Javen Ostermann

NEW ULM — While New Ulm’s Javen Ostermann has a gameplan heading into every race he competes in, most of it goes out the window when the green flag drops.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. It’s worked out well for him during his rookie season of sprint car racing in the 360 division.

Ostermann, 25, was one of the midwest’s most consistent sprint car drivers this year as he cruised to the top of the Midwest Power Series, finishing the series as the points leader and season champion. That also earned him Rookie of the Year honors in that series and a nice chunk of change to continue building a name for himself in his racing career.

Right: Ostermann sits in his car at Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, Minnesota.

“I knew it was going to be really difficult going into the year, just because there’s a learning curve learning how to drive the car with the extra power, learning how to set it up, and then obviously the good drivers that I’m going against,” Ostermann said. “Still at the same time, I knew I wanted it and I knew we put in the time in the offseason to build a fast car. So even though some other people were telling me to have moderate [expectations], I was still going into the season thinking, ‘We’re getting the championship this year.’ It was pretty cool to be able to do that for us and our sponsors, too.”

While Ostermann would have liked to have had the Midwest Power Series locked up earlier in the season, he still needed to lock it up in the final race of the series at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wisconsin on Sept. 10.

“Good for the fans and everything, but it was unfortunate for kind of my nerves that it came down to the last race of the season,” Ostermann said. “We had a decent points lead about halfway through the season, but I hit a rut at one of the tracks in South Dakota, I hit a hole and ended up flipping and that was in the heat race. Just finishing the heat race, you don’t get nearly as much points as if I’d have crashed in the feature. And the guy that was in second and third, finished Top 5 or something like that, so they gained a lot of points on me.”

Ostermann needed to finish 22nd or better in that final race. He started out seventh and ended up finishing eighth to wrap up his championship season.

Ostermann also finished fourth overall in the MSTS 360 Midwest Sprint Touring Series this year and was Rookie of the Year in that series as well.

Above: Ostermann poses for a photo with Greg Parent (promoter of the Midwest Power Series) in victory lane at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wisconsin, after Ostermann won the series’ championship.

Ostermann attributes his succesful season to knowing the other racers and where he’s starting. However, being able to adapt each race is also key.

“Everybody kind of has a plan going into it, but as soon as the green flag gets dropped, it’s no plan [laughs],” Ostermann said. “The biggest thing for me is, we get lineups on our phones, there’s an app on our phone that we can use. So it’s just kind of watching who’s starting around me. Because generally, you get used to everybody else’s habits and the way they start a race or the way they drive in general.

“So it’s kind of analyze what the other people generally do, as well as where I’m starting. If I’m starting way up front, I know whatever happens I’ve just got to go right away. Whereas if I’m starting way in the back, I’ve got to try to be aggressive right away, but at the same time really cautious because there’s 20 cars that could wreck instead of three if I’m starting out front. So it’s just kind of assessing the situation basically.”

Ostermann first got interested in racing at a young age through his dad and started out racing go-karts at 9 years old. After several years of racing go-karts nationally, Ostermann turned his attention to micro sprints at 17.

“We ran micro sprints for like a year and a half, which is a much smaller version of a sprint car with a crotch rocket engine,” Ostermann said. “We only ran those for like a year and a half because they kind of fizzled out in the area and then got into 305 sprint, which the 305 is the engine size, it’s just a smaller version, an entry-level version of what we’re in now with the 360.”

Ostermann competed in a few 360 division races last year but had his official rookie season this year, competing in 20 races at 10 different tracks in five states.

Most of the tracks Ostermann races at are half-mile tracks, but he’s also competed at some smaller three-eighth mile tracks.

“Those are pretty fun, I almost prefer the small tracks because the racing’s a little bit better,” he said. “Big tracks, you kind of get spread out a lot and then it kind of just depends on horse power, which is all part of it, though. Still got to make the car handle to get around.”

Ostermann’s car, which runs on a Chevy engine and has a little more than 700 horsepower, weighs 1,500 pounds with him in it, almost a 50% power-to-weight ratio.

“We bought a used engine and then just rebuilt it and changed some things to how we wanted it,” Ostermann said. “And one of our sponsors, a guy that helps us out a lot, is Simply Twisted Motorsports over in St. Peter. We work with him a lot, he does most if not all our machining — and my dad and I assemble it at home.”

Ostermann’s car is also made up of a MAXIM chassis.

Ostermann has his heights set high again next season but has goals to eventually go up to the 410 division and compete in the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series.

Javen Ostermann’s SponSors & Special Thanks Yous

• Powder Werks (Lake Crystal, MN)

• Schaefer Well Drilling and Crane Service (New Ulm)

• Belek Tree Services LLC (Courtland, MN)

• Beth Nelson Insurance Agency (New Ulm)

• Bode Collision and Glass (New Ulm)

• Ahrens Heating and Air Conditioning (New Ulm)

• Mike Brehmer Trucking (New Ulm)

• Simply Twisted Motorsports (Saint Peter, MN)

• G&K Engines

• Doug Rono

• Julie Huiras

• Parents Loni & Joad

• Grandparents Chuck & Gail

• Joe Merkel