By Ben Deatherage
JEFFERSON, S.D. (Jun. 15, 2025) — The Sunday night RTI Nationals brought a packed house to Park Jefferson International Speedway with a whopping $5,000 payday on the line for the Sunoco IMCA Stock Cars. And it was two-time South Dakota State champion Travis Barker who cashed in. Barker, who started seventh, muscled his way through a hard-fought 35-lap main event.
Early on, Brady Wenzlaff controlled the race while three-time Speedway Motors IMCA Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s Karl Chevrolet IMCA Northern SportMod winner, Johnathon Logue, and Devin Tripp waged a three-wide battle for the top spot. Tripp edged ahead on lap four and began to stretch his lead, but Barker closed fast. A lap 13 caution reset the field, and on lap 16, Barker nipped Tripp at the line to take over the top spot.
Tripp countered by moving to the high side, only for another yellow to wave. That opened the door for 2015 IMCA Hobby Stock national champion Justin Luinenburg, who slotted into second. Luinenburg and Tripp fought hard to the finish, but Barker checked out on the final restart to win his second Park Jeff main of 2025 and second EQ Cylinder Heads Northern Region feature of the season. Luinenburg outdueled Tripp for the runner-up honors.
Thompson Slices Through the Field in Modified Win
Seventeenth-starting Cody Thompson put on a clinic in the $1000 to win Friesen Performance IMCA Modified main. Early laps saw Ricky Stephan and Chris Abelson—two past Park Jeff champs—dueling for control. Abelson got the advantage on lap four, but several cautions kept the field tight.
At the halfway point, the 2015 National champion slipped over on the cushion, and Thompson rocketed by to take the lead. A late caution gave the challengers one more shot, but Thompson was too strong. The Sioux City native scored his third Razor Chassis North Central Region win of the year and second Park Jefferson victory of 2025. Stephan and Abelson completed the podium.
Nordquist Edges Zeitner in Late Model Thriller
Keegan Nordquist led flag-to-flag in a razor-thin Sunoco IMCA Late Model finish. The 2021 Park Jeff champion beat fellow former track titlist Kale Kosiski to the early lead, while Zach Zeitner surged into the mix late. Kosiski challenged around lap 16, but Zeitner made his move into second. The final laps saw a side-by-side duel, with Nordquist edging Zeitner by just 0.021 seconds at the stripe for the $1000 payday. It was Nordquist’s first win of the season. Kosiski settled for third.
Avila Uses Late Slider for SportMod Victory
A wild Karl Chevrolet IMCA Northern SportMod feature saw Boone, Iowa’s Matt Avila claim his third win of the year and first away from Boone Speedway, and was a $1000 score. Caleb Woodard, a 21-year-old up-and-comer, led the opening laps through a series of restarts and pressure from Avila. With just five laps to go, Avila delivered a textbook slider in turn four to take the lead on lap 16. Woodard spun the next lap, bringing out the final caution. On the restart, Avila held off Devyn Peterson and Riley Osantowski for the win.
Luinenburg Doubles Down with Hobby Stock Score
Blake Luinenburg made the trip from Reading, Minnesota worth it, picking up his sixth win of the B&B Racing Chassis Northern Region season and first at Park Jefferson this year, and pocketed a cool $1000. After Caydin Gordon and two-time Nebraska State champ Travis Landauer traded the lead early, Luinenburg surged from tenth to take over on lap 13. A late caution helped him check out for the victory while Gordon narrowly beat Landauer for second.
Thomas Tops Sport Compacts Once Again
Johnny Thomas made it two wins in as many tries at Park Jeff in the Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compact class in the $500 to win contest. The Beatrice, Nebraska racer moved from sixth to the lead by lap five and survived a mid-race restart and lapped traffic in the final laps. Thomas, the defending track champion and IMCA National Rookie of the Year, was followed across the line by Kiegan Werner and Dalton Woodle.
The event was broadcast live on IMCA TV affiliate Grays Harbor Raceway TV. Catch every lap again with the IMCA TV Replay Subscription, available for just $24.99/month. And don’t miss Season 2 of the Boone Docuseries, now streaming exclusively on IMCA TV.
