Curtis Heldenbrand
Meet Curtis Heldenbrand:
Growing up Curtis was involved in just about every major sport there is. At the time his passion was playing baseball and for nearly 10 years of his life he spent his childhood on the mound. The family had a get away cabin deep in the Rocky Mountains and that was Curtis' favorite place to visit during the summer. Needless to say It wasn't quite when the Heldenbrand were visiting, between GoKarts, Dirt bikes and 3 wheelers. One would say "it was impossible to get him off those things" Curtis found a strong passion for the loud noise, speed, and the thrill of being in control and you could see how at such a young age being a race car makes perfect sense. Curtis has an older sister by 2 years and they got their first car to share when his sister was almost 15 their parents would take them to empty parking lots to teach her how to drive. Well you can see Curtis wasn't going to miss the opportunity of getting behind the wheel of a car so he would go with. Because Curtis has the ability to catch onto things quickly his driving skills at the age of 12 was good enough to get a drivers license, However the state of Colorado doesn't think having a license before 16 is okay. This gave Curtis 4 more years to practice his driving skills before he could hit the road. Most of Curtis' childhood was spent playing sports and learning the in's and out's of what it takes to be a competitive athlete. When Curtis was in High School he was very involved in Cross Country, Mens Swimming, Video Editing and Street Racing. He had a strong passion for driving but there was only 1 problem, Curtis didn't know the first thing about cars and how they work. If we were to tell you he didn't know how to change his oil or change a tire would you believe us?
Early Racing Years:
Curtis went to his first race in 2006 to watch a race and from that moment on he was hooked. It took nearly 4 years later to purchase his first car. In 2010 Curtis got his taxes back and took to the internet in search of a race car and little did we all know 2 weeks later there was a beater in the garage. The best part about buying his first car is the guy he got the car from had to tow it to the house because he didn't even have a way of towing it back and forth. You can see how this would pose a problem. Without knowing what and how to work on cars Curtis would take to the garage just to look at the car, hear it roar and think he was actually doing something to improve the car. Curtis would quickly find him self frustrated and overwhelmed because of the lack of knowledge when it comes to cars and how they work. Curtis set out to start his first race in 2011 and when Curtis hit the track he only made it 4 laps before blowing the motor. It was so bad he didn't even know he blew the engine till somebody had to show him why the motor was blown. Needless to say there was a massive hole through the oil pan and through the side of the motor and oil was pooling up everywhere and he still didn't know that meant the motor was blown. Curtis returned back in 2012, and 2013 and out of 36+ races Curtis only finished 5 of them. Curtis isn't the type of person that is going to quit so easily and they decided they were either going to jump into this sport full force or just give up completely. Because of his competitive nature they decided to push forward and build a new car from the ground up and continue what he started.
Growing up Curtis was involved in just about every major sport there is. At the time his passion was playing baseball and for nearly 10 years of his life he spent his childhood on the mound. The family had a get away cabin deep in the Rocky Mountains and that was Curtis' favorite place to visit during the summer. Needless to say It wasn't quite when the Heldenbrand were visiting, between GoKarts, Dirt bikes and 3 wheelers. One would say "it was impossible to get him off those things" Curtis found a strong passion for the loud noise, speed, and the thrill of being in control and you could see how at such a young age being a race car makes perfect sense. Curtis has an older sister by 2 years and they got their first car to share when his sister was almost 15 their parents would take them to empty parking lots to teach her how to drive. Well you can see Curtis wasn't going to miss the opportunity of getting behind the wheel of a car so he would go with. Because Curtis has the ability to catch onto things quickly his driving skills at the age of 12 was good enough to get a drivers license, However the state of Colorado doesn't think having a license before 16 is okay. This gave Curtis 4 more years to practice his driving skills before he could hit the road. Most of Curtis' childhood was spent playing sports and learning the in's and out's of what it takes to be a competitive athlete. When Curtis was in High School he was very involved in Cross Country, Mens Swimming, Video Editing and Street Racing. He had a strong passion for driving but there was only 1 problem, Curtis didn't know the first thing about cars and how they work. If we were to tell you he didn't know how to change his oil or change a tire would you believe us?
Early Racing Years:
Curtis went to his first race in 2006 to watch a race and from that moment on he was hooked. It took nearly 4 years later to purchase his first car. In 2010 Curtis got his taxes back and took to the internet in search of a race car and little did we all know 2 weeks later there was a beater in the garage. The best part about buying his first car is the guy he got the car from had to tow it to the house because he didn't even have a way of towing it back and forth. You can see how this would pose a problem. Without knowing what and how to work on cars Curtis would take to the garage just to look at the car, hear it roar and think he was actually doing something to improve the car. Curtis would quickly find him self frustrated and overwhelmed because of the lack of knowledge when it comes to cars and how they work. Curtis set out to start his first race in 2011 and when Curtis hit the track he only made it 4 laps before blowing the motor. It was so bad he didn't even know he blew the engine till somebody had to show him why the motor was blown. Needless to say there was a massive hole through the oil pan and through the side of the motor and oil was pooling up everywhere and he still didn't know that meant the motor was blown. Curtis returned back in 2012, and 2013 and out of 36+ races Curtis only finished 5 of them. Curtis isn't the type of person that is going to quit so easily and they decided they were either going to jump into this sport full force or just give up completely. Because of his competitive nature they decided to push forward and build a new car from the ground up and continue what he started.
Racing Progress & The Future:
The 2015 season was underway and the two of them took to the track and started to show they might actually have a little something in them. and after winning 3 dash races they were lucky enough to finish 3rd in the overall point standings for the Super Stock division. You could say the turning point of this team happened in the off season of 2015 leading into the 2016 season. Jace decided we were going to start building a pro truck to run it in the 2016 season as well as the Super Stock. The team had a goal of winning the championship in the Super Stock and wanted to go for Rookie of the Year in the Pro Truck. Curtis won his first feature event in June of 2016 and won yet another feature event in August 2016. with the way the point standings played out Curtis and the team was able to score their first every Track Championship. Curtis placed 4th in the Pro Truck series and unfortunately he was only 2 positions away from getting Rookie of the Year. 2017 was right around the corner and the team had the opportunity of moving up divisions yet again but this time it would mean not running in the Super Stock division. Curtis was able to trade up for a Super Late Model and with the team feeling they weren't ready to dedicate the time to running the Super Late Model they decided it would be best to put that on hold for one season so they could focus their time on the Pro Truck and hopefully win the Track Championship. The team has learned so much that in the beginning of the 2017 season Curtis was able to capture his first pro truck quicktimes in April and again in June. Curtis and the team had the opportunity to race and an entirely new race track in June and to their surprise they were able to capture another quicktime, this time out qualifying drivers that have raced at this track for 20 plus years. The team was headed the right direction but was still seeking that first feature win. It wasn't till August when half the team unfortunately missed a race because of a wedding and Curtis and other team members and family was there to watch the dominating performance and watching the Checkers fly for the #9 Truck. Curtis was lucky enough to be greeted by the truck owners in the pits after passing tech. although half the team was gone during the race they felt It was such a big victory they had to leave the wedding just to congratulate everybody involved that night. Curtis would go on the rest of the season in the top 3 and when the dust settled at the end of the season they managed to tie for the #1 spot but because the other driver had 2 more main event wins then Curtis did the team was taking home an overall 2nd place in the pro truck series. 2018 is going to be yet again exciting as the team plans on running a full time schedule in the Pro Truck division and the Super Late Model division with the possibility of racing different tracks.2018 Talk about a game changer for the team. During the off season before the 2018 season Curtis found his way into a divorce and this would pose a massive problem for the racing team and the future of this team for the sport! But with Drive, Passion and Persistence Curtis wasn't going to let that happen. He had to pull a lot of strings to get back out there with the intention to win the Championship but we will just say he was lucky enough just to get to the track this season. At the beginning of the season Curtis was on the hunt to find anybody that could possibly help him at the track! Lets just say its been a work in progress this season and we think we are finally onto something good! We didn't realize at the beginning of the season the motor was on the way out and after a few races in we were able to complete those races and after pulling the motor 4 different times it was finally sent in to be rebuilt. We missed 3 races and after we got back to the track with the new motor we realized we were just going out this season to have fun. With 4 races remaining we were able to capture 1 quicktime and 3 top 5 finishes. This team wouldn't be together if it wasn't of those of Gary Coate, Michael Scott, Logan Blaker, Sterling Martinz, Brian Sanders, Tim Dickerson, Shaun Preiss, Nick Myers, Josh Richards, Ian Clark and Denver West Towing. Our Mission for next season is to Capture the ProTruck Championship and with the team to stand behind it we should be able to accomplish our goal. Thanks for following us through these tough times and we are eager to get back to it next season! Hopefully it will be our Season!
The 2015 season was underway and the two of them took to the track and started to show they might actually have a little something in them. and after winning 3 dash races they were lucky enough to finish 3rd in the overall point standings for the Super Stock division. You could say the turning point of this team happened in the off season of 2015 leading into the 2016 season. Jace decided we were going to start building a pro truck to run it in the 2016 season as well as the Super Stock. The team had a goal of winning the championship in the Super Stock and wanted to go for Rookie of the Year in the Pro Truck. Curtis won his first feature event in June of 2016 and won yet another feature event in August 2016. with the way the point standings played out Curtis and the team was able to score their first every Track Championship. Curtis placed 4th in the Pro Truck series and unfortunately he was only 2 positions away from getting Rookie of the Year. 2017 was right around the corner and the team had the opportunity of moving up divisions yet again but this time it would mean not running in the Super Stock division. Curtis was able to trade up for a Super Late Model and with the team feeling they weren't ready to dedicate the time to running the Super Late Model they decided it would be best to put that on hold for one season so they could focus their time on the Pro Truck and hopefully win the Track Championship. The team has learned so much that in the beginning of the 2017 season Curtis was able to capture his first pro truck quicktimes in April and again in June. Curtis and the team had the opportunity to race and an entirely new race track in June and to their surprise they were able to capture another quicktime, this time out qualifying drivers that have raced at this track for 20 plus years. The team was headed the right direction but was still seeking that first feature win. It wasn't till August when half the team unfortunately missed a race because of a wedding and Curtis and other team members and family was there to watch the dominating performance and watching the Checkers fly for the #9 Truck. Curtis was lucky enough to be greeted by the truck owners in the pits after passing tech. although half the team was gone during the race they felt It was such a big victory they had to leave the wedding just to congratulate everybody involved that night. Curtis would go on the rest of the season in the top 3 and when the dust settled at the end of the season they managed to tie for the #1 spot but because the other driver had 2 more main event wins then Curtis did the team was taking home an overall 2nd place in the pro truck series. 2018 is going to be yet again exciting as the team plans on running a full time schedule in the Pro Truck division and the Super Late Model division with the possibility of racing different tracks.2018 Talk about a game changer for the team. During the off season before the 2018 season Curtis found his way into a divorce and this would pose a massive problem for the racing team and the future of this team for the sport! But with Drive, Passion and Persistence Curtis wasn't going to let that happen. He had to pull a lot of strings to get back out there with the intention to win the Championship but we will just say he was lucky enough just to get to the track this season. At the beginning of the season Curtis was on the hunt to find anybody that could possibly help him at the track! Lets just say its been a work in progress this season and we think we are finally onto something good! We didn't realize at the beginning of the season the motor was on the way out and after a few races in we were able to complete those races and after pulling the motor 4 different times it was finally sent in to be rebuilt. We missed 3 races and after we got back to the track with the new motor we realized we were just going out this season to have fun. With 4 races remaining we were able to capture 1 quicktime and 3 top 5 finishes. This team wouldn't be together if it wasn't of those of Gary Coate, Michael Scott, Logan Blaker, Sterling Martinz, Brian Sanders, Tim Dickerson, Shaun Preiss, Nick Myers, Josh Richards, Ian Clark and Denver West Towing. Our Mission for next season is to Capture the ProTruck Championship and with the team to stand behind it we should be able to accomplish our goal. Thanks for following us through these tough times and we are eager to get back to it next season! Hopefully it will be our Season!