After successful go-kart run, Rosinski has acclimated to IMCA RaceSaver Sprints

Jerzee Rosinski got quite a gift when she turned five years old, and it was one that is still has an impact more than a decade later.

“My dad bought me a go-kart for my fifth birthday,” Rosinski said. “And e just kind of ran with it.”

The go-kart got her into racing, and as the years piled up behind the wheel, so did the wins. From 2017-23, racing at various levels of karts, she won 20 features, including an impressive 10 wins in 15 starts in 2023.

Then, it was time to move up.

“We raced an outlaw kart for a while, it was reaching where we didn’t want to be in go-karts much longer,” Rosinski said. “We went straight for a sprint car.”

The Grand Forks resident – who will be a senior at Grand Forks Central High School next falls – is in her third year in the IMCA RaceSaver Sprint class.

The first year was a big learning curve for Rosinski, who had one top five finish in 17 starts (a fifth-place finish at Jamestown on July 13, 2024).

“The first year was really hard. Basically, everything you learn in go-karts, you have to forget,” Rosinski said. “The car is completely different. The only thing that stuck with me was patience, that’s one thing we had to learn a lot.”

While the first year didn’t produce many top five results, it did provide something perhaps more valuable – seat time.

“Experience definitely is something you need. Seat time is important. We’re still chasing steat time and this is our third year,” Rosinski said. Get as much experience as you can with different tracks, that’s going to help you.”

Move on to 2025, and there were clear signs of progress. Then there was a breakthrough on Aug. 1 at Fix It Forward Speedway in West Fargo (then known as Red River Valley Speedway). She started the feature on the outside pole and jumped out to the lead over Brandon Rekow. She maintained about a 4-5 car length lead on Rekow for much of the race  until she encountered lapped traffic, which saw the lead shrink to a car length. And then, with three laps to go, out came a caution for a spin.

What was Rosinski thinking at that point?

“Don’t mess up,” Rosinski said. “Hit every mark. The restart scared me; there was one with three laps left.”

Rosinski got a great restart and opened some breathing room on Rekow and prevailed for her first career sprint car win.

“That was amazing. We’d been pushing it for a while,” Rosinski said. “It felt really good, especially to do that at (West) Fargo.”

She finished 2025 with six top fives and 15 top 10s in 23 starts. She also ran with the NOSA 410 Sprints at her hometown track of River Cities Speedway a handful of times.

“It’s definitely challenging,” Rosinski said. “You still want to race and be part of the race, but at the same time you want to stay in your own lane and not mess up their race just because you’re trying to get seat time.”

This year, she has finished in the top eight in both IMCA Sprint starts, and also ran with the NOSA Sprints on May 21 and finished 15^th. This year, the IMCA Sprints make five appearances at River Cities, and a goal is to win her first feature there.

“I would like to get a few more wins, and I’d like to get a win in Grand Forks, our hometown,” Rosinski said.

The birthday present at age 5 ended up starting Rosinski on a hobby that she’s enjoyed for more than a decade.

“There’s a lot of adrenaline,” Rosinski said. “Every other sport, you have a 50 percent chance of winning and a 50 percent chance of losing. With racing you really don’t know what is going to happen; it’s the thrill of it.”

Driver Profile

Jerzee Rosinski

IMCA RaceSaver Sprint #25

Age: 16

Residence: Grand Forks, N.D.

Sponsors: Balsdon Farms, Tag Construction, Mexican Village, DHI Sweet Streets, Dumpster Fire Farms, Resource Auction, Schaeffer's Oil, Forks Truck and Trailer, Bear Bonz BBQ