Ryan Clark

DeVilbiss Racing Chassis Named Title Sponsor of 2026 Winter Nationals; Mod Lites Added To First Week

By Ben Deatherage CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (Dec. 11, 2025) — DeVilbiss Racing Chassis has been announced as the new title sponsor of the IMCA TV Winter Nationals powered by Pitt Stop Motorsports and Dynamic Drivelines, expanding its long-time support of Speedway Motors IMCA Weekly racers and bringing a major West Coast influence to one of Arizona’s biggest January traditions. The 2026 edition of Winter Nationals will once again be held at Central Arizona Raceway from Jan. 20 to Jan. 31. In addition to the Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds, Sunoco IMCA Stock Cars, Karl Chevrolet IMCA Northern SportMods, and Sunoco IMCA Hobby Stocks, the Stealth Racing IMCA STARS Mod Lites will be a part of the card for the opening week only, running Jan. 21–24. Mod Lites will race for $500 to win each night and $100 to start. The title sponsor for the Eastern Region for the Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds, the DeVilbiss name takes an even larger step forward with the title partnership. For owner and chassis builder Zane DeVilbiss, the decision was driven by [Read More]

Sports Park Raceway Joins IMCA for 2026 Season, Moves Weekly Racing to Sunday Nights

By Sarah Stewart FORT DODGE, Iowa (Dec. 5, 2025) — Sports Park Raceway has announced a major step forward for the 2026 season, confirming that the facility will operate under Speedway Motors IMCA Weekly Racing sanctioning beginning next year while shifting its weekly program to Sunday nights. The track’s 2026 IMCA lineup will feature Sunoco IMCA Late Models, Sunoco IMCA Stock Cars, Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds, Karl Chevrolet IMCA Northern SportMods, Sunoco IMCA Hobby Stocks, and Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compacts. Owner and promoter Jeff Frevert said the decision aligns with the track’s long-term goals for growth, stability, and consistency. “We believe it’s time to grow,” said Frevert, “and with IMCA’s strong consistent support and a move to Sunday nights, we’re confident this step will help Sports Park Raceway continue to thrive for years to come.” The track previously sanctioned IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Northern SportMods, IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA Sport Compacts, and IMCA Hobby Stocks in 2018–19. Operations manager Sarah Stewart echoed that excitement, noting both personal experience and the benefits for competitors and fans. “As someone [Read More]

Ken Hansen: A Life Remembered

By Ben Deatherage MYTON, Utah (Dec. 5, 2025) — The Uintah Basin has always been a place shaped by work, resourcefulness, and people who build their own opportunities. Among those who left a lasting mark on the region’s racing community, few names carry more weight or affection than Ken Hansen — a father, inventor, promoter, and friend who helped bring IMCA racing westward and connected drivers across eight states. Hansen passed away on November 18, 2025, at age sixty-five after complications from a stroke. His loss is felt across the Basin and beyond, in the tracks he helped guide, the racers he supported, and the family he poured his life into. Early Years and a Move West Hansen grew up in Powell, Wyoming, exposed to racing without ever taking up the wheel himself. Ken later moved to Utah during the oil boom, drawn by opportunity and the chance to build something of his own. He founded Jet Lift Systems, inventing parts for oil and gas wells that are still used today. His creativity and engineering mind [Read More]

2026 Winter Nationals Stage Set as Mod Lites Tackle Georgia and Florida

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, [Read More]

Fugly Push Co. Gears Up for High-Octane Fundraiser at Central Arizona Raceway on Jan. 24

By Ben Deatherage CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (Dec. 3, 2025) — With the 2025 IMCA racing season in the books, Fugly Push Co. is already shifting gears toward 2026 and its second annual fundraiser to benefit Camp Eyabsut, a camp dedicated to helping children who have suffered burn injuries. The effort will once again be anchored at Central Arizona Raceway during the 2026 DeVilbiss Racing Chassis IMCA TV Winter Nationals powered by Pitt Stop Motorsports and Dynamic Drivelines. The big day is set for Saturday, from 10 am to 1:30 pm on Jan. 24, 2026, when Fugly Push Co. teams up with the Arizona Cascade Renegade Riders for a full Motorcycle & Car Show on the grounds of Central Arizona Raceway. Last year’s inaugural fundraiser generated a little over $10,000 for Camp Eyabsut, and organizers are aiming to push that total even higher this time around. Sunshine, the well-known Fugly Push Co. tow truck, is also getting a round of off-season improvements to better serve racers — and to be even more fun to wheel around the [Read More]

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]

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]

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]

Thanksgiving Thunder Set for Nov. 22 at Smoky Mountain Speedway; $1,200 Awaits Mod Lite Winner

By Ben Deatherage MARYVILLE, Tenn. (Nov. 10, 2025) — The Tennessee Mod Lite Racing Association is set to light up the foothills of the Smokies as Thanksgiving Thunder returns to Smoky Mountain Speedway on Saturday, Nov. 22. This can’t-miss event in the scenic Smoky Mountains of eastern Tennessee will showcase the Stealth Racing IMCA STARS Mod Lites, competing for $1,200 to win on one of the South’s premier clay ovals. The weekend opens with a Friday night practice on Nov. 21 from 6:00–9:00 p.m. Pit passes are $20, offering teams valuable track time before race day. Saturday’s main event schedule features pit gates opening at 9:00 a.m., grandstands at 10:00 a.m., a drivers’ meeting at noon, and hot laps at 12:30 p.m., followed by a full program of high-speed Mod Lite competition. Grandstand admission is $20 for adults and $5 for kids 11 and under, while pit passes are $35 on race day. Adding to the prestige of the second annual event, the winning chassis will receive exclusive post-race recognition through a dedicated IMCA media spotlight [Read More]

Hibdon Goes Back-to-Back with The Showdown Modified Triumph at Central Arizona Raceway

By Ben Deatherage CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (Nov. 9, 2025) — Kollin Hibdon capped off The Showdown tripleheader weekend in style, leading every lap of Sunday’s Friesen Performance IMCA Modified main event at Central Arizona Raceway to win the finale for the second consecutive year. The Pahrump, Nev., native—now residing in Waterloo, Iowa—pocketed $3,000 for the 30-lap victory and became the first driver in event history to repeat as champion. The win also earned Hibdon a spot on the eligibility list for the 2026 Fast Shafts All-Star Modified Invitational at Boone Speedway during the Speedway Motors IMCA Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. Hibdon, the 2025 Marshalltown Speedway track champion and winner of the Ernie Mincy Memorial Early Thaw Series at the same track earlier this year, started outside the front row and grabbed the lead immediately. Despite several cautions slowing the pace, he never faltered, mastering each restart and steadily pulling away from his challengers. Wisconsin’s 2024 state champion Cole Czarneski stayed closest in pursuit, coming home second after winning Saturday’s preliminary feature, while Friday night’s victor, Austin [Read More]