April 22, 2025

Meinecke scores Modified win at Stuart

M-Matthew-Meinecke-VL — Matthew Meinecke topped the Wednesday night feature for IMCA Modifieds at Stuart Speedway. (Photo by Jim Zimmerline)

By Josh Reynolds

STUART, Iowa (June 5) – Matthew Meinecke was the IMCA Modified winner on a warm Wednesday night at Stuart Speedway.

Meinecke led Cory Sauerman and Josh Gilman when the first lap was scored; Gilman got to second on lap three with Clay Money giving chase. The top three stayed the same until Kyle Brown worked his way past Money on lap 18 for third.

Gilman used the whole track to reel in the leader, but it was not to be as Meinecke went on to the win. Gilman finished second with Brown third.

Buck Schafroth was the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car winner, by a margin of less than a car length over Brandon Pruitt.

The race was for second as Garrett Nelson checked out early in the Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod contest.

Shannon Anderson worked his way through traffic en route to the lead and the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock checkers.

stuartspeedway

Madden scores third Stuart win of season

By Josh Reynolds STUART, Iowa (June 26) – Corey Madden raced his way to victory lane at Stuart Speedway for the third time this season, topping Wednesday’s IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock main event. Nick Foster and Chuck Madden Jr. were on the front row for the start and Madden Jr. led rookie Miciah Hidlebaugh and Foster over the first two laps, with Corey Madden getting to third on lap three. Two more circuits saw Madden get to second as Madden Jr. continued to lead. By lap six, the brothers were side-by-side and Corey was able to get the advantage on lap eight. Madden Jr. worked to catch his brother, but Corey was up to the challenge and went on to take the win. [Read More]

Thornton is dynamic in Dirt Duel win at Stuart

By Josh Reynolds STUART, Iowa (June 12) – Another big-money event ended with Ricky Thornton Jr. in victory lane, this time in an IMCA Sunoco Stock Car. The multi-division star raced from eighth starting to win the 50-lap headline event at Stuart Speedway’s Dynamic Drivelines Dirt Duel presented by Sniper Speed & Midstate Machine Wednesday night. The checkers were good for $3,000 and came ahead of Abe Huls and Johnny Spaw. Huls had taken the early lead over Elijah Zevenbergen and Spaw before the yellow flew on lap three. Huls led the next circuit with Zevenbergen taking over on lap five. Zevenbergen led one more lap until he went into a wild spin in turn two to bring out the second and what proved to be final yellow of the night. Once the green came out again it was Huls leading Thornton and Spaw. Thornton followed in Huls’ tire tracks until making his move on lap 18 and taking over the front spot. As the racing surface slicked off, cars moved to the bottom of [Read More]

Shute dominates IMCA Modifieds at Stuart’s Durbin Memorial

By Josh Reynolds STUART, Iowa (May 12) – A dominating run ended with Todd Shute standing in victory lane at Stuart Speedway’s Jake Durbin Memorial. Shute and Josh Gilman made up the front row of the IMCA Modified headliner, and Shute led Gilman and Matthew Meinecke early with the rest of the field two- and three-wide behind. Chase Rudolf made it to third on lap eight, but it was all Shute on this night as he drove to the caution-free win, worth $1,000. Already on the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot, Shute won ahead of Gilman in second with Rudolf third. One hundred and thirty-four cars rolled into town for the Wednesday night show. Other IMCA winners were Damon Murty, Josh May, Brandon Cox, Hunter Longnecker and Craig Furstenau. Michael Jeannette and Bob Daniels led the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars to the green flag next with Jeannette leading early. Damon Murty and Dallon Murty were picking them off throughout the 20 lap event and on the final restart it was Damon using the top side [Read More]

Feature

Deatherage Named New IMCA Publicist

VINTON, Iowa — Ben Deatherage, a familiar face and voice to IMCA fans through IMCA.TV, has been named the new publicist for the International Motor Contest Association. He steps into the role following the retirement of longtime IMCA public relations director Bill Martin. Deatherage will be responsible for compiling race reports, press releases, and human-interest features on the drivers and events that comprise the Speedway Motors IMCA Weekly Racing program. He will also continue his work with IMCA.TV. “I’m excited to meet the challenges of this new opportunity,” said Deatherage. “Bill was such a major influence on me and an incredible help in my career. He left some big boots to fill.” A native of Cottage Grove, Oregon, Deatherage’s love for racing began early—he attended his first race at just seven days old. Since then, his passion for motorsports has continued to grow. “I’ve loved IMCA racing since I was a kid in the 1990s, watching drivers like David Gould, Robert Hand, Bruce Ray, and many others in the IMCA Modifieds race at Cottage Grove. It’s [Read More]

Modified

Blood Clinches First Grays Harbor Checkers of 2025

By Shaun Hulbert ELMA, Wash. (Apr. 19, 2025) — Tyson Blood proved unstoppable Saturday night at Grays Harbor Raceway, charging from sixth to score a dominant win in the Friesen Performance IMCA Modified feature. The Tumwater driver, a three-time defending track champion and four-time reigning Washington State titleholder, took the lead on a lap two restart and never looked back, surviving a green-white-checkered finish to secure his first Shaw Race Cars Western Region win of the season. Kevin Smith led the opening circuit of the 25-lap main event before Blood powered around him on a restart after an early caution. Smith then engaged in a fierce battle for second with Craig Moore and Brenton Schnitzer, but slipped out of shape on lap 10, triggering a caution and moving Moore into the runner-up spot. Blood showed no signs of slowing down, handling multiple restarts with precision and maintaining his advantage throughout. The final restart set up a green-white-checkered shootout, but Blood was flawless to the finish. Jeff Hunt made some key late moves and took second, while [Read More]

Modified

Ryland Outduels Ryan in Sensational SportMod Photo Finish at Antioch

By Candice Martin ANTIOCH, Calif. (Apr. 19, 2025) — Brentwood’s Fred Ryland won the 20-lap Karl Chevrolet IMCA Northern SportMod main event in a near photo finish victory over Jason Ryan Jr at Antioch Speedway. This was the 40th career SportMod win for the three-time track champion, but first of 2025. Ryland led the field to the green flag ahead of Al Johnson and Jeff Bentancourt. A yellow flag waved after three laps for Scott Savell. Ryland continued to lead Johnson on the restart with Danny Wagner settling into third. An inside pass on the front stretch of the sixth lap put Danny Wagner into second with Kenny Shrader settling into third. Ryland had a big lead erased when Alfred Johnson spun in turn three for a lap 10 yellow flag. Ryland led Wagner on the restart with Ryan moving into third, but a multi-car tangle in turn four brought out another yellow flag on lap 11. When it was all sorted out, Ryland continued to lead Wagner and Ryan. Ryan slipped past Wagner for second [Read More]

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