By Chad Meyer
John Pletcher’s lifelong love of motorsports started with the influence of another Kosuth County Racing Hall of Fame inductee.
“I lived across the street from Don Hiscocks and I’d help him and Jon [Hiscocks]. Soon, I got involved in helping them build a couple of race cars. If I had enough money for a pit pass, I’d go to the races with them. I was 12 years old and would ride in the bed of the pickup truck from Britt to Algona,” Pletcher recalls.
In 1972 Pletcher built his first car, a 1958 Ford with a stock 352 cubic inch engine. He didn’t have to go far in acquiring that first racer.
“It came right off the street, it was the car I drove to school. I welded in the roll cage and if we would have crashed, I probably would have died. That car was slow,” he laughed. “Our first race was in Algona. We raced Algona on Friday nights and Webster City on Saturdays.
In the late ‘70’s he drove off and on for Don & Jon Hiscocks and in 1982 and 1983 Pletcher drove a Camaro for Dave Kabrick at Mason City and Webster City in the limited late model division.
When the IMCA Modified made its way on the scene, Pletcher began racing his blue and white #25 in the area in 1985. He was a competitor in the first IMCA Modified race in Algona, which took place during the Kossuth County Fair in 1986. He raced that division until 1987, until back surgery sidelined him in 1988.
“I thought I was going to be done racing,” Pletcher said. “So, I sold everything and didn’t race in 1989 either. But then I thought maybe I could do this again, and we raced Modifieds throughout 1990 to 1991. After that, we started racing IMCA Stock Cars.”
At Algona, Pletcher scored multiple Stock Car wins from the mid-90’s through the year 2000. In 1999 he scored the Mid-Season Championship feature race. For Pletcher, his biggest win at the Algona track came in 2000.
“I [had Budweiser on my car] and was sponsored by and worked at Kabrick Distributing. It was Budweiser night and they sponsored the Big Bud shootout that night at Algona. Troy Swearingen won the Big Bud Shootout and I won the feature that night. I think Bud Foley [Kabrick Distributing General Manager] was more excited that I won that night than me,” he recalls. “That year I won the Budweiser night at both Algona and Britt. That was a big deal for us.”
He also remembers a night that he bested Gene Schattschneider to win a cash dash at Algona. “Gene never took it easy on anyone. To win that dash was a big deal at the time.”
“We always enjoyed racing in Algona and got along with everyone,” Pletcher said. “We didn’t win a track title, but we were always in the hunt and for several years finished 2nd to 10th in the points. We didn’t spend the money on the car that others did, we did all our own work, even if it meant working through the night to get ready to go again. I always had great help; there was at least a half-dozen that were dedicated to helping in the shop and at the track.”
Pletcher was one of the volunteers that helped establish the Hancock County Speedway in Britt in 1995. It was fitting that on June 30th, he won the season opening IMCA Stock Car main event at his hometown track. He also counts his Memorial Day special win at Britt among one of his favorites and is proud that he was named Driver of the Year at Algona during one of the season-ending banquets.
Pletcher raced through 2006 and after a couple races in 2007, stopped racing cars. From 2007 through 2009, he and Darlene Weber promoted the Hancock County Speedway and were vital in keeping that track going during a critical period for the speedway. Pletcher also worked for track promoter Joe Ringsdorf for several seasons, helping with track prep and other tasks.
“In 50+ years in racing, we’ve met so many great people and had so many people help us. I don’t regret any of it,” he said. “We raced to have fun and we did. We cooked a lot of late-night breakfasts working on the car so we could get back to the track.”
Pletcher joins Stacey Mills, Bruce Wickman, Tim Sidles plus the Algona Fire Department and Kossuth County EMS as inductees into the Kossuth County Racing Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony takes place during the Kossuth County Fair Races in Algona on Thursday, August 6th. Learn more at www.kossuthmuseum.com
