Ryan Clark

Luellen lands IMCA Modified national, regional rookie awards

MINBURN, Iowa – Yes, said Clint Luellen, winning IMCA Modified national rookie and Side Biter Chassis North Central Region rookie of the year awards were goals for the 2017 season. But no, he admitted, he didn’t think much beyond that. “We set out trying to have the best season we could and learn from the best. We wanted to win regional and national rookie of the year,” he said. “We had a goal of six feature wins and one track championship. We were astonished by how we exceeded ourselves.” From Minburn, Iowa, Luellen won nine features and finished third in regional points and ninth nationally. He was the only driver in the division to win three track championships, topping standings at Buena Vista Raceway, Stuart Speedway and Shelby County Speedway. “I had raced a Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod weekly at Stuart and Harlan. We added Alta on Wednesdays because that would give us a couple days to work on the car if we needed it,” explained Luellen, also the Allstar Performance Iowa State champion. “We [Read More]

Soppe takes advice, earns IMCA natonal Northern SportMod crown

SHERRILL, Iowa – Advice from a driver who’s been there and won that helped Tyler Soppe in his quest for the IMCA Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod national championship. Soppe parlayed 25 feature wins and track titles at Farley Speedway and Maquoketa Speedway into the 2017 national title. “We knew it would be close because of bonus points but we had a pretty good idea we had the national championship wrapped up,” said Soppe, from Sherrill, Iowa, and a first-time Allstar Performance Iowa State champion as well. “It was nice to be able to call people and tell them we’d won it after we got the official notice from IMCA.” Driving a 14-year-old car purchased for $1,500 as recently as 2015, Soppe was the national runner-up last year. He ascended to the top spot in the standings in mid-July this season and took the crown ahead of defending champion Tony Olson and two-time king Matt Looft. “I had raced an outlaw super bomber, which is similar to an IMCA Stock Car, at Farley, Maquoketa and Dubuque. [Read More]

Spring special success sparks Richards in national title chase

BEATRICE, Neb. – His success in spring specials convinced Dillon Richards he could be a contender for the national Mach-1 Sport Compact championship in 2017. Armed with a willingness to travel and race in some of the biggest weekly fields the class had to offer, he had that title wrapped up before ending the season with another special event victory at his hometown Beatrice Speedway. “After we won Spring Nationals at Beatrice and then both nights at RPM Speedway (the Sunflower Classic), we decided this was the year to go for it,” said Richards, 18 and already a four-year-veteran of the division. “This was our first year traveling this much and there were a lot of late nights in the shop, but it was all worth it.” His 57 starts took Richards to 11 different tracks in Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota and Iowa. Eight of his 27 feature wins, and a third straight track title, came at Beatrice. Richards won another six times at Eagle Raceway and five times at Junction Motor Speedway. “We changed [Read More]

300th, 35th wins help pave way to Anderson’s seventh title

DES MOINES, Iowa – Two of the important numbers leading up to Shannon Anderson’s record-extending seventh national championship were 300 and 35. Anderson raced to his IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock career 300th win in mid-June and won for the 35th time this season at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. “We had an excellent year. Honestly, it was unbelievable,” Anderson said. “We’d had a hard time even getting to 30 wins the last three years but this year we started strong and kept it rolling.” Along with national and Super Nationals titles, the Des Moines, Iowa, driver motored to the Big Daddy Race Cars Northern Region and Marshalltown Speedway and Southern Iowa Speedway crowns. He recorded a dozen wins at both Southern Iowa – site of his 300th, on June 14 – and Marshalltown, six at Kossuth County Speedway and three at Heartland Park Topeka after starting the season in Texas with the opening night victory at Abilene Speedway’s Ice Breaker. “I hadn’t run Osky since 2012 and only lost there one [Read More]

Williams beats fast company for Southern SportMod crown

TAHOKA, Texas – A season that started out with the blues turned golden for Cory Williams. The Tahoka, Texas, driver topped 17 features and ran in the top five in all but seven starts in winning the Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center Southern SportMod national championship. “We started the season kind of running where and whenever we wanted. When we saw we were up there in the national points, it was kind of a shocker,” admitted Williams. “After that we ran hard and sewed the national deal up.” Williams was a high school junior when he earned IMCA rookie of the year honors in the division in 2011. He was third in the national points race last year and brought 24 career wins into the 2017 campaign. “There were a lot of mixed emotions after I got the call from IMCA telling me points were official and that I was the national champion,” Williams said. “It’s something we’ve been chasing for the past six years. We’ve worked very hard to win it and it was a relief [Read More]

Quickly impressed by the division, Thomas sprints to IMCA RaceSaver national crown

CORSICANA, Texas – One trip to the race track was all it took to convince Marcus Thomas that the IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car division was right for him. Three-plus seasons was all it took for him to win his first national championship in IMCA’s fastest growing class. “I had a weekly drag racing background and hadn’t even been to a dirt track before we went to Heart O’ Texas Speedway four years ago to watch the races,” the Corsicana driver said. “The Sprint Cars were there that night, they caught my attention and I knew right then that was what I wanted to race.” Eight of his 11 feature wins came at Kennedale Speedway Park, where Thomas repeated as track champion. He also paced Allstar Performance Texas State standings while picking up single checkers at Sabine Motor Speedway, RPM Speedway and Lone Star Speedway. The season-opening victory at Kilgore paid a hefty $1,200 and made Thomas the winner of back-to-back Sprint Smackdown specials at Lone Star. It also proved to be Thomas’ only win in [Read More]

IMCA honors best of the best at national awards banquet

LINCOLN, Neb. (Nov. 25) – The best of the best were honored at the national IMCA awards banquet Saturday in Lincoln, Neb. National champions recognized during the evening were Jason Wolla, IMCA Modified; Justin Kay, IMCA Late Model; Marcus Thomas, IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car; Mike Nichols, IMCA Sunoco Stock Car; Shannon Anderson, IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock; Tyler Soppe, Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod; Cory Williams, Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center Southern SportMod; and Dillon Richards, Mach-1 Sport Compact. Wolla is the first driver from North Dakota to win a national crown in any division. Other first-time national kings are Thomas, Soppe, Williams and Richards. Kay is the first four-time national champion in the modern era of the Late Model division; Nichols and Anderson now share the modern era record with seven career national crowns in one division. Modified regional champions were Cory Sample in the Larry Shaw Race Cars Western; Steven Bowers Jr. in the Jet Racing Central; William Gould in the Razor Chassis South Central; Wolla in the Side Biter Chassis North Central; and A.J. Ward in [Read More]

Nichols ends hectic season with seventh national IMCA Stock Car title

HARLAN, Iowa – What had been an atypical season ended with a career highlight for Mike Nichols. Nichols won 32 IMCA Sunoco Stock Car features and three track championships on the way to a record-matching seventh career national crown, clinched before a much-anticipated first IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s championship. “I’ve always been a numbers guy but this is the only time since I’ve been racing that I didn’t pay attention to point standings, bonus points, anything,” said Nichols, from Harlan, Iowa. “The passing of my brother in April put a lot of things in perspective for us.” Nichols started a new job the same month and has since started accelerated classes to earn a Master’s Degree in business administration. He and wife Anita are also making plans to build a new house so their summer was even busier than normal. “It was a little hectic. I’ve become a professional juggler,” he said. “One of my greatest regrets was not completing my education. I work full-time and travel a lot for work [Read More]

Sobbing completes unique double with Deery Series championship, rookie award

MALVERN, Iowa – A bad back finally did what the competition couldn’t: Beat Jesse Sobbing. Sobbing made IMCA Late Model tour history in 2017, becoming the first driver to win both the Deery Brother Summer Series championship and rookie of the year award in the same season. His health, however, may dictate that the Malvern, Iowa driver doesn’t get a chance to defend his latest IMCA championship. He’s had three back surgeries and a fourth is likely before the end of the calendar year. “I love racing. This was my 13th year racing and in 10 of those years I raced more than 100 times. It’s what I’ve lived and breathed,” Sobbing said. “My wife Brandi has been a huge part of my racing and put up with a lot over the years. We talked about it and decided late in 2016 that this would be my last season.” The two-time Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod national champion and former champion of IMCA’s Northern Region for Modifieds considered various divisions before settling on the Late Models. [Read More]

Kay combines 4th IMCA Late Model crown with Modified success

WHEATLAND, Iowa – A driver who has an appreciation for racing history and all the numbers that go into the sport made IMCA Late Model history this season. Justin Kay became the first four-time national champion in the modern era of the division, winning 16 features and finishing in the top five in 30 of his 33 starts. He was also one of just two IMCA drivers winning track championships in different divisions, topping both Late Model and Modified point standings at Farley Speedway. “Winning the national championship is always in the back of your mind at the start of the year. Deery Brothers races counted toward national points this year and we had early success in the series,” said Kay, from Wheatland, Iowa. “In May, we decided to keep racing at Farley and see how things played out.” A five-time winner on the Late Model tour circuit and in weekly shows at Farley, Kay also collected three checkers at Dubuque Speedway and single wins at Davenport Speedway and Maquoketa Speedway. His sole out-of-state victory [Read More]