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Laney Holds Off Diercks in Traffic for Kathy Dlouhy Memorial Victory at Cedar County

By Jerry Mackey TIPTON, Iowa (Sept. 27, 2026) — Cedar County Raceway hosted 152 race teams Sunday for the Kathy Dlouhy Memorial, an event honoring a woman who poured her heart and soul into the Tipton facility. The Modifieds headlined the program with 24 cars taking the green for the 20-lap, $1,500-to-win feature. Cody Laney advanced from the third row and took the lead away from early pacesetter Donovan Lodge. Laney remained out front as Spencer Diercks began closing the gap late in the race. Lapped traffic gave Diercks an opportunity to challenge in the closing circuits, but Laney held him off by less than a car length to secure the win. The win was Laney’s sixth of the 2026 season at five different tracks and his first at Cedar County this year. It was also the Torrance, Calif., driver’s fourth Razor Chassis North Central Region victory. Laney’s $1,500 triumph also earned him eligibility to attempt to qualify for the 2027 Fast Shafts All-Star Modified Invitational at the Speedway Motors IMCA Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. [Read More]

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Maupin Seals STIMS Championship With I-37 Victory

By Nick Robbins PLEASANTON, Texas (Sept. 26, 2026) — The Southern Touring IMCA Modified Series presented by On Demand Shirts wrapped up its 2026 points season at I-37 Speedway, where 17 Karl Kustoms IMCA Modifieds signed in for the $1,000-to-win, 20-lap main event at the racy South Texas bullring. Cody Leonard set the tone early, taking the win in the first heat over Steven Whiteaker Jr. Contact between Johnny Torres and Brandon Sanderson coming into turn one after the green ended the heat for both drivers. Once the field was restacked, Leonard and Whiteaker Jr. pulled away, while Shawn Sandegren, Cameron Dinsmore, and Chris Carroll fought hard throughout the race. Carroll ultimately held on for third, with Sandegren fourth and Dinsmore fifth. The second heat started with the field three-wide into turn one after the green flag dropped, and again on lap two, before things sorted themselves out. When the checkered flag fell, points leader Jared Maupin had claimed the win over Ryan Doyon, with Logan Dinsmore third. Leonard and Maupin brought the field to green [Read More]

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French Grimes: A Life Remembered

By Ben Deatherage MADISON, Va. (Sept. 28, 2026) — French Grimes once compared himself to Johnny Appleseed. Instead of carrying a sack filled with apple seeds, Grimes believed his contained something else. RaceSaver. “I said I’m Johnny Appleseed,” Grimes explained during a 2013 interview. “I’ve got a sack of seeds for RaceSaver, and I go around the country. I poke them in a hole where I think it’ll grow, and then we find somebody who’s dedicated to make sure we water it and make it grow.” For nearly three decades, that is essentially what he did. Grimes helped plant those seeds in Virginia. They took root in Pennsylvania, Texas, New Jersey, the Carolinas and eventually across much of the country. What began as an effort to make Sprint Car racing affordable enough for ordinary working racers grew into a national movement and eventually became intertwined with IMCA racing across the country. Grimes, the founder and driving force behind RaceSaver, died Sept. 13 at the University of Virginia Hospital surrounded by his family. He was 83. He [Read More]