By Greg Grabianowski
ALGONA, Iowa (May 29, 2025) — It only took a month for Lake City’s Mike Smith to win his first major Karl Chevrolet IMCA Northern SportMod event after moving from the Sunoco IMCA Hobby Stocks, a class he dominated for several years. On Thursday night, Smith pocketed a $1,000 payday by winning the Scott Cook Memorial One-Eye SportMod Special at Kossuth County Speedway.
Smith and Jason Carney led the field to green, with Carney pacing lap one before Smith took command on the second circuit. A caution flew on lap three after Braden Claborn spun, and just two laps later, the red flag was displayed following a wild crash in front of the grandstands.
Mat Hollerich and George Nordman tangled, sending the Mason City veteran into a violent double rollover. Fortunately, all drivers involved were uninjured.
When the race resumed, multi-time winner Matthew Looft began to apply serious pressure on Smith. Looft briefly took the lead with two laps remaining, but Smith quickly regained control and held on for the win — his second of the season, but his first at Algona since joining the SportMod ranks.
Looft, who started 14th, earned the runner-up finish, while Jake Sachau completed the podium in third.
Lange Scores First Hobby Stock Win of the Season at Algona
In Sunoco IMCA Hobby Stock action, Jade Lange started on the outside of the front row and wasted no time getting to the front. He led the first seven laps before a caution came out on lap eight after a car expired on the frontstretch.
Lange maintained his lead on the restart and led the final eight circuits to collect his first feature win of the season in the B&B Racing Chassis Northern Region. Dan Hanselman finished second and Josh Sidles came home third.
Vondrak Goes Wire-to-Wire for Stock Car Win
Mike Vondrak led all 15 laps of the Sunoco IMCA Stock Car feature, which went green-white-checkered in a fast-paced showing. Vondrak and Calvin Lange pulled away early, but Kelly Shryock soon entered the picture. Driving the Lake Mills Motorsports no. 3 for car owner Mike Hauan, Shryock took over second when Lange suffered a flat with five to go.
Though Shryock closed the gap in the final laps, Vondrak held firm to earn his first career win at Algona and first 2025 in the EQ Cylinder Heads Northern Region competition. Shryock settled for second, while Chad Palmer rounded out the top three.
Osler Doubles Up in Sport Compacts
The Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compacts ran a clean, caution-free feature with Brooke Osler leading all eight laps en route to her second straight victory.
Charles Prime finished second and Mike Albert took third. Joey Penning was officially scored fourth but received the race’s Hard Charger award after gaining four spots. Wayne Curry, returning from retirement, earned a strong fifth-place finish.
Shryock Charges to Modified Victory in Final Two Laps
In the Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds, all cars remained within striking distance of the lead during the 12-lap main event. Cody Knecht took the early lead and held it through lap 10 before Kelly Shryock made his move.
Shryock passed Knecht with two laps to go and drove away to earn his first win in the Razor Chassis North Central Region. Knecht was second, and Nick Meyer finished third.
The event was broadcast live on IMCA 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.
