Vice-President Carl Stratman was born on June 16, 1959 and is the third child and only son of Ron and Barb Stratman. Carl and his wife, Laura, have been married since 1979, and have two daughters, Heather and Jessica. Heather teaches elementary school, and Jessica is a medical assistant in a doctor's office, and in nursing school.
Carl has been part of RK Stratman, Inc. since the very beginning. While still in high school, he and his older sister's husband, Larry, printed decals in the garage of the Stratman home. He served an apprenticeship as a plasterer, then returned to the company as a t-shirt printer and supervisor.
Carl's first motorcycle was an SL7

0 Honda, on which he competed in mini-bike races starting at age 10. As he grew, the bikes grew also - he rode a 250cc Bultaco in Sportsman scrambles, TTs and short tracks. On his 16th birthday, he received his AMA professional competition license. A year later, as a junior, competed against his dad, Ron Stratman on the short track at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, IL.