Ryan Clark

Feature wins in five states lift Ohio’s Clark to national IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car crown

HAMERSVILLE, Ohio – Justin Clark knew he’d have to travel to have a shot at winning the IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car national championship. After winning 16 times in five states and with as many different series, he accomplished just that. From Hamersville, the fourth-year RaceSaver competitor became the first driver from Ohio in more than half a century to win the national IMCA Sprint Car crown. “With the number of races here (in Ohio), we knew we’d have to work hard and travel if we wanted to win it. I feel like I raced 80 times with all the traveling we did,” said Clark, who collected nine checkers in his home state, along with feature victories in North Carolina, Indiana, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. “We have really enjoyed this division. There were challenges this year but when we got knocked down, we got back up.” Clark won 10 times in topping Ohio Thunder Sprint Series points – he won the July 10 feature at Wayne County Speedway after restarting 18th – and once en route to the [Read More]

Early engine woes don’t slow Ward in drive to fourth Dirt Works Eastern Region crown

IONIA, Mich. – The start of his season had A.J. Ward wondering if he’d even be racing for points in 2021. The end saw him winning a career fourth Dirt Works Eastern Region championship and finishing as runner-up in the national IMCA Modified standings for the second time in four years. From Ionia, Mich., Ward battled early April engine issues before righting the ship and winning three straight and seven of his next nine outings before the Memorial Weekend. “This was our first full season in a Razor Chassis and the April 3 race (at Winston Speedway) was our earliest ever in Michigan,” said Ward, who also ventured to Pennsylvania for the first time and won the inaugural NY-Penn Series event, the Sean Lias Memorial at Penn Can Speedway. “We blew two new engines early and had to decide whether or not to chase points.” The decision to get back on the track paid off with 20 feature wins, track championships at I-96 Speedway and Thunderbird Raceway, along with a career fifth KMJ Performance Michigan [Read More]

Early entry deadline nears for IMCA Duel In The Desert

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Drivers in four IMCA divisions have until 11:59 p.m. tonight (Wednesday) to pre-enter for the biggest event of the 2021 season in the Shaw Race Cars Western Region. The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway hosts the 24th annual Duel In The Desert Nov. 8-13. IMCA Modifieds race for $10,000 to win their Saturday night main event on the half-mile oval while IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars and Karl Kustoms Northern SportMods both run for $5,000 top checks. IMCA STARS Mod Lites make their Duel debut in a $1,500 to win main event. Entry fees paid online at racexr.com or through the lvms.com website before midnight are $150 for Modifieds, $75 for both Stock Cars and Northern SportMods, and $50 for STARS Mod Lites. Entry fees paid at the track are $200 for Modifieds, $150 for Stock Cars and for Northern SportMods, and $100 for Mod Lites. Early arrivals in Las Vegas can park beginning at noon on Monday. Nov. 8. Grandstands open at 2 p.m. that afternoon and an open practice runs from 6-10 p.m. [Read More]

Gould gets back in old ride, races to fifth Razor Chassis South Central Region prize

CALERA, Okla. – After getting back behind the wheel of an IMCA Modified he’d last driven five years ago, William Gould raced to a career fifth championship in the Razor Chassis South Central Region. Gould added 15 feature win stickers to the collection that came already on the roof of that old ride while earning Grayson County Speedway track and KMJ Performance Texas State titles. “Starting in late February, I drove an older chassis I had built owned by Dino Rendon,” said Gould, from Calera, Okla. “I’d sold it to him in 2016 after getting back from Super Nationals. It still had the old roof with the stickers on it and the same body. I just put my number on it.” “It was like getting reacquainted with an old friend,” he said. “Other than the engine and shocks, I don’t believe technology has changed as much as some other people do. We’d won the national championship in 2013 in a car we had bought back. Things get more expensive but otherwise I don’t see where [Read More]

After detour to Midwest, Baca repeats in IMCA’s Shaw Race Cars Western Region

MESA, Ariz. – A detour to the Midwest helped Chaz Baca defend his Shaw Race Cars Western Region championship. The Mesa, Ariz., driver won a single season career-best 22 IMCA Modified features, all but one of them in his home region. His 2021 title haul also included another Cocopah Speedway crown plus his first Pitt Stop Motorsports Wild West Tour and fourth KMJ Performance Arizona State championships. Baca’s 10 wins at Cocopah started with an IMCA.TV Winter Nationals show in January and ended with a sweep of Mike Corning Memorial features on the final weekend of the point season. “I think the regional championship was harder to win last year. We were going pretty good at the beginning of this year and in the second half of the season we were able to kick it up a notch and win the regional championship again,” he said. “This was our first year in a Lethal Chassis and we struggled a bit with what it liked,” explained Baca. “We took a detour to the Midwest. I threw [Read More]

Sillman scores rare double with IMCA Jet Racing Central Region title and ROY

ALVO, Neb. – Third generation Modified driver Dylan Sillman raced his way into one of IMCA’s most exclusive clubs in 2021. The 18-year-old from Alvo, Neb., became just the fourth driver in division history to win both regional championship and regional rookie of the year honors the same season, and the first to do so in the Jet Racing Central Region. An 11-time feature winner, Sillman earned track championships at US 30 Speedway and Junction Motor Speedway as well. “We had gotten a win late in the season last year but going into this season we never thought this success would happen. We never expected the track championships, regional championship or regional rookie award at all,” said Sillman, a May graduate of Murdock High School. “Everyone kept their head on straight, stayed focused and took the good with the bad, and we ended up having a good season.” Both his father Jeremiah and grandfather Jeff had raced and won in the sanctioned division during their own careers. “They told me how much they’d loved it [Read More]

Fast learner Thompson wins 19 features, tops national rookie race for IMCA Modifieds

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Fast learner Cody Thompson made the quick transition to the IMCA Modified division. After collecting 80 feature wins in just four-plus Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod seasons, Thompson was a 19-time feature winner in his initial Modified campaign, earning national and Side Biter Chassis North Central Region rookie of the year honors, along with Murray County Speedway and Worthington Speedway track titles. “I don’t know which accomplishment was the biggest,” said Thompson, fourth in national and runner-up in regional points. “Winning rookie of the year and 19 features is tough to do your first year in the Modified division.” “I’d only raced Worthington one time before in a SportMod and that was the heat only because the feature rained out. I hadn’t raced at Slayton much before this year, either,” he added. “To win two track championships was pretty cool, too.” Thompson made nine early season starts in Arizona and another at Beatrice Speedway’s Spring Nationals. He’d made running for rookie of the year a goal before winning his second home region [Read More]

Larson follows title talk with 2021 IMCA Modified national championship

FREEPORT, Ill. – Talk about another run at the IMCA Modified national championship began shortly after Jeff Larson finished second in the 2020 points race. Those conversations became more frequent when he won his first five home region starts of 2021. Larson did all his talking on the track from that point, winning a division-best 35 features in all, along with three track titles and Side Biter Chassis North Central Region and national crowns. “We had a good year, for sure,” said the modest Larson, from Freeport, the first Illinois driver to win the IMCA Modified national crown since 1987 and the first from the Land of Lincoln to win an IMCA regional title in any division. “We worked hard all week and raced hard on the weekend all season long. It was a big deal when we got the official call from IMCA.” In his fourth season driving for boss and family friend P.J. Kostenbader, Larson ventured to Arizona’s Cocopah Speedway for seven Winter Nationals starts in January. His first checkers of the season [Read More]

Kennedale Speedway Park sets 15th annual Showdown for Nov. 5, 6

KENNEDALE, Texas – The final checkered flags of the season fly Nov. 5 and 6 at Kennedale Speedway Park, where four IMCA divisions are on the 15th annual Summit Racing Equipment Showdown card. Qualifying for IMCA Modifieds, Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMods and IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars starts Friday, Nov. 5. The Modifieds and Southern SportMods both race for $1,500 top checks and the Stock Cars for $1,000 to win on Saturday, Nov. 6. The Modified winner becomes eligible to qualify for the 2022 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational while the Stock Car winner becomes eligible to qualify for the 2022 B & B Racing Chassis All-Star Invitational. Mach-1 Sport Compacts run for $200 to win on Friday. Early entry for Modifieds and Southern SportMods is $60 and $50 for Stock Cars if paid by Nov. 3, with an additional $20 charged after that date. Non-qualifiers racing both days get $50 tow. Pit gates open at 3 p.m. both days. The grandstand opens at 5 p.m. with racing at 7 p.m. on Friday. Grandstand opens at 4 [Read More]

Sister Act: Marie, Kayla Curtis capture IMCA Nevada State crowns

WINNEMUCCA, Nev. – Marie Curtis liked the handling and the power that came with an IMCA Sunoco Stock Car. Kayla Curtis liked the idea of getting on the track in a Mach-1 Sport Compact when she went to the races. When 2021 IMCA point standings became official, the Winnemucca, Nev., siblings made history as the first sisters to win KMJ Performance State championships. Both were rookies in their respective divisions and neither had made the Nevada State crown a goal at the start of the season. “I was just out there to race and have fun,” explained Marie, 20 years old and a full-time student at Great Basin College and employee at the family construction and excavation business. “I was really excited to race a Stock Car.” She’d previously run in pure stock and hobby stock classes and got a longer look at the sanctioned division last November. “I had seen them around before I went to the Duel In The Desert with my boyfriend (Chaz Baca) and decided I wanted to be in one of [Read More]