By Chad Meyer
What grew into sponsoring 6 race drivers at one point, began from pretty simple beginnings for LuVerne, Iowa’s John Kubly.
“I was 12 years old working for Stan Riedel, who was the promoter at the Wright County Raceway [near Belmond],” remembers Kubly. “I sold candy and hot dogs to the drivers in the pits. My mom worked in the concession stand at the track, while my dad took tickets at the gate.”
A lifelong race fan, Kubly’s next involvement in the sport was building a car with some friends to race at Belmond. He never got his chance to drive it though. “I wanted to drive, but wasn’t old enough. My dad wouldn’t sign for me, so someone else drove.”
Kubly was and is a “Ford guy” and that’s the first connection to how he became directly involved in the sport as a sponsor. “I always went to the races in Algona and because Jake Simpson was racing a Ford [Thunder] truck, after the races I went to congratulate him if they did well.”
When Simpson moved up to the B-Mod class, it opened the door for Kubly to become a sponsor. “Jake worked at what was then called Shoppers Supply. One day I was in Shoppers talking to Jake and he asked me if I would sponsor him. My first question was ‘Are you running a Ford?’” When the answer was affirmative, a relationship that extends to today was born.
Over time, the name “Kubly Farms” became synonymous with racing in north Iowa, ultimately sponsoring seven different drivers. “I was really good friends with Chad Palmer’s father, Curt. He and I were both contractors, and I was involved with Chad early in his career,” Kubly said.
“Craig Berhow and his wife, they were just great kids. I really enjoy them. Jeff Dolphin always raced Britt and I went to Britt weekly, that’s how we got together. Rob Hughes [and son Nate], the Hughes family is shirttail relation of mine, which is how we became acquainted.”
The success at Kossuth County Raceway for Kubly Farms sponsored cars is impressive. Collectively, Kubly Farms sponsored cars have approximately 132 feature wins at Algona alone. That total is much higher when you factor in success at other tracks.
Jake Simpson has 100 total career feature wins, 48 of them at Algona, which ties him third all-time here. Additionally, Simpson has five track titles at Algona, four fair race wins and a Shryock Memorial to his credit. Nearly all of those came with support from Kubly.
A check of Chad Palmer’s stats at Algona shows 36 wins, eighth all-time here. Palmer holds four track championships, three fair race wins and two Shryock Memorials. Many of those had Kubly Farms on the side.
Rob Hughes has collected 32 feature wins at Algona, 11th all-time. He also was the 2001 fair race winner and scored the 1998 Schattschneider Memorial. His son Nate has two feature wins here.
At Algona, Craig Berhow adds to the tally with 6 wins, while Jeff Dolphin has 8 wins, one fair race win and a Schattschneider Memorial on his resume here.
Looking back, Kubly talks with pride in what often was a long-term sponsorship relationship with his drivers. “Man, Chad Palmer and Jake Simpson were 18 year old kids when I started sponsoring them. I picked really good kids and they were all winners. Every one of them were winners. It’s a lot more fun when you winning.”
Asked to pick a favorite memory, Kubly pointed to this. “Back when Jake [Simpson] was racing a lot, we ran all over. In state and out of state. That was a lot of fun. We had some really great runs at Alta over the years. It was pretty exciting to do well at the track where his grandpa [Dick 
Simpson] promoted.”
You’ll still see Kubly at the track today, still sponsoring Simpson and Berhow. He farms near LuVerne, IA and spends his winters in Florida.
