Untitled_567

Divisions

Taylor Heaton: Long Roads, Long Nights, and a New Beginning

By Ben Deatherage BAKER, Mont. (Nov. 25, 2025) — The highway out of Baker runs straight and lonely, a ribbon of asphalt cutting through open prairie and endless sky. It’s the kind of road where you measure distance not in miles, but in hours — the kind that every racer from eastern Montana knows by heart. Most weekends, Taylor Heaton and his family point their rig toward North Dakota, chasing laps across the badlands, putting in three-, four-, even five-hour hauls just to race. For Heaton, that long road is part of the deal. It’s where the thinking happens, where the nerves settle, where the excitement builds. It’s where the weekend begins. This is the landscape that shaped him — wide, rugged country where nothing comes easy and every mile matters. It’s where his family put down roots, where racing first sparked to life, and where that spark carried him from off-road machines to the no. 11H Sunoco IMCA Hobby Stock. Now, as he prepares for 2026, those same long miles are leading him into a [Read More]

Feature

Shane Butler: A Second Chance at Speed

By Ben Deatherage GLIDDEN, Iowa (Nov. 24, 2025) — The open country between Scranton and Glidden is quiet in the fall, corn stubble rolling out beneath a November sky that feels wider than the world. Out here, farm towns don’t hide their history. These towns were built by people who kept going no matter the obstacles, and in that way alone, they fit the life of Shane Butler. Butler returned to racing in 2025 after nearly four years away, climbing back into a Sunoco IMCA Hobby Stock at Boone Speedway. The comeback was more than a restart. It was a declaration that life had finally given him back the one thing he had lost — his health, his freedom, and the chance to chase the sport that runs in his family’s blood. The Road Back Butler had raced since he was 17, when his father Rodney built him his first Hobby Stock. Racing was a Butler family constant. His dad had raced Hobby Stock–type cars for three decades beginning in 1985, often carrying the number 37 [Read More]

Modified

Inaugural Texas Showdown Set for Jan. 7–10 at I-37

By Ben Deatherage PLEASANTON, Texas (Nov. 12, 2025) — The first-ever Texas Showdown will take center stage at I-37 Speedway January 7–10, 2026, featuring four consecutive nights of Speedway Motors IMCA-sanctioned action for the Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds and Sunoco IMCA Stock Cars. A practice session on Tuesday, January 6 will precede the racing program, followed by a free BBQ gathering for all competitors and crews. Each night’s IMCA Modified feature will serve as a Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational qualifier, while the IMCA Stock Cars will race for B&B Racing Chassis All-Star Invitational qualifying status Thursday through Saturday. Drivers earning those wins will be added to the eligibility list to qualify for their respective All-Star Invitational events to be run at the 2026 Speedway Motors IMCA Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. The IMCA Modifieds will race for escalating purses across all four nights: $1,000 to win Wednesday, $1,250 Thursday, $1,500 Friday, and $2,000 to win Saturday. The IMCA Stock Cars will chase $750 to win Wednesday, $1,000 Thursday and Friday, and $1,500 to win Saturday. Each [Read More]