Come the weekend, he’s racing above ground, chasing checkered flags at tracks like Winnemucca Regional Raceway, Summit Raceway in Elko, and Lovelock Speedway. “I got to run Lovelock once in 2020 and then they shut down,” said Kalmer. “So I was excited they came back a few years ago. My friend Zach Cail and his stepdad Brett Wilkins have done a great job running that place, and Jeff Olschewka is giving us a great surface.” Kalmer’s journey into racing began not behind the wheel, but behind the fence. “I was never really part of the racing community. I used to just watch here at Winnemucca and thought, ‘You know what, it’d be cool to get a car of my [Read More]