By Ben Deatherage
VINTON, Iowa (Dec. 4, 2025) — The Stealth Racing IMCA STARS Mod Lites will launch the 2026 season for many teams with one of the most demanding stretches of racing on the winter calendar, as the 2nd Annual Georgia–Florida Speedweek brings ten events in fourteen days to four tracks across two states. The early-season tour made a strong debut last year, and the 2026 edition promises an even deeper, tougher field as teams converge on the Southeast to chase big money, early momentum, and a Speedweek championship.
Everything begins at Swainsboro Raceway in Georgia, where teams will gather for an open practice on Sunday, February 1. The first two nights of racing are set for Monday and Tuesday, February 2 and 3, with both features paying $1,000 to win.
After the Georgia opener, the Speedweek caravan heads into Florida and stays there for the remainder of the journey.
Hendry County Motorsports Park in Clewiston hosts the next leg of the schedule, beginning with a Thursday practice on February 5. Two lucrative nights follow, with Friday’s February 6 program paying $1,000 to win before the biggest purse of the entire tour takes center stage on Saturday night.
The 6th Annual Sugar Bowl on February 7 will award $3,000 to the winner and is expected to draw one of the strongest Mod Lite fields ever assembled in Florida.
Speedweek then shifts north toward Ocala and the Marion County Bullring, where a Sunday practice on February 8 leads into racing on Monday and Tuesday, February 9 and 10. Both nights at the tight, high-intensity oval offer $500 to win.
The tour then wraps up with four consecutive nights at historic Ocala Speedway. Practice is scheduled for Tuesday, February 10, with racing beginning the following evening. Wednesday through Friday, February 11–13, each pay $500 to win, setting the stage for the February 14 Speedweek Championship Night, which pays $1,000 to the winner.
In all, more than $10,000 in first-place money will be available, and promoters expect the event to grow as sponsorship support is finalized.
Several of the top contenders making the trip south have deep history with the event. Tennessean Ronnie Choate enters as last year’s Winter Nationals overall champion and carries one of the most decorated résumés in the division. Choate won the 2022 Sugar Bowl before capturing the Speedway Motors IMCA Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s in 2023.
Fellow Tennessee racer Jaedon McDowell arrives with equal momentum. The young Volunteer State standout dominated last year’s Georgia–Florida Speedweek, winning three of the five events that were completed, including sweeping both nights of the Sugar Bowl Nationals.
Five-time and reigning IMCA National champion Dillon Raffurty of Missouri is also making the long journey south. Raffurty had an uncharacteristically tough outing during last year’s Southeastern swing, but the two-time Super Nationals winner remains one of the most accomplished Mod Lite drivers in the country. He is a two-time Sugar Bowl champion as well, having won the marquee event in both 2023 and 2024, and will be looking to reassert his presence near the front of the field.
Another driver looking to carry last year’s success into the new season is Riley Clem. The Tennessee-based Californian scored a Speedweek victory at Ocala Speedway in 2025, adding to the strength of his breakthrough win at the Speedway Motors IMCA Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s the year before. Texas racer Corey Babbitt is also expected to be a major factor. Babbitt delivered an outstanding 12-win season in 2025 and claimed the second night of action at Ocala during last year’s Speedweek.
All ten Speedweek events will operate with no entry fees—only standard pit pass and transponder fees apply—and a points fund will be paid to the top ten in the final standings after the February 14 finale.
Fans unable to attend in person can catch the Needmore and Sugar Bowl events on IMCA TV affiliates, with the Swainsboro events airing on Hunt The Front TV and the Hendry County programs streamed live on Done Right TV. Future updates and announcements will be available on the Hendry County Motorsports Park Facebook page and the soon-to-be-launched ModLiteWinterNationals.com website.