Articles by Ryan Clark

COLVILLE, Wash. – Chase Berkeley enjoyed the opening weekend at Sweetwater Speedway so much he figured he’d follow the rest of the eight-race 1st Class Chassis Wild West Tour. He’s got his career first IMCA Sunoco Stock Car feature win and a tour championship to show for that decision.  “We were only planning on running Sweetwater but we had such a good time that we decided to follow the tour,” said Berkeley, from Colville, Wash. “It was a lot of time on the road for sure but it was pretty fun.”  Berkeley posted top five finishes at each of the four tracks that hosted the tour … Sweetwater in Wyoming, Winnemucca Regional Raceway in Nevada and Diamond Mountain Speedway and Desert Thunder Raceway, both in Utah.  After a runner-up finish the night before, he was the Aug. 15 winner at Diamond Mountain, lead­ing from lap six to the checkers. The victory meant a delay in starting the trip home but there were no complaints. “We had the trailer loaded up and ready to go so we [Read More]

NEWTON, Iowa – Ethan Braaksma started his season with the simple goal of consistent finishes wherever and whenever he raced.  Consistent trips to victory lane made him champion of the Speed Shift TV Dirt Knights Tour for IMCA Modifieds. The 19-year-old from Newton, Iowa, won three times, at Park Jefferson Speedway, Buena Vista Raceway and Fairmont Raceway and finished in the top five in another three starts in becoming the 11th different champion in as many years as the series has been held. “We had a car built a week before the tour started and got three nights on it,” said Braaksma, who drove a Corey Dripps-owned 2020 Rage Chassis. “The car was just lights out when I got it and we picked up the win in our fourth night, in the opener at Park Jefferson. It was definitely a car to contend with when we showed up at the track.”  “The win at Buena Vista Raceway (two nights later) was pretty sweet,” he continued. “We’d finished deep in the field there just the week before, [Read More]

FARGO, N.D. – Austin Arneson capped a season of firsts with a second-time IMCA Modified accomplishment.  The winner of the inaugural Don Gumke Racers Memorial earned both career-first Moritz Sport & Machine Dakota Classic IMCA Modified Tour powered by Bismarck Motor Company and Red River Valley Speedway track championships. The Fargo, N.D., driver also added a second Stock Car Stampede trophy to his collection, finishing with a career-best 10 feature wins in just 24 starts. “We’re a small group. We build our own cars and work hard to get things done,” said Arneson. “This was a really fun year. We couldn’t have asked for much more.” While brother Casey won the first race held in honor of Gumke, a long-time family friend, in Arizona, Arneson took the checkers in an equally extraordinary event closer to home at Jamestown Speedway.  Consistency put him at the top of the standings for the 31st annual Dakota Classic Tour. Arneson ran in the top five in four of six tour starts, starting at home track Red River. He was [Read More]

WINNEMUCCA, Nev. – Consistent throughout the 1st Class Chassis Wild West Tour for IMCA Modifieds, champion Cory Sample was a double winner after the tour concluded.  Sample had a pair of third-place finishes and finished no worse than ninth in eight events to pace point standings for the 10th annual tour. He then drew his own number to win a new chassis given by the tour title sponsor, and won the Top 20 Showdown during the Duel In The Desert at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Dirt Track.  “It was definitely the icing on the cake,” said Sample. “We’d wrecked the car at Boone but got it fixed for the Duel. It took us a couple practice sessions to feel comfortable but it was a good note to end on.” One of just seven drivers to qualify for every WWMT feature, Sample wrapped up the tour championship, by a 15-point margin, with seventh- and sixth-place showings at Desert Thunder Raceway on the final weekend of the season. “It had been a while since we followed the tour [Read More]

CASPER, Wy. – A racing career that started on the drag strip led Dino Gronning straight to an IMCA Modified. Gronning saw his steady finishes at home state tracks Casper Speedway, Gillette Thunder Speedway and Sheridan Speedway rewarded with rookie of the year honors in the Shaw Race Cars Western Region. “I always wanted to race a Modified and thought I’d step in and be a natural, but it threw me a curve with the 4-link suspension,” he said. “We spent half the season to get the car to my liking. I’ve had a lot of conversations with the guys at Shaw.” Gronning purchased a 2019 car the previous owner had made just three starts in, and has al­ready got a 2021 Shaw on order. The first in his family to develop a need for speed, he’d started racing drag cars, enjoying success on the track but tiring of the expense and travel time involved. What’s become a 20-plus year circle track career has included everything from ‘B’ modifieds and street stocks to four cylinders.  [Read More]

CARO, Mich. – Chad Bennett has added a new title on his already extensive racing resume: Rookie of the Year in IMCA’s Eastern Region for Modifieds. Bennett won five of 24 outings in his first IMCA season, not making his first start until mid-June, and finishing third in the national rookie and Tri-City Motor Speedway point races and fourth at Silver Bullet Speedway. “We struggled early, then stumbled across a simple little mistake we were making with the car, got it corrected and started winning. We had a blast this season,” Bennett said. “The people I raced with try to kick your ass when you’re on the track but we still have a camaraderie that wasn’t there when I was racing on pavement.” “This is the most technical racing I’ve ever done,” he continued, “and it’s the most family oriented and most fun I’ve ever been part of.” From Caro, Mich., Bennett started his racing career on the drag strip in the late 1980s. He moved over to oval tracks in 1993 and won his [Read More]