Ryan Clark

Michigan’s Kay Merits Rookie Honors in IMCA’s Eastern Region for Modifieds

By Bill Martin MERRITT, Mich. (Oct. 31, 2025) — Tylor Kay started his first Friesen Performance IMCA Modified season with two goals. First, win rookie of the year in the Devilbiss Racing Eastern Region. Second, run against the big names to do it. The Merritt, Mich., speedster made good on both objectives, edging Fred Dow Jr. by just five points, the smallest margin to decide any regional rookie race in 2025. “Winning rookie of the year was our goal from before the season even started. We wanted to try to go after it,” said Kay, who counted seven top five finishes in 33 starts. “We’re proud that we were able to achieve that, and that we were able to do it running against a lot of really tough guys every week.” Runner-up to Cody Goodwin at Mt. Pleasant Speedway, he was sixth in points at home track Merritt Speedway and in Michigan State standings, and eighth in the regional title chase. An occasional visitor to Crystal Motor Speedway, Kay had all of three partial seasons [Read More]

Plans Made in 2024 Become Reality in 2025 as Gaston Rules Southern SportMod Rookie Race

By Bill Martin WEATHERFORD, Texas (Oct. 31, 2025) — The planning for Christian Gaston’s 2025 rookie of the year run started early the season before. Younger brother Cameron topped point standings for first-year Smiley’s Racing Products IMCA Southern SportMod drivers in 2024. As was their goal, Christian made it two straight rookie crowns for Team Gaston this season, besting fellow Texan Colton Birmingham in a title chase that went all the way into September. “It would have been hard, my brother and I both racing for rookie the same season,” said Gaston, 23 years old and from Weatherford. “We had been just racing and having fun. Our grandfather Langston Layne is from the dirt track racing world and knew how this rookie of the year thing worked. He helped us set it in motion. Camo would run for it in 2024 and I’d run for it this year, it all worked out and we won back-to-back titles.” The Oklahoma State champion and eighth nationally, Gaston was runner-up to his brother at Southern Oklahoma Speedway. He [Read More]

Veloz Masters IMCA Late Models in Near Perfect Run to National Rookie Award

By Bill Martin COLONA, Ill. (Oct. 31, 2025) — Logan Veloz acquired the nickname The Master when he was little because even back then his family joked that when it came to anything racing, he wanted to have everything perfect. The now 21-year-old from Colona, Ill., a third-generation driver, came close to perfection this season in earning Sunoco IMCA Late Model rookie of the year honors. “When I was a kid watching racing on TV, I didn’t watch and cheer for one driver, I cheered for whoever raced the best, like whoever hit their marks, and my mom Carolyn gave me that nickname,” said Veloz. “So, whenever I raced myself, whether it was go karts or big cars, I tried to be the most perfect I could, like I was trying to master something.” Coming off a Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod career best 21-win season in 2024, when he’d finished fourth in the national points chase, Veloz was quick to prove his mastery in the new class. He won his first feature in just his third night [Read More]

Richards Tastes Victory in IMCA Rookie Stock Car National and Regional Races

By Bill Martin DENTON, Neb. (Oct. 31, 2025) — Just how good was Mason Richards’ first Sunoco IMCA Stock Car season? The National and EQ Cylinder Heads Northern Region Rookie of the Year inspired his own line of seasoning. From Denton, Neb., Richards won six features, collecting another 13 top five finishes in 48 starts at 10 different tracks. That success gave sponsor Serina Strizek, owner of sponsor and Lincoln-based food wholesaler Grill Starters the idea of introducing Mason Richards Victory Blend seasoning. “It’s kind of like a taco seasoning, only a little saltier and a little sweeter at the same time,” said Richards, also the 2025 Nebraska State Champion. “It tastes really good. You can pretty much put it on whatever you want, meat, vegetables, even pasta. It’s so good it sells out every time, but you can get it through their (Grill Starters LLC) Facebook page.” When not racing or promoting Victory Blend sales, the 20-year-old Richards is a junior mechanical engineering major at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. He’s a third-generation driver, following grandfather Terry Sr., a [Read More]

Consistency is Key as Mooney Stars in IMCA Stock Car EQ Southern Region

By Bill Martin COPPERAS COVE, Texas (Oct. 31, 2025) — Consistency was the story of Dustin Mooney’s drive to Sunoco IMCA Stock Car Regional Rookie of the Year honors in 2020. Taking a page from that same book, he raced to the EQ Cylinder Heads Southern Region championship this season. Mooney combined 20 top five finishes with the track title at Cotton Bowl Speedway in earning his career first regional crown. “It’s pretty crazy,” acknowledged Mooney, from Copperas Cove and also a first-time Texas State champion in The Class Too Tough To Tame. “I would definitely have wanted to win some of those races I feel I could have (he finished second in five of his 35 outings) but consistency is more important when you’re running for a track or regional championship,” he continued. “I felt it was better to get the best finish I could rather than getting caught up in something I shouldn’t and winding up 15th or 17th at the end of the night.” Mooney ran junior minis, a Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMod and winged [Read More]

Super Cheap Ride Proves Priceless as Sabin Races to IMCA National and Northern Region Rookie Crowns

By Bill Martin DES MOINES, Iowa (Oct. 30, 2025) — A “random, home-built car” that Kolby Sabin bought super cheap sat in his dad Kurt’s driveway, covered by a tarp, for more than a year before he got it on the dirt. It’s long since been promoted to prime parking, in a heated garage, after carrying Sabin to Sunoco IMCA Hobby Stock national and B & B Racing Chassis Northern Region rookie of the year titles. “I’ve tried to find out more information about the car, but I’ve just run into a dead end,” said Sabin, a three-time feature winner and also track champion at Marshalltown Speedway in the mystery machine. “We got it in the middle of 2023, let it sit for a while before we worked on it and got it race-ready for 2024, then made a few spot starts and hit some practice nights.” “After looking at other people’s cars, we made some changes in the off-season. We put in a new fire wall and floor pan and made some other updates [Read More]

Laney Moore Caps Rookie Season with RaceSaver Rookie of the Year, Missouri State Crown

By Ben Deatherage DES MOINES, Iowa (Oct. 30, 2025) — Sixteen-year-old Laney Moore made the most of his first full season in a Sprint Car. Competing in the Mike Moore Motorsports/Chuck and Larry’s Transmission no. 9 Triple X, Moore claimed the 2025 RaceSaver IMCA Sprint Car Rookie of the Year, the Missouri State championship, and finished runner-up in the MO/KAN Sprint Series standings while placing sixth in the final national points. “We had an awesome year,” Moore said. “We started the year off in late April and early May, just trying to get some laps and progress each race. Before long, we were running top tens and top fives almost every weekend. We raced at 13 different tracks and even went up to South Dakota and Minnesota. Some weekends we’d be in Minnesota on Friday, then come down to Missouri for Saturday and Sunday shows — it was a lot of driving but totally worth it.” For the 16-year-old from Iowa, this was his first full year behind the wheel of a Sprint Car after previously [Read More]

Murdoch Motors to EQ Cylinder Heads Southern Region Rookie Honors

By Ben Deatherage SURPRISE, Ariz. (Oct. 29, 2025) — The road to an IMCA championship was a long one for Casey Murdoch, both literally and figuratively. The Surprise racer earned the EQ Cylinder Heads Southern Region Rookie of the Year award in the Sunoco IMCA Stock Car division, finished third in Southern Region championship points, and capped the season with a track championship at Cortez Fairgrounds Speedway in Colorado — an impressive feat in a field stacked with veterans across multiple states. Behind the wheel of the Modern Aerification/Methods LLC/Jason Babyak–Schaeffer’s Racing Oil no. 7X Terminator Chassis, Murdoch tackled 32 sanctioned starts across Arizona, New Mexico, California, and Colorado. The year included two feature wins, 13 podium finishes, and 17 top-five performances, with the Cortez oval becoming a home away from home nearly 400 miles from his driveway. “We started our year off down at Winter Nationals in Casa Grande and only got to run the first week because I had to go to a wedding in Mexico,” Murdoch said. “We didn’t have the strongest showing, [Read More]

Anderson’s Rookie Surge Nets Razor Chassis North Central Region Crown

By Ben Deatherage EDDYVILLE, Iowa (Oct. 29, 2025) — Logan Anderson’s rookie campaign in the Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds was one to remember. The Eddyville racer captured the Razor Chassis North Central Region Rookie of the Year title and finished second in National Rookie of the Year standings — one year after winning the Speedway Motors IMCA Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s crown in the Karl Chevrolet IMCA Northern SportMods. Driving the Midstate Machine/Performer Chassis/Middlekoop Seed Corn Inc. no. 53 Modified, Anderson wasted no time proving his speed at the Modified level. He became the 22nd different driver from Iowa to win the Razor Chassis North Central Region Rookie of the Year award since the title’s inception in 1993, and the first Iowan to do so since Dyllan Ricks in 2023. Anderson also finished eighth in the final North Central Region standings, a strong showing in one of IMCA’s most competitive divisions. “We had a good year and were winning pretty much out of the gate,” Anderson said. “We won six out of my first 12 [Read More]

Werner Keeps Nebraska’s Sport Compact Rookie Streak Alive with Six-Win Season

By Ben Deatherage PIERCE, Neb. (Oct. 29, 2025) — Fourteen-year-old Kiegan Werner wasted no time making a name for himself in the Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compacts in his Tom’s Service/Meyer Family/TC Agronomy no. 1K entry. The first-generation racer from Pierce turned his rookie season into a breakthrough year, winning six times, capturing both the South Dakota State championship and Park Jefferson Speedway track title, finishing seventh in the national points, and showing the poise of a veteran. He also became the sixth driver since 2008 from Nebraska to win the National Rookie of the Year award, and the second straight Nebraskan to achieve that honor. “We decided to go down to the Beatrice Spring Nationals,” Werner said. “The first night went well, but the second night I got taken out on the first lap in the main event and it junked the race car. After that, we decided to make another go at it at Redwood in Minnesota and ended up winning up there. We then made the decision in June to try and go for [Read More]