April 24, 2026

Green takes I-37 Modified checkers

_SRP5587-(1280x848)-(2) — Rick Green was challenged but never caught Before taking Saturday’s IMCA Modified checkers at I-37 Speedway.

By J.M. Hallas

PLEASANTON, Texas (July 28) – Rick Green took home the top money in Saturday’s IMCA Modified feature at I-37 Speedway, but it wasn’t easy after midway.

Green had jumped out to an early lead from the eighth starting spot and put some distance on Jeremy Davenport, Cody Tidwell, Jake Rollins and Greg Dinsmore.

Dinsmore advanced to second but was half a straightaway back until caution flew on lap 13. The restart saw Dinsmore and Tidwell on Green’s bumper, but as the two fought for second Green inched ahead.

Dinsmore’s run to the front ended with brake problems, leaving Tidwell to take up the charge on a restart. Green got a couple car lengths on Tidwell and Carroll with Flanagan and Cody Leonard side-by-side for fourth.

Tidwell gave Green a look on the final lap, but Green held him off for his first I-37 victory in several years.

i37speedway

Dinsmore Dominates for Wednesday Modified Win at I-37

By J.M. Hallas PLEASANTON, Texas (Jun. 11, 2025) – The opening night of I-37 Speedway’s three-race Wednesday mini-series for the Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds put $1,000 on the line, and Logan Dinsmore made sure no one else came close to touching it. After redrawing the pole, Dinsmore jumped out front at the drop of the green when Dean Abbey brushed the front stretch wall. Abbey lost momentum, allowing Cody Leonard to slip into second. Jared Maupin worked by both Abbey and Leonard to grab the runner-up spot, with Abbey quickly reclaiming third and setting his sights on Maupin. While Maupin and Abbey diced for second, Dinsmore stretched his advantage. By halfway, the Kerrville hotshoe had checked out entirely. Abbey finally got around Maupin late, but it was too little, too late to challenge the leader. Dinsmore, flawless in traffic, cruised to his first GRT Race Cars South Central Region win of the season. Abbey and Maupin rounded out the top three.

Green to checkers for Green at I-37

By J.M. Hallas PLEASANTON, Texas (April 9, 2022) – After a scheduled week off, it was time for round two of the I-37 Speedway point season and Rick Green raced to his first IMCA Modified feature win of the season in flag-to-flag fashion. As green waved on the 20-lap main it was Green with a big run into turn one. Four cautions slowed the first half of the contest but the last half was run under green with Jared Maupin looking middle-up on Green in turns one and two and then the bottom in turns three and four. Greg Dinsmore closed in on Maupin looking low as Maupin tried high. This gave Doyon the chance to reel Dinsmore in for the closing laps. Up front it was the former track champion, Green inching ahead by a couple car lengths to score the victory. “They let me take the green flag tonight,” joked Green. “I actually drove it in a little too hard and saw him (Maupin) get beside me. The car finally bit and once [Read More]

Latest I-37 win is STIMS fifth for Dinsmore

By JM Hallas PLEASANTON, Texas (Sept. 14, 2024) – It was another “hot” night of racing at I-37 Speedway after a week off. The action was as hot as the temperatures on the quarter-mile mile, semi-banked, dirt, oval just outside Pleasanton. It’s still a tight battle in the South Texas Friesen Performance IMCA Modified Series by Hortch Speed Shop with Chris Morris now on top by 10 over Ryan Doyon and 11 over Rick Green. Jacob Hortch led the STIMS field into turn one at the start of the 20-lap feature, but it was Green getting inside to lead lap one. Hortch, Morris, Jared Maupin and Logan Dinsmore followed in the top five. Morris got by Hortch for second with Maupin following to third. Dinsmore was next to pick up a spot from Hortch before Maupin spun and collected Hortch, ending both their nights. On the restart, Green had Morris looking high while Dinsmore looked low. Green and Morris then went side-by-side with Morris getting the nose ahead briefly. Dinsmore got by low for second, [Read More]

Feature

Oliver Wins Thrilling Stock Car Race at Independence

By Christine Rublack INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (Apr. 21, 2026) — A Tuesday night full of exciting racing at Independence Motor Speedway saw John Oliver Jr. take home the victory by the smallest margin of the night in the Sunoco IMCA Stock Cars, edging Kodey Miles by just 0.051 seconds. Kodey Miles took the lead early, with Tanner Allen and Tom Schmitt in pursuit. Oliver began working the low groove as the duo in front of him battled for second. Schmitt moved into second while Oliver continued to work underneath him. With a couple laps to go, Oliver closed in on Miles for the top position and, as the checkers waved, took the win. It was the first win of 2026 for the West Burlington veteran in the EQ Cylinder Heads Northern Region after starting fourth. Miles and Schmitt finished second and third, while Gage Neal and Tanner Allen completed the top five. Kolin Hibdon dominated the Karl Kustoms IMCA Modifieds. Hibdon quickly pulled away as Joel Rust moved into second, and the pair began to distance themselves [Read More]

Feature

Christina and Matt Ratzlaff: From Separate Paths to the Same Track

By Ben Deatherage MONTE VISTA, Colo. (Apr. 21, 2026) — Out in southern Colorado, where the land stretches wide beneath towering mountain ranges and the air sits thin at more than 7,500 feet above sea level, racing isn’t just something you do—it’s something you carry with you. The San Luis Valley is one of the most unique places in the country—an expansive, high-altitude basin carved by the Rio Grande and surrounded by peaks. Agriculture drives life here, from cattle to potatoes to barley fields, and the distances between towns are measured in miles, not minutes. Monte Vista sits at the heart of it all, a town established in 1884 along the railroad, its Spanish name meaning simply “mountain view.” It’s here where Christina and Matt Ratzlaff have built both a life—and a race team. Two Drivers, One Team On any given night, the Ratzlaffs roll into the pit area as a two-car operation in the Karl Kustoms IMCA Modifieds with Christina in the No. 15 and Matt in the No. 16. Their journeys to this point [Read More]

Feature

Jim ‘Cowboy’ Kennedy: A Life Remembered

By Ben Deatherage EVERETT, Pa. (Apr. 21, 2026) — RaceSaver IMCA Sprint Car racer Jim “Cowboy” Kennedy never needed much to go racing — just a car, a wrench, and a reason to keep going. For nearly seven decades, the Pennsylvania native carved out a place in sprint car racing that few could ever match, continuing to compete well into his 90s before his passing on April 2 at the age of 91. But long before the tributes, the Hall of Famer had already told his story — in conversations with reporters, at racetracks, and in the quiet, in-between moments that defined a life spent chasing the next green flag. A Life That Spanned Generations Kennedy was born on August 7, 1934, into a world far different than the one he would come to know behind the wheel of a Sprint Car. The United States was deep in the Great Depression, with President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the early years of his first term, working to steady a nation searching for its footing as parts of [Read More]

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