Ryan Clark

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]

US 36, Bethany Fairgrounds go with IMCA in 2018

OSBORN, Mo. – A pair of 3/8-mile ovals in Missouri have announced plans to sanction with IMCA in 2018. IMCA Modifieds, IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Cars, IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars and Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods will be featured Friday nights at US 36 Raceway in Osborn. The Modifieds, Stock Cars and Northern SportMods vie every other Saturday at Bethany Fairgrounds, 45 minutes to the north at the Northwest Missouri State Fairgrounds. “Everybody wants two places to race and our drivers will be able to run for IMCA national, regional, state and track points at both Osborn and Bethany,” noted promoter Jon Boller Jr. “I raced IMCA for years. I think it’s best for my drivers and I think it’s best for these two tracks.” “Cost was one of the most important factors in our decision to sanction with IMCA,” added, who promoted weekly events at US 36 and specials at Bethany this year. “The rules package for each of these divisions make them affordable as well as competitive.” Both tracks are part of IMCA’s Jet Racing [Read More]

Modified king Wolla reigns as first North Dakota IMCA national champion

RAY, N.D. – His season-opening sweep of Winter Challenge features at Canyon Speedway Park in Arizona got Jason Wolla thinking that the 2017 season could be special. After his runner-up finish in the Iowa Frostbuster Series, he knew it would be. “There are a lot of good cars in the Frostbuster. It helps us tune up for the point season,” said Wolla, who went on to win 23 IMCA Modified features in his home state and become the first driver from North Dakota to win a national championship in any sanctioned division. “Getting in more laps early in the year is key to winning later in the season.” “We have a lot of quality cars that race weekly in North Dakota. A lot of people don’t realize the car count averages we have,” continued Wolla, nicknamed The Big Show. “We proved this year that if you’re willing to put the miles on, you can be in the hunt. There are enough cars that bonus points definitely work in your favor.” From Ray and also the [Read More]

2018 IMCA rules released for six divisions

VINTON, Iowa – Some of the changes or clarifications you’ll see in 2018 rules for six IMCA divisions will be visible. Some will be less obvious. But all, IMCA President Brett Root promised, will be appropriate for each sanctioned class. “We do our best to be consistent from division to division with the basic rules and do not make wholesale changes without justification,” he said. “There were a small number of performance issues we saw this season that we have addressed for 2018.” Most notably, Northern SportMod and Hobby Stock drivers competing with claim engines must do so with 7,000 RPM chips. Drivers in all divisions allowing mud covers must secure them with bolts and not dzus fasteners. “The RPM limitation should come as no surprise. It is a situation that has presented itself but electronic rev limiters are becoming more and more accepted,” said Root. “Requiring mud plugs to be bolted on is a matter of safety. We have seen too many of them come off and inexpensive retrofit bolt kits are now readily [Read More]