Ryan Clark

Griffin gets IMCA Late Model Feature win, Sunoco bonus at Lee County

By Brian Neal DONNELLSON, Iowa (July 24) – Dustin Griffin took the checkers and $250 Sunoco Race Fuels bonus in the Friday feature for IMCA Sunoco Late Models at Pepsi Lee County Speedway. Griffin and Matt Strassheim made up the front row for the 20-lap event. Griffin took advantage of his starting spot to grab the lead on lap one over Nick Marolf and Mark Burgtorf. Marolf tried to keep pace with Griffin over the entire race but without a caution there was no catching the leader, as he pulled away to claim his first win of the season at the track. It was also Griffin’s first win in three years, as he has been temporarily retired from the sport. The win was worth $850 thanks to the Sunoco Racing Fuel bonus. Marolf settled for second, Burgtorf was third, Tommy Elston was fourth, with Denny Woodworth rounding out the top five. Other winners were Michael Long in the IMCA Modifieds, John Oliver Jr. in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, Austen Becerra in the Karl Kustoms [Read More]

$2,008 payday for IMCA Modifieds at East Moline’s inaugural Greg Durbin Memorial

EAST MOLINE, Ill – The Bullring at Rock Island County Fairgrounds remembers one of its own with the inaugural Greg Durbin Memorial on Sunday, Aug. 2. The IMCA Modified feature pays $2,008 to win and is a qualifying event for the 2020 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot. The Modified portion of the show is draw/redraw with a $50 entry fee, with IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing, Side Biter Chassis North Central and KMJ Performance Illinois State, but no track points to be awarded. Karl Kustoms Northern SportMods vie for $888 to win and national, state and track points. Pit gates open at 2:30 p.m. and the grandstand opens at 3:30 p.m. Hot laps are at 5:30 p.. with racing to follow. Reserved grandstand seating is $15, with general admission $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and free for kids ages eight and under. Pit passes are $30 or $15 for kids. More information is available on Facebook. Durbin, who passed away in January at the age of 41, was a three-time IMCA Modified champion at [Read More]

Johnson wins IMCA Late Model thriller at Indee

By Jerry Mackey INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (July 25) – Rydell Auto Parts held Customer Appreciation Night on Saturday night at the Independence Motor Speedway and fans were treated to an IMCA Sunoco Late Model feature that had everyone on the edge of their seats. The field took the green flag with Curran Beckler setting the pace in the early going. Sean Johnson, Curt Martin and Jeff Aikey were making their way to the front to set up a battle for the ages. The trio swapped the lead several times late in the race with the lead changing hands every corner. Aikey led at the white flag only to have both Johnson and Martin get back by on the back chute. At the checkers it was Johnson by a very narrow margin over Martin and Aikey. The IMCA Modified 20-lap feature was led early by Josh Barta before Troy Cordes took over the top spot. Cordes had advanced from a fourth row start, but was not able to hold off Aikey, who came from deep in [Read More]

Marshalltown checkers fly for DeFrance

By Joyce Eisele MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (July 24) – Hometown hero Darrel DeFrance got his second win this year when he captured the IMCA Sunoco Late Model feature Friday night at Marshalltown Speedway. DeFrance was running second to Curtis Glover on lap nine when the leader drove off the track as he exited turn two. DeFrance then held the lead the rest of the way to the finish line to seal his second win at the speedway this year. Dalton Simonsen finished in the runner-up position and pole sitter Shawn Cooney took third. Tom Berry Jr. continued his domination at the track this year, taking win number five in the IMCA Modified division. Damon Murty took his third victory in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars and Brayton Carter made it three in a row in the Karl Kustoms Northern SportMods. Eric Knutson took the trophy home in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks.

Hobo 40 at Hancock County pays IMCA Stock Car winner $2,000

BRITT, Iowa – Forty laps will be the distance and $2,000 will be the top prize at Hancock County Speedway’s Friday, July 31 Hobo 40 special for IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars. That feature pays a minimum of $200 to start, has a $75 entry fee and highlights the county fair show. Also on the race night card are IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks, Karl Kustoms Northern SportMods and Mach-1 Sport Compacts. IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing National, regional, KMJ Performance State and track points will be awarded. Pit gates open at 5 p.m., the grandstand opens at 6 p.m. and racing follows 7 p.m. hot laps. Spectator admission is $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and veterans, and free for kids ages 12 and under. Pit passes are $30. More information is available on Facebook.

See repeats in CJ Stocks

By Jerry Mackey COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa (July 24) – Races on Friday at the CJ Speedway were the 2020 Louisa County Fair Races and took place on a beautiful night on another perfectly prepared track. The IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars never disappoint and the main event saw Jason See win for the second consecutive week, this time in very dramatic fashion. Howard Gordon Jr. led for several laps early before the lead pack swelled to five drivers. At the midway point at least four drivers had a legitimate shot at scoring the win. See advanced from his fifth position start and was holding the lead while Adam Bell was closing. See and Bell took the white flag in a dead heat for the lead. The two raced down the back chute with See out front but Bell was going to make one last charge. Coming out of turn four, Bell was on the outside of See, the two raced under the checkers with See scoring the win by approximately one foot. Cody Staley scored his [Read More]

Richardson is best in URSS opener at Bullring Nationals

LaCROSSE, Kan. (July 25) – The POWRi United Rebel Sprint Series Presented by Mel Hambelton Ford Racing took to the Bullring at Rush County Speedway and Steven Richardson maneuvered a last lap pass to claim the night one Bullring Nationals feature win. Zach Blurton and Jordan Knight set the pace for the 25-lap feature event for the IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Cars. Blurton took off with the early lead. Koby Walters and Jordan Knight fell in behind the race leader. Blurton finessed lapped traffic on lap seven, separating some distance between himself and the runner-up. A late race caution saw the field bunched back up. Some confusion on the restart called for mass chaos for front-runners Blurton and Walters. Both took off for the restart but the waving of the green had not yet occurred. Walters and Blurton tangled and restarted at the tail of the field, putting Knight into the top position. The green, white, checkered restart was one for the books and found Knight with the lead while Richardson was right there to [Read More]

Logue is perfect Saturday at Boone

By Joyce Eisele BOONE, Iowa (July 25) – Johnathon Logue made it a perfect night Saturday, following his Hawkeye Challenge victory with the Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod checkers at Boone Speedway. Logue had topped the Hawkeye Challenge, which featured cars from each weekly division running a specified number (20-25) number of laps. With that $1,000 win already in hand, Logue drove from the 11th starting spot to catch leader Hunter Longnecker in the Northern SportMod main. The two ran side-by-side for several laps until Logue made the pass for the lead on lap 11. He kept the top spot the remainder of the way to the checkers and the win, his third at Boone this season. Longnecker kept the runner-up spot and Dustin Lynch was third. Tim Ward collected his first local IMCA Modified feature win of the season while Jay Schmidt prevailed in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car feature for the second time. Mike Smith also raced to his second Boone Speedway checkers of 2020 in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock main.

Carolina Racing Supply awards sent to Modified rookies in IMCA Eastern region

MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Two dozen IMCA Modified rookies competing in the Dirt Works Eastern Region have received early career contingency awards from Carolina Racing Supply. The Mooresville, N.C., high performance parts retailer has already issued $50 product certificates, good toward online purchases of $100 or more, to drivers who completed the rookie application process. Those drivers include Jeremiah Apel, Mark Bawcum, Chad Bennett, John Clark, Timothy Degroft Jr., Bubba Fletcher, Kyle Ford, Dillon Gentry, Richard Glascock, Darick Guikema, Michael Haynes. Devin Lenoir, Mathew McCaul, Billy McDuffie, Charlie Mihacsi, Kevin Miller, Derek Passenier, Mark Rasch, Jessie Savage, Casey Smith, Brian Vandecar, Derrick Waldfogel and Kevin Williams. In its ninth season as an IMCA sponsor, Carolina Racing Supply will also give $50 certificates to the lowest finishing driver with perfect attendance in Modified point standings at every sanctioned track in the region.

LaCrosse rules King of the Creek at 141

FRANCIS CREEK, Wis. (July 23) – With the green flag laps clicking off, the opportunity Benji LaCrosse has been waiting for finally came on the 36th time around the track Thursday at 141 Speedway. LaCrosse caught race-long leader Nick Strobbe and then led to the finish of the $5,000 to win King of the Creek main event for IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars. “It was awesome. I didn’t think I’d catch the 42 car (Strobbe) for a while,” LaCrosse said following the caution-free, 50-lapper and a quick dip in the infield pond at Francis Creek. “I knew I had to get him on the top. His car was really good on the bottom.” Strobbe, 13th in the event as a rookie last season, started from the pole and led Shawn Wagner across the stripe the first two laps. LaCrosse made his way to the runner-up spot at that point, running the higher line and chasing the leader into traffic on lap 22. A car length was the difference between first and second when lap 34 was scored. Strobbe [Read More]