The Kossuth County Racing Hall of Fame, located in Algona, IA, will induct six individuals in its 2021 class of inductees.
Drivers Tim Erpelding, Kyle Schattschneider and Ricky Joe Smith join Dave Hanselman plus Rollie and Ann Perkins as 2021 inductees.
Tim Erpelding competed in three different classes at the track in Algona. He was the 1987 Street Stock point champion and fair race winner. In 1988 he claimed the Hobby Stock point title before moving up to a modified the following year. His biggest IMCA Modified win came in 1992, earning the IMCA Nationals Series event held here. Erpelding was also the 1995 IMCA Modified track champion in Algona. He is a 15-time winner at Algona.
Kyle Schattschneider before the races at Algona. Schattschneider collection.
Kyle Schattschneider’s career started fast at Algona, becoming the 1974 Roadrunner champion and winning the Midwest Championship at Algona while still in high school. He has at least 18 wins at Algona, with some additional wins believed to be undocumented. Schattschneider was also the 1991 and 1994 Kossuth County Fair race champion and was the proud winner of the Schattschneider Memorial, a race held in memory of his father. In 2021, he joins his late father Gene as inductees into the hall of fame.
Ricky Joe Smith in Algona’s victory lane. Chad Meyer collection.
Ricky Joe Smith was a 14-time feature winner at the Algona speed plant. He hoisted the 1987 Kossuth County Fair race trophy while competing in the Hobby Stocks. Also at Algona, he was the 1991 NCAR-sanctioned point champion at Kossuth County Speedway, besting Denny Hovinga, Dave Nutt, Mark Noble and Denny Anderson in the standings. He was known as a driver who got more out of his equipment than almost anyone. His son Alex is a regular competitor today at Algona.
Recognized as an owner-builder-crew chief, Dave Hanselman’s racing resume is extensive. Getting his start in 1967 with Marlie Struecker, then helping with Wayne Meyer’s and Gene Schattschneider’s cars before landing on the Utt Electric Sprint Car crew, Hanselman is most known for his efforts with his racing son Dan. As a family, they have collected Kossuth County Fair race trophies in 1994, 2000, 2008, 2010 in two different divisions. They earned the 1997 Hobby Stock point title at Algona and then captured the first-ever IMCA Supernationals crown for that division the same year. Other big event wins at Algona include the 1997 Schattschneider Memorial and Kossuth Fabricator’s Special. Together they also won the 2014 Bob Shryock Memorial here and the 2000 National Kidney Foundation Tour championship.
The late Rollie and Ann Perkins ran a salvage yard in Britt, IA. Even though the business was not in Kossuth County, feedback over the years from many drivers shows they were a very important part of racing in Algona. Nearly every year the Kossuth County Racing Hall of Fame committee has received write-in nominations from past inductees saying that Rollie and Ann should be inducted.
One past inductee wrote in saying “These people gave so many people in racing parts and support over the years. Most racers wouldn’t have been able to race [without their support].”
The committee, with the help of the living members of the Kossuth Racing Hall of Fame, selected the inductees for 2021.
The induction ceremony will take place during the Kossuth County Fair races on Thursday, August 5th.
