Dan Engledow

Thornton borrows car, tops Deery feature for second Super Nationals crown

BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 2) – Ricky Thornton Jr. had a three-time Super Nationals champion to thank for his second Super Nationals crown. Piloting a car borrowed from Todd Cooney, Thornton dominated in leading the last 36 of 50 laps and won Monday’s Deery Brothers Summer Series Late Model main event, on opening night of the 37th annual IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s at Boone Speedway. “Todd and I have been friends for a couple years. It was 100 percent how he runs it,” Thornton said after the last of the victory lane photos were taken. “We didn’t change a thing. He has a setup just for Boone.” “When Ricky Thornton calls and asks to borrow your car, you don’t say no,” said Cooney, who won the last of his three Super Nationals titles in the same car, in 2017, and was almost as happy becoming a Super Nationals champion car owner. The $2,000 checkers came at the end of Thornton’s career-first tour start. The fast-paced feature was stopped by just a single caution, [Read More]

300-plus cars in action on opening day of Super Nationals

BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 2) – More than 300 cars in three IMCA divisions see action Monday, opening day of the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s at Boone Speedway. One hundred and twenty-two Hobby Stocks vie in 14 heats, 144 Northern SportMods in 20 heats and 35 Deery Brothers Summer Series Late Models in four heats. The 50-lap Late Model main event, the 499th in series history, will see the crowning of the first champion of the 37th annual Super Nationals this evening. Two 25-lap qualifiers for the Hobby Stocks and a 25-lapper for the Northern SportMods are also on the Labor Day card. BOONE, Iowa – Cory and Cody Stone did their homework before travelling 1,100 miles to compete at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. The New Mexico brothers and Hobby Stock drivers know Boone Speedway has a racing surface similar to what they race on weekly, and the banking is comparable to home track Cardinal Speedway. They also know what they want to accomplish in heir first trip to America’s [Read More]

Martin sprints to second RaceSaver Nationals crown

By Greg Soukup EAGLE, Neb. (Sept. 1) – Jason Martin won his second RaceSaver Nationals crown in three years with another impressive run to the $2,500 checkers Sunday night at Eagle Raceway. The 2017 champion and 2018 runner-up topped the pinnacle event for IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Cars ahead of Trevor Grossenbacher and pole starter Jake Bubak. “I’m super proud to do this. We finally got a second one,” Martin said. “Last year we just didn’t get the job done last year and that really kind of ticked me off all year. I kind of had a chip on my shoulder. “I’m really, really proud to get this second win at RaceSaver Nationals.” Kaleb Johnson and defending race winner Kevin Ramey rounded out the top five. Teams from 14 states competed at the seventh annual event and nine states were represented in the 27-car main event field. Californian Brooklyn Holland raced her way onto the starting grid by winning the “C” feature, finished eighth in the “B” and ended the main event in 10th. After a [Read More]

Cronk sweeps Stock Car series weekend at Willamette

By Ben Deatherage LEBANON, Ore. (Aug. 31) – The Big Sky Landscaping IMCA Stock Car Series were on hand for the second straight night at Willamette Speedway. The Saturday, Aug. 31 bout marked the seventh race of 2019 at the famed 1/3-mile clay oval. Brian Cronk again bested the field for his second win of the weekend and his third straight series triumph at Willamette. The Portland gasser now has the most wins with series after picking up the victory. Kevin Roberts posted a runner-up finish over veteran Sean Gentry in third. Arnie Case got fourth while Dakota Godard was fifth. In earlier competition, Brian Cronk was quickest in time trials and in the trophy dash.

Bag toss teammates are first champions crowned at Super Nationals

BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 1) – Tim Staley and Dustin Brooks came to Boone to enjoy the races and party. They also became the first champions crowned at the 37th annual IMCA Speedway Motors fueled by Casey’s. The Muscatine duo, aka Team Shocker, won all seven of their games to capture the title of the first annual Scorezit Fun Day Bag Tourney presented by BBB Cornhole. They defeated the Team Show Me The Money pair of Dave Musser and Toby Smith, both of Boone, 21-11 in a finale broadcast on Facebook Live to earn a $588 top check and a Scorezit scorekeeper Forty-nine teams vied and more than 150 games were contested in the inaugural tourney, played out behind the first set of turns at Boone Speedway. “We’re backyard players,” said Staley, explaining their success as a combination of consistency, timing and adjustment. “You have to play to your opponent,” Brooks said. “We’re first annual Super Nationals bag tourney champions,” he added. “We came here to party and watch the races. We’ll go home as Super Nationals [Read More]

Drueke gets the job done Saturday at RaceSaver Nationals

By Greg Soukup EAGLE, Neb. (Aug. 31) – Tyler Drueke’s first win of the RaceSaver Nationals weekend paid him $700 while Jake Bubak won for the second time in as many nights Saturday at Eagle Raceway. Drueke topped the qualifying feature for IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Cars, while Bubak scored the $1,000 Jake Ita Memorial Race of Champions checkers. Drueke took over the front spot on lap 12 when Joey Danley dropped to the infield. Dusty Ballenger moved up to third after two more laps. Ballenger got past Toby Chapman on a restart with 10 laps left to take second. Cody Ledger moved the 47 into the fourth spot with 8 to go and took over third the next time around. The final change in the top four came with three laps left when Stu Snyder put his no. 5S into fourth. The top four were Drueke, Ballenger, Ledger and Snyder. Ledger was disqualified in post-race tech for refusing to tech. That moved Luke Cranston into fourth. Joining the top four to fill rows four through [Read More]

Bubak is best on opening night at RaceSaver Nationals

By Greg Soukup EAGLE, Neb. (Aug. 30) – His Friday night qualifying feature win earned Jake Bubak $700 and the pole start for Sunday’s RaceSaver Nationals main event. Eighty-nine IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car teams from 14 states saw action on opening night at Eagle Raceway. Chasing Bubak to the stripe and joining him in the first three rows of the main event grid were Jason Martin, Kaleb Johnson, Trevor Grossenbacher, Anton Hernandez, Ethan Barrow, Jake Martens, Andy Shouse and Justin Clark. Johnson led lap one of the qualifier with Bubak, Martin and Luke Cranston close behind. Bubak took advantage of a lap two restart and snagged the lead while Martin passed Johnson the next time around. The track was lightning fast as the leaders jumped to the high side and began to pull away from the pack. Bubak stretched his lead to six car lengths by lap 14 but he could not shake Martin completely. Martin managed to close on him in heavy lapped traffic as the race went the rest of the way caution [Read More]

Rust runs away from IMCA Modified foes at Prelude

By Joyce Eisele BOONE, Iowa (Aug. 31) – A whopping 323 cars checked in to the Boone Speedway for the running of the Wild Rose Casino and Resort Prelude to the Super Nationals Saturday night and the $1,000 to win IMCA Modified feature went to Joel Rust. On a hot streak of late, Rust started sixth and grabbed the lead from Dennis LaVeine, then fended off challenges by Kyle Brown and Jeremy Mills before pulling away on the high side. Kyle Brown took second, Cody Laney came from 12th to finish third, Kelly Shryock started 10th and finished fourth and Richie Gustin was fifth after starting 15th on the field. Jeremy Mills was running third on the white flag lap, slipped high in turn four and fell back to finish 11th. Rust was already on the ballot for the 2020 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational. Thirty-four heat races and 17 “B” features were required to set the main event grids for the Prelude. Kelly Shryock was the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car winner, John Watson topped the IMCA [Read More]

Arneson’s great night at Deer Creek ends with IMCA Modified Harris Clash checkers

SPRING VALLEY, Minn. (Aug. 6) – An IMCA Modified driver who’s been racking up some impressive wins this summer added another one to his resume Tuesday nigh Austin Arneson topped the 28th annual Harris Clash at Deer Creek Speedway, leading the last 11 of 30 laps and outrunning fellow North Dakota hotshoe Tom Berry Jr. in the dash to the checkers coming out of the final turn. “It was a great night for me. It was a fun race with a lot of sliding back and forth,” said Arneson, who earned $3,000 for the victory in addition to a 2020 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot berth. More than 140 race teams from 14 states saw action in front of another big Clash crowd at Spring Valley. Berry had caught race-long and defending Clash winner Cayden Carter for the lead on lap 18, then saw Arneson drive by the next time around. He couldn’t quite make a last-shot slider stick, however, and had to settle for a close second. Carter, hard charger Jake O’Neil and Ricky Thornton [Read More]

Kossuth County Dirt Knights rained out, rescheduled

ALGONA, Iowa – Tonight’s (Thursday) Arnold Motor Supply Dirt Knights Tour event at Kossuth County Speedway has been rained out and rescheduled for Aug. 1. The county fair show at the Home of Thursday Night Thunder features IMCA Modifieds running for $1,500 to win along with a 2020 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot berth. IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks and Karl Kustoms Northern SportMods all vie for $1,000 to win; Mach-1 Sport Compacts complete the program. IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing National, regional and E3 State points will be awarded; track points will also be awarded in the Stock, Hobby, SportMod and Sport Compact divisions. Pit gates open at 5 p.m. and drivers should use the south entrance. Hot laps are at 7 p.m. sharp with racing to follow. Grandstand admission is $10 for adults and free for ages 14 and under. Pit passes are $30.