Like father, like son, like grandson

Racing cars must be in the blood of this Sherman Family.

Dale Sherman, son of Marj and the late Vernon “Hap” Sherman, grew up in Marengo and graduated from Iowa Valley in 1975. Soon after, he began racing stock cars on the dirt track at Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids with his best friend, Mervin Chandler who also graduated from Iowa Valley.

Dale’s first car was a 1970 Monte Carlo. Dales’ children — Jason, Shane, and Keela — all grew up in Marengo and attended Iowa Valley High School. They were often at Hawkeye Downs to watch their father race.

Dale lives on an acreage near Amana with his wife, Deb, and now watches his son, Jason, and his grandson, Hayden, continue the racing passion.

Jason Sherman lives in Marengo and began racing at Hawkeye Downs in 2012. His first car was a ‘79 Monte Carlo. Jason has had numerous top-five finishes in the Hobby Stock class and was the Points Champion in 2021 at Hawkeye Downs.

After competing in the Bristol Dirt Nationals in 2022, Jason suffered a severe knee injury and handed the driving duties of his race car over to his cousin, Matt Petrzelka of Norway, who drove his way to be the Points Champion that year.

Jason continues to race every week at Hawkeye Downs.

Shane Sherman lives with his family in Williamsburg. He owns and operates HM Auto and Repair, an auto-body repair and restoration business, where he has painted all the family race cars.

Shane has competed in numerous demolition derbies in and out of Iowa and he occasionally runs in the Enduro races held at Hawkeye Downs.

Keela (Sherman) Roberts lives with her family in Atkins and has fond memories of going out to the Petrzelka farm to work on cars as well as going to the races and demolition derbies with her dad and brothers.

Roberts got into her first demolition derby car at the age of 15 and competed with the men for several years. Keela and Dale worked together promoting the Blairstown Demo Derby for almost 20 years before stepping away in 2023.

They will be promoting the Dirt at the Downs Demolition Derby Sept. 20 as Hawkeye Downs celebrates its 100th year.

Dale occasionally gets back into a race car when he’s not traveling with this wife. The most recent time was June 13 when Dale and Jason raced alongside Jason’s son, Hayden, who’s only 15.

This was the first time that three generations have been on the track at the same time.

The Shermans came in first, second and third in the heat, and Hayden brought home the checkered flag in both the heat and the feature.

Hayden will be a sophomore at Jefferson High School in Cedar Rapids this fall. This is his first year of racing, and he has made it to second place in points behind his cousin, Adam Petrzelka (Matt’s brother).

Keep your eye on the results from the Hawkeye Downs Speedway each week all summer to follow the success of Hayden and Jason Sherman and Adam Petrzelka.

Other names of note are Tallen, Brad, Dallas, and Laney Chandler, children and grandchildren of the late Mervin Chandler.