2/15/2024
Badger Midget Auto Racing Association
Meet Todd Kluever
To say Todd Kluever has, "been there and done that," would be an understatement. But one has to wonder how many people in the stands, on any given night, realize how much he's done in racing. You see, Kluever's been to "The Show." He noted below, that he was in NASCAR's Craftsman Truck Series. He then ran a season and a half in the Busch Grand National Series (yes, that was the title, it was a while ago) and had a couple of goes in NASCAR's Cup Series.
He came to Badger with a lot of dirt track experience later in life, but the midget was a bit of a learning curve. With a little help from his friends, he's come along nicely. Let's see what 2023 runner up, in AFS Badger points has to say.
Car #55
The Kluever Family - Owner
TK2 Racing - Team Name
Sponsors-Badger Music & Equipment, Nora’s Tavern, Seminary Springs Tavern, The Fox Bar & Grille, BRS Radiator Service, Kippley Performance, John H Wood Trucking, Club La Mark, Fowler Heating & Air, Bradley Farms, Lake Wisconsin Campground, BMRE Electric Karts, Wehrs Machine, Pathfinder Chassis, Behling Racing.
Crew - Brother Tim, Dad Fred, Colin, John, Doug, Dan, girlfriend Kari, nieces Kami, Hailey, Sam and sister in law Sheryl
BMARA: Were you a fan of racing before you got behind the wheel and if so, who were your heroes and what tracks did you attend?
Kluever: Being born and raised in Sun Prairie, WI, the first racetrack I ever went to was Angell Park Speedway with my father. It’s where I fell in love with racing. I was a big fan of Page Jones, Stevie Reeves, Jeff Gordon and locally Randy Koch. I always loved when the guys I would read about or see on Thursday Night Thunder on ESPN would show up at my home track to race with the regular Badger guys.
BMARA: Give us a synopsis of your racing career.
Kluever: I started racing flat track motorcycles in 1992. I raced them until 1999. I raced dirt in the summer and ice in the winter. Won some races and championships. 1996 250cc Short Track Amateur National Champ, WI State Champ, District 16 125cc points champ. I started racing snowcross in the winter of 1998-1999. I raced sport class that year and won a fair amount. In 1999-2000 season I ran amateur in the national races and semi pro in regional again winning races. 2000-2001 season I ran semi pro class on national events and pro class at local/ regional events. I retired after 2 bad wrecks that year to concentrate on my stock car career.
I started racing asphalt in 1999. My brother bought a Midwest truck for me to race with money from a boat he sold. We raced 2/3 of the season at Madison and won 1 feature. Started in super late models in 2000. Rookie of the year at the dells in 2000 and won my first super late feature there. 2001 we won the track championship and MIS winning 3 or 4 features, we also won the Midwest all star racing series championship and rookie of the year winning 1 feature. 2002-2004 we moved to Asa with my family owned team while also driving for Jerry Gunderman in his car locally. We won a bunch in Jerry’s car and he got me the opportunity to audition with Roush Racing which I drove for from 2005-2007
I was the 2005 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year.
Ran a few super late model races for Scott Ollerman in 2007 and 2008 and 2009. Quit racing until I moved home in 2016. Bought a Sport Mod for 2017 and won a feature.
2018-2019-2020 ran a Imca A-Mod
2021 bought a midget.
BMARA: How much time do you spend on the car each week during the season?
Kluever: Time spent per week just depends. I have an awesome group that helps with the cars. We wash on Monday, We have Wednesday shop night and everyone comes out and has specific jobs they do on the car. So with 4-5 guys each doing 3-4 hours work I would say 15-20 hours but I am also over there most of my free time tinkering with them.
BMARA: What is your day job and how does racing fit in?
Kluever: For my day job I am an account rep/ vending machine repair man for my father’s company, Badger Music & Equipment. We do jukeboxes, pool tables, dart machines, video gaming machines, pull tab machines and any other coin operated amusement machines in bars and restaurants.
My brother and I also own 3 bars/restaurants. They are, Noras Tavern, Seminary Springs Tavern, The Fox Bar and Grille, so we stay plenty busy. In my younger days racing came first and work second. Now work always comes first. It has to be that way because you gotta make money to pay for race cars.
BMARA: What's something interesting the fans might not know about you?
Kluever: As far as what people don’t know about me I’m kind of drawing a blank. I’m very family oriented. I work with all of my family daily in business and wouldn’t have it any other way.
I am a bulldog lover. My first one, Bella I lost in August of 2022. Kari and I now have Winter who is 1.
I still have a deep desire to race a 410 winged sprint car.
Something else people may not know is I got my first job at 14 working for Burger King in Sun Prairie. I also did vinyl siding, framed houses and worked for a remodeling company before finally working full time for my father’s business.
Lastly I have a car in the museum at the Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing shop (pictured below) because I crashed better than others.
Article by Bill Blumer Jr. with Todd Kluever
Photo Credits: Bill Blumer Jr.
Submitted By: William Blumer
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