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Racing for Fun, Cox Collects National Rookie Award for Stealth Racing IMCA Mod Lites

By Bill Martin NORWALK, Iowa (Oct. 25, 2026) – A couple starts in the class was all it took for Brandon Cox to get hooked on the Stealth Racing IMCA Mod Lite division. Cox made 28 starts this season, racing and making new friends at eight different tracks in four states. Those travels paid off with the national rookie of the year award. “We started off at the IMCA TV Winter Nationals in Arizona racing just to have fun. When we left there, we were leading rookie national points. We kind of had that in the back of our mind all season, but we were really racing for fun,” he said. “We wanted to experience different tracks and track conditions, race against different competitors and get the most points as we could.” “Around Iowa, it’s arguably racing against many of the best of the best drivers. We wanted to race at some smaller tracks down south this year too, had a lot of fun and made some new life-long friends doing that.” The Norwalk hotshoe had [Read More]

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Friday-Saturday Race Night Tandem Provides Spark to Sexton’s Southern SportMod Rookie Quest

By Bill Martin BURLESON, Texas (Oct. 25, 2026) – Racing Saturdays at the track he’d grown up going to as a fan were special for Brady Sexton. Adding a regular Friday night track to his schedule helped make him rookie of the year in IMCA’s Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMod division. Sexton counted two feature wins and 16 top five finishes in his 32 starts in topping point standings for first-year drivers in the division. A Saturday regular at Kennedale Speedway Park, just 10 minutes from his Burleson, Texas, home, he’d begun making more frequent 45-60 minute Friday trips to Heart O’ Texas Speedway after realizing he was leading rookie points. “I had tossed around the idea of going for national rookie of the year, but to be entirely honest, I never thought it was entirely feasible,” said Sexton, who’d watched from the stands with grandfather Billy Campbell before getting on the track himself. “Midway through the season, when I noticed I was actually leading rookie standings, is when I started to race more and get [Read More]

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Luinenburg Makes More Memories for Facebook in Northern SportMod National Rookie Season

By Bill Martin READING, Minn. (Oct. 28, 2026) – A Facebook memory popped up back on June 6 to tell Blake Luinenburg he’d won his first Sunoco IMCA Hobby Stock feature six years ago to that date. He won his career first Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod feature that evening at Worthington Speedway, one of many memories Facebook will have to remind him of from his national rookie of the year season in the open wheeled division. The Reading, Minn., racer would total nine victories and win the Murray County Speedway track title, ending the season 12th in the national points race. “It was pretty cool to see that Facebook memory pop up and that I’d gotten my first win in a Hobby Stock six years to that day. And it was cool to have my first SportMod win at my home track,” he said. “I didn’t really know what to expect moving up this season. I had some really successful seasons in a Hobby Stock and for being a rookie, this was a really good year, too.” [Read More]