By Jerry Mackey
INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (Aug. 8) – Saturday saw the 2020 IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing season come to an end with the running of season championship races at Independence Motor Speedway and several division titles were decided in dramatic fashion.
The IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars came into the night with Leah Wroten holding a two-point advantage over Tom Schmitt. Wroten needed to finish no more than two positions behind Schmitt to earn the season championship. With Phil Holtz racing out front and both Schmitt and Wroten headed to the front, Wroten was involved in a skirmish that sent her to the back of the 20-car field.
Wroten then charged back to the front as a young lady on a mission. When the checkers flew it was Holtz taking the win with Schmitt in second, Kevin Rose was in third and Wroten raced all the way back to fourth. The finish ended the season point standings in a tie with Schmitt and Wroten and the tie breaker was feature wins with Wroten holding the advantage.
Wroten stated in victory lane, “Winning a track championship was not even on our radar this year, as a rookie in the IMCA Stock Car class all I wanted to do was get seat time and finish races.”
The same scenario played out in the Karl Kustoms Northern SportMods. Tony Olson came into the night with a one point advantage in the season standings ahead of Kip Siems. Troy Bauer took the lead early and raced out front the entire main event as the battle for the track championship unfolded behind him.
Siems raced to the front and Olson raced too high in turn four and dropped his right rear off the track which caused him to drop way back in the field. Olson charged back through the pack to earn a top five, crossing under the checkers one position behind Siems. With the finish, Olson and Siems tied in points earned but Olson held the tie breaker in feature wins earning him the track championship.
Jeff Aikey put an exclamation point on a great season in the IMCA Modifieds Saturday night. Aikey started the 20-lap season championship in the sixth row, with his teammate Kollin Hibdon in the second row.
Hibdon took the lead early and appeared to have the race in the bag until his mentor chased him down and made a late-race charge to the win. Aikey scored his first Indee IMCA Modified track title as well as winning the season championship main event.
The IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks saw a first-time winner make his way to victory lane. Marcus Wayne scored his first win at his hometown track. Kaden Reynolds had built a comfortable lead in season points and with a fifth place finish the 18 year old from Cedar Rapids earned the track crown.
The IMCA Sunoco Late Models decided their season championships a week ago but ran a draw/redraw show on Saturday. Sean Johnson ended the season on a high note by scoring his third consecutive feature win.
All 2020 IMCA point standings become official on Oct. 26.