IMCA Modifieds headline Cocopah’s Wes Hurst Memorial

SOMERTON, Ariz. – Expectations were more than exceeded when Brian Brown made his first-ever IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock start March 6 at Cocopah Speedway.  With a $1,600 check on the line, Brown proved to be a fast learner in the full-bodied class, getting a break from a timely yellow and parking friend and fellow Ramona, Calif., resident Brian Fitzgibbons’ car in victory lane.  Fitzgibbons, off the track while undergoing chemotherapy, had suggested Brown try his luck in the 2020 Charger Chassis wheeled last season by former national champion Jeff Ware.  Friends and sponsors had helped Fitzgibbon’s wife Amanda buy the car with the ultimate goal of getting him racing again. It was parked in their garage before Brown put the final race-ready touches on at his house and booked hotel rooms for the trip to Cocopah.  “Our fathers were best friends in high school and we live like 20 houses away,” said Brown, who also races a Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod. “We’d seen the to-win (amount at Cocopah) bumping up and were sitting around and [Read More]

SOMERTON, Ariz. (Jan. 13, 2024) – Chaz Baca has to wait until last October to officially celebrate his 2023 championships. He celebrated his first of 2024 on Saturday night. The Mesa hotshoe wrapped up the IMCA.TV Winter Nationals crown with his second Friesen Performance IMCA Modified victory of the series, after passing Tim Ward for the lead with just two laps left in the series finale at Cocopah Speedway. “It feels good. It’s awesome to start this year the way we finished last season,” said Baca, an IMCA national, regional, state and four track champion in 2023. “Winter Nationals was very good to us.” Ward had come into the night a single point behind Baca in his bid to repeat as series champion. A restart set the stage for that late-race drama. Baca cleared Ward for the front spot coming out of turn two, then held off Ward, Dylan Thornton and Troy Morris III to the checkers. Ethan Braaksma started 15th and finished fifth. “We made one extreme setup change for the Tuesday practice. It was [Read More]

SOMERTON, Ariz. – With money added from top to bottom of the purse, the winner of Saturday’s IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock feature at Cocopah Speedway goes home $1,600 richer. Included in the expanded purse are $200 prizes for a mystery position finisher and the hard charger of the Bobby’s Territorial Harley Davidson Night at the races event. IMCA Modifieds, Karl Kustoms Northern SportMods and Mach-1 Sport Compacts complete the March 6 card, with IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing National, Shaw Race Cars Western and Big Daddy Race Cars Southern region, KMJ Performance State and track points to be awarded. Pit gates open at 4 p.m. and the grandstand opens at 5 p.m. Racing starts at 7 p.m.  Spectator admission is $15 for adults, $12 for seniors 55 and over and military, and free for kids 12 and under. Pit passes are $35. Saturday’s show at Somerton will be broadcast by IMCA.TV.