April 24, 2026

Season championships Sunday at Dubuque

By Jerry Mackey

DUBUQUE, Iowa – This Sunday, Aug. 26, Dubuque Hose & Hydraulics will present the 2018 season championship races at Dubuque Speedway.

Track championships will be decided in both the Merfeld Brothers Auto IMCA Modified and GSI Collision Specialists IMCA Northern SportMod divisions.

Fans in attendance on Sunday night will have an opportunity to win tickets to the 41^st annual Yankee Dirt Track Classic. A drawing from the ticket stubs will be held prior to the features on and three lucky fans will win three-day Yankee tickets.

Farley Speedway will host the Yankee Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Aug. 30-Sept. 1.

dubuquespeedway

$250 Sunoco bonus on tap for IMCA Late Model winner at Dubuque

VINTON, Iowa – The payday got even better for the winner of Sunday’s main event for IMCA Sunoco Late Models at Dubuque County Fairgrounds Speedway. The third $250 Sunoco Race Fuels bonus of the season will be paid to the June 7 Late Model winner at Dubuque. Sunoco bonuses will be presented at Late Model sanctioned tracks this year. Drivers are eligible for one bonus during the 2020 racing season. Previous winners were Jeff Aikey at Independence Motor Speedway on May 23 and Matt Ryan at 34 Raceway last Saturday night. IMCA will announce mid-week before the dates bonuses are to be awarded at each track. Grandstand seating is now open, and fans will also have the opportunity to watch the night’s racing action by logging on to IMCA.tvor affiliate DoneRight.tv. The live streaming service will carry a one-time charge and will not require a membership. Hot laps are scheduled to take to the track at 5:30 p.m. with racing to follow.

Garnhart, Soppe score at Dubuque

By Jerry Mackey DUBUQUE, Iowa (May 6) – Sunday’s Merfeld Brothers Auto IMCA Modifieds feature at Dubuque Speedway was another nail biter as several drivers took their turns at the front. Bryce Garnhart battled with Austin Moyer for much of the 20-lap main event before crossing under the checkers ahead of Moyer. Last week’s winner Jason Schueller turned in another fine run in taking third. Defending IMCA national champion Tyler Soppe scored the feature win in the 18-lap GSI Collision Specialists Northern Sportmod main event. Soppe fought to the front from a fourth row start to score the win ahead of early leader Justin Becker. Scott Busch followed up last week’s win with a third place finish.

Hurst reigns at Dubuque

By Rob Hinckley DUBUQUE, Iowa (July 21) – Dozens swarmed to Hoker Trucking/C&W Trucking/Kam Koncepts Victory Circle. Tears flowed. There was emotion in the winner’s voice. Jeremiah Hurst has won many, but the season championship at his hometown Dubuque Speedway is always special. Hurst started eighth but made his run to the front quick, taking the point for good on lap five and won the Eichman’s Bar & Grill IMCA Late Model 25-lapper Sunday evening at Dubuque Speedway. “It’s always special to win here,” Hurst said. “We’ll just keep winning. The finale had to go to overdrive/overtime as runner-up Joel Callahan slammed the turn two wall and finally stopped on turn four as the white flag was ready to fly. Hurst beat Jeff Tharp, Eric Pollard, Nebraska’s Cory Dumpert and Donnie Pataska on the green, white, checkered finish. “That (car) thing was digging holes off the turns,” Hurst said. “I knew I had to get to the bottom when I saw (Pollard) on the bottom. My car owner (Ken Roberts) and I had the same [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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