Kulwicki Spotlight: Eisenhower Representing Alan During Midwest Fall Classics

Noah Eisenhower's 2025 racing season has been full of highs and lows.

The Kulwicki Driver Development Program finalist from Freeport, Illinois has focused on taking every swing of momentum in stride, maximizing his finishing result at every opportunity on track.

"It's been kind of a roller coaster ride, I guess, for lack of a better term," Eisenhower told Racing America. "We started off the year fairly well off on the right foot at Slinger. It just kind of went up and down a little bit with running Madison and then coming back to the Dells a couple times.

"We’ve had some runs not go our way, we’ve also had some runs go our way. Just trying to stay in the mix as much as we can and maximize our points as much as possible."

That journey continues this weekend at Jefferson Speedway, as big-race season is in full swing in the Midwest.

"We just completed National Short Track Championship up at Dells last week, which kicked off our special season," said Eisenhower. "This week, we have Jefferson, a two-day show at Jefferson Speedway. They’ve got the Wisconsin State Championship races up there on Friday and Saturday night. We will be competing in three 60-lap races, one on Friday, two on Saturday. Hopefully, we can have a good showing there.

"I’ve got some question marks going into this week, especially coming off of two weeks where we haven’t had our best foot forward. We’ve just kind of been able to salvage the day. The setup that we’ve got coming in for Jefferson, I’m fairly confident in. It’s something that we brought to Golden Sands a few weeks ago when we finished second and was actually able to take a few looks at the lead early in the race. I’m pretty confident in this setup and I’m really looking forward to getting back to Jefferson."

That will continue into October with one of Wisconsin's biggest events, Oktoberfest Race Weekend.

"We’ve got Oktoberfest at LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway, two weeks from now. On October 4, we will be headed up there on Friday to get ready for it. Practice all day, practice a little bit more on Saturday morning before you hit it off running with racing on Saturday night.

“This is going to be my first year actually competing in it. I’ve been up there a couple of times when I was in late middle school or early high school, just enjoying the weekend and taking the event all in as a spectator and learning a bit more about the facility.”

Kulwicki's Stomping Grounds

Like fellow KDDP finalist Bryce Bailey, hailing from the Midwest allows Eisenhower to compete at many of the same short tracks that Alan Kulwicki cut his teeth on. The 1992 NASCAR Cup Series champion and namesake of the Kulwicki Driver Development Program made his name in the Midwest before making the jump to NASCAR.

There's a sense of local pride for Eisenhower, and even a friendly rivalry among his fellow finalsts to defend home turf.

“It’s been a super great experience," Eisenhower explained. "I kind of told myself coming into it after I got picked, as we kind of progressed through the first couple of weeks getting it off on the right foot, that hopefully either me or Bryce wins this deal.

"Not only is running with ourselves super important, but we’re also competing against a lot of the top competitors in the nation as well. It’s kind of Northeast with Taylor [Hoar] and Derek [Gluchacki], Seth [Christensen] being in the South and me and Bryce being in the Midwest, kind of a territorial thing."

Eisenhower also wants to represent the Midwest beyond the constructs of the Kulwicki Driver Development Program, as he believes the best short track racers and competition come from the region.

"In my personal opinion, Wisconsin is the hardest state to compete in with Super Late Model and Pro Late Model racing," he said. "A lot of guys like Bubba Pollard come up to the Midwest, like Wisconsin and Illinois, and they just can’t run with us up here.

“Kind of defending our territory up here, I think is a super-fun thing to be a part of. Also, kind of keeping Wisconsin short track racing at an all-time high and at its peak, best performance image of itself is super fun to be a part of.”

Understanding the Big Picture

Every race car driver's goal when showing up at the track is to win. However, part of being a successful racer is adjusting to the circumstances and making the best of days when things aren't going your way.

That has been a huge motivation for Eisenhower this season, especially with an eye on the Kulwicki Driver Development Program's points standings.

“The last two weeks are representations of take what you can get," said Eisenhower. "We did not have the car to be up there in the mix fighting for the seven, six, or five Kulwicki points, being the podiums, wins or top threes. Just making our way into the top 10 later in the race the last two weeks got us that extra point that we needed.

“Knowing when to take it on the chin and when to really push forward for that extra point, knowing your equipment, knowing its capabilities, I think has been a huge learning experience, as well as other stuff that is setup-related that we’ve been learning and dealing with too lately."

Every week is also a new learning experience for Eisenhower, and he is constantly applying what he's learned on track to better his equipment and setup.

“I’ve got some different things I kind of want to try at Oktoberfest, maybe some other stuff coming at Jefferson this week. We’ll have to see how Friday goes, but just learning everything in and out of my car, trying to make things better for myself and easier for the crew guys working on it, and putting myself in better positions on and off the track.”

Giving Back to Veterans

Away from the track, Eisenhower is passionate about supporting veterans. It has been the primary focus of his philanthropic efforts in the Kulwicki Driver Development Program this year.

"We did a car show that’s in our hometown of Freeport, the Freeport Cruise Night, back in August, that we were able to be a part of and represent a lot of our community sponsors that also support the Cruise Night event," said Eisenhower. "We were set up and did some donations for VetsRoll, where we raised over $1,100 in profits.

“Each lap that we have completed in feature competition has gone towards donations towards VetsRoll, as well as some other small projects that I’ve done for the Veterans Assistance Commission, as well as the All Vets Memorial Park in Freeport. I’ve done some stuff with them, like helping clean up the facilities and maintaining the properties."

Eisenhower's grandfathers on both sides of his family served in the armed forces. With that background, giving back to veterans has been instilled at him his entire life.

“It’s been super important to me as both of my grandparents, grandfathers on both sides of my family are heavily involved in veteran stuff in the town of Freeport. This has been instilled in me, growing up with my grandparents through the years of not only racing, but just spending time with them at their house.

"Giving back to people that gave so much. I would never be able to put myself in that position for what they gave for our country, no matter if that was peacetime or serving in combat through all five branches. Giving back to them as much as you can because they gave so much is a super important thing for me.”

-Photo credit: QCWilly, provided by Kulwicki Driver Development Program