USRA B-Mod national champion Jim Chisholm is congratulated by Deer Creek Speedway announcer Todd Narveson after a win at the popular 3/8-mile clay oval in Spring Valley, Minnesota.

Jim Chisholm started the 2020 racing season like many other drivers, just being grateful for a chance to race.

Then, two months into the season, Chisholm glanced at the USRA B-Mod national points standings.

“I looked at them, probably in July sometime, and I had to start asking around how they even did the format,” Chisholm said. “It was about that time that we started going after some different shows that had a little more prestige. We had to find some more points.”

Suddenly, a third consecutive track title at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minnesota, wasn’t the only championship Chisholm had in his sights.

The 17-year-old high school senior from Osage, Iowa, set his sights higher. He set them on a goal that it takes some drivers decades to get to.

Most drivers never get there.

“We never really set it as a plan at the start of the year,” Chisholm said. “I think we were like everyone else. We didn’t really know what was going to happen (with the possibility of the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down the season). We just felt fortunate to go race a few times at the beginning of the year.

“Last year we got fifth (in national points), so our goal since then was to finish in the top three.”

Starting young: Chisholm was six years old when his uncle, Mark Chisholm, won a drawing at Deer Creek to drive a Slingshot—smaller cars that are 4 feet wide, less than 10 feet long and house 39-horsepower engines—one afternoon at Button Buck Speedway, the smaller dirt track inside the 3/8-mile dirt oval at Deer Creek.

At the time, Jim had never been to a dirt track race, much less shown a desire to drive a race car. Mark enjoyed the experience so much that he decided to purchase a Slingshot and let his young nephew be the wheel man.

“The original agreement was for me to drive it two Saturdays,” Jim said, “but that turned into every Saturday.

“That was my first time ever being at the racetrack. I fell in love with it.”

It wasn’t just Jim who fell in love with being at the racetrack. His younger brother Joe tagged along every weekend, helped Jim and his family work on the car in the pits and watched his brother race from the bleachers.

“He came with us every weekend,” Jim said. “When he turned five he got a Slingshot too and he’s been racing ever since.”

Joe is now 14 and, like his brother, has advanced up to the big track, racing in the same division. Joe, nicknamed “Smoke,” not only keeps up with his bigger brother, he has begun to challenge him. Joe has even beaten Jim in a handful of heat races and B-Mains.

“Joe is getting a lot better; I’ve seen a big improvement this year,” Jim said. “He is way more competitive than I’ll ever be. That’s how he’s built. He’s very smart in how he drives… A big part of that is he works on his own stuff and keeps it up.”

The Chisholms also have six older sisters, but none have found their way into a race car, Jim said.

“They’re all really supportive,” he said. “They come to a lot of races and a few of them helped in the pits. We almost got one of them in a car, but not quite.”

Becoming a champion: Jim won his first-ever championship in a USRA B-Mod two years ago at Deer Creek, tying with Owatonna’s Kadden Kath for the 2018 track title. Jim was just 15 at the time.

The following year, he won it again, but he didn’t have to share it. This summer, he was the dominant driver in the division at Deer Creek, winning half of the USRA B-Mod features and finishing in the top five in all 10 of them, en route to his third straight track title.

All of those top-five finishes—in a class that regularly draws 25 or more cars—spring-boarded Jim to the top of the Summit USRA Weekly Racing Series national points standings.

“The people at Deer Creek are just great,” he said. “You won’t find a bad person there, from the way its run to everyone there… it’s always a hard place to win, there are so many good drivers.”

As the summer gave way to fall, Chisholm was determined to get to as many big shows as possible to ensure he stayed atop the national points. He finished second at the Casey Knutson Memorial race at the Mississippi Thunder Speedway in Fountain City, Wisconsin, in late July.

Then, in mid-September, he swept both features at the two-night Featherlite Fall Jamboree at Deer Creek, giving him an unprecedented five consecutive Jamboree feature wins.

“That’s the hardest race of the year for us,” he said. “The best of the best come out at Deer Creek on those nights.”

He credited his family—his parents, Monte and Lezlie; his brother Joe; his girlfriend Hannah Lange and her dad Troy; his uncle Mark; his sister Kelly and her boyfriend Dan.

“It’s really a family deal,” Jim said. “It’s a lot of fun and it keeps us close.”

Just more than a month after sweeping the Jamboree, Jim learned he’d locked up his first national championship. He was most excited to share it with his team.

“I think we’re still a little shocked,” he said. “It’s something you never really dream of doing. It’s not just for me, it’s for our whole team and family.

“We won’t change how we approach anything. We’ll celebrate it, but we’ll come out next year and try just as hard.”

After a 2020 campaign where he recorded 15 victories, 35 top-five finishes and 40 top-tens in 45 nights of racing, bettering his own record will likely be his toughest competition in 2021.

Final 2020 USRA B-Mod National Points:

1. Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa ... 4577
2. Kris Jackson, Lebanon, Mo. ... 4554
3. Ty Griffith, Webster City, Iowa ... 4505
4. Dillon McCowan, Urbana, Mo. ... 4456
5. Dan Hovden, Decorah, Iowa ... 4449
6. Jake Richards, Lansing, Kan. ... 4405
7. J.C. Morton, Springfield, Mo. ... 4403
8. Tyler Kidwell, Chanute, Kan. ... 4309
9. Cody King, Fanshawe, Okla. ... 4235
10. Ben Moudry, Protivin, Iowa ... 4235
11. Taylor Skauge, Caledonia, Minn. ... 4212
12. Jackie Dalton, Carthage, Mo. ... 4143
13. Brandon Maitland, Waterloo, Iowa ... 4106
14. Doug McCollough, Webster City, Iowa ... 4100
15. Brandon Hare, Elma, Iowa ... 4066
16. Shadren Turner, St. Joseph, Mo. ... 4059
17. Kenton Allen, Chanute, Kan. ... 4052
18. J.C. Newell, Buffalo, Mo. ... 4024
19. Josh Roney, Postville, Iowa ... 4018
20. Derek Van Veldhuizen, Rock Rapids, Iowa ... 4014

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