Ryan Clark

Track champions crowned at Maquoketa

By Jerry Mackey MAQUOKETA, Iowa (Aug. 24, 2024) – Dynamic Tube of Maquoketa hosted the 2024 season championship races on Saturday as Maquoketa Speedway hosted 122 race teams for another exciting night of racing action. IMCA Sunoco Late Models provided another action-packed headliner as drivers used every inch of the perfectly prepared track. Travis Denning used both the high side and the low groove as he worked his way to the front in the 25-lap main event, advancing from the ninth position. Denning took the checkers ahead of Mitch Morris and Evan Miller. With the season championship win, Denning also earned the 2024 track title. Drew Janssen made his second appearance at Maquoketa Speedway racing his Friesen Performance IMCA Modified. Janssen started at the tail of the invert due to the fact that he did not have an established point average. A fifth row start did not bother Janssen as he was able to work through traffic en route to the 20-lap main event win ahead of Spencer Diercks and Mitch Way. Jeff Larson was the track [Read More]

Showdown in Motown ushers in holiday weekend racing action

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (Aug. 25, 2024) – Action heats up on the High Bank this Friday night for the annual Labor Day Weekend kick-off, the Aug. 30 Karl Auto Group ShowDown in Motown. Drivers from across the Midwest and the country make Marshalltown Speedway their Friday night stop on the way to the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. Last year we saw 16 different states represented at the event, with the biggest out of state turnout from California. There is no entry fee to compete and all you will need is a $35 pit pass to race for great spending money on your way to Boone Speedway for Super Nationals: *$1,000 to win/$100 to start Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds *$1,000 to win/$100 to start Stealth Racing IMCA STARS Mod Lites *$750 to win/ $75 To start IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars *$500 to win/ $75 to start Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods *$500 to win/$75 to start IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks *$250 to win Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compacts Also featuring Karl Chevrolet Dirt Trucks. Modified [Read More]

IMCA Super Nationals Modified, Hobby, SportMod champions get coveted Karl Kustoms crate engines

BOONE, Iowa (Aug. 26, 2024) – Their checkered flag runs will be career highlights for three of the champions crowned on Saturday night at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. Getting a crate engine from Karl Performance will make those Sept. 7 title runs even more memorable. The Modified champion receives a 604 crate engine, the Hobby Stock and Northern SportMod champions both 602 crates from the Des Moines high performance parts manufacturer and distributor, designated as The Preferred Engine Supplier of IMCA Racing. “Our marketing partnership with the Karl Companies originated with the Northern SportMods and has seen steady growth since,” observed IMCA Marketing Integration and Sponsorship Director Carson Becker-Gramm. “The 42nd annual Super Nationals marks the 11th consecutive year Karl will award crate engines to three of our Saturday night champions.” “Winning a Super Nationals crown is a pinnacle achievement for any dirt track driver,” he added. “We very much appreciate Karl adding even more luster.” Karl Performance and Chevrolet Performance will be located in adjoining booths on manufacturers’ row throughout the week. [Read More]

Champions crowed in exciting finale at Ocean

By Steven Blakesley Blakesley Sports Media WATSONVILLE, Calif. (Aug. 23, 2024) – Ocean Speedway in Watsonville concluded its 2024 IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing point season Friday night at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds on an exciting night on the dirt. Jim Pettit wrapped up back-to-back Friesen Performance IMCA Modified titles while 18-year-old Emali VanHoff claimed her first Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod championship. The Modifieds had an outstanding quality field for a 25-lap feature. Robert Marsh went through the middle down the backstretch to lead lap one after starting third. Marsh then spun in turn two, sparking a chain reaction crash. Fred Lind flipped side over side wildly to draw a red flag. Lind was uninjured. Bobby Hogge drove into the lead on lap seven with former champ Cody Burke and Pettit in pursuit in second and third. A series of cautions over the next 10 laps kept the field in close quarters. Hogge survived an onslaught of challenges from Burke and Pettit to score the championship finale win over Pettit, Burke, eighth-starting Jacob Mallet [Read More]

Final night of racing at Kossuth County Speedway

By Greg Grabianowski Sports Editor ALGONA, Iowa (Aug. 22, 2024) – The final evening of exciting dirt track racing at the Kossuth County Speedway for 2024 took place on Aug. 22 wrapping up a crazy season that saw Mother Nature the only feature winner on seven different Thursday nights. The evening was also for the final night for track manager Ron Reefer as he announced after doing a great job at the oval for the past nine years that it was time for him to spend more time with his family and have more time to enjoy some of his outdoor hobbies. IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks were led to the flag stand by Brayton Kajewski and Joe Doran. Doran jumped out front after the first lap around the track and led the whole race until a late race surge by hard-charger Mike Smith gave the Lake City driver his fifth local feature win. Although Doran maintain the top spot early in the race, the battle for second place saw Jade Lange, Josh Sidles and Brandon [Read More]

Track champion VanHoff back at Boone to race with best of the best

CHOWCHILLA, Calif. (Aug. 26, 2024) – Emali VanHoff had no shortage of adjectives in describing the feeling when she turned her first laps at Boone Speedway last September. The young hotshoe from Chowchilla, Calif., returns to Iowa’s Action Track as a Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod track champion, looking for much better results at the 42nd annual IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. “Last year was my first year racing at Boone. It was exciting,” said VanHoff, 18 years old and previously a spectator at Super Nationals each year since 2020. “It was overwhelming, it was crazy and I was nervous. To experience Super Nationals and just experience it was awesome.” While her 2023 results weren’t enough to get her into the Saturday show … DNF’s in both heat races and mid-pack finishes in both ‘B’ features … the opportunity to race with the best had VanHoff counting down the days until this year’s Nationals. “I never thought in a million years that I’d be able to go to Boone and race with the best of the [Read More]

Gould rings up career 200th IMCA Modified checkers at Bells

CALERA, Okla. (Aug. 24, 2024) – Thirty years ago, William Gould was happy going fast in a straight line. Saturday night, he kept going fast and turning left at Grayson County Speedway in Bells, Texas, winning for the 200th time in his Friesen Performance IMCA Modified career. “It’s another accomplishment and I’m proud of it. I was glad to get it done and move on to bigger and better things, and hopefully a lot more wins,” said the Calera, Okla., speedster, IMCA’s national champion in 2013 and now the ninth driver in division history to reach the 200 win mark. “I’m looking forward to next week and the week after. You’re only as good as your last win. That’s why we race.” His IMCA resume also boasts six GRT Race Cars South Central Regional crowns, plus nine track and six state titles. “My dad and his brothers, they all raced and I was a hot rodder. I had a 1970 Camaro and I was content doing that,” said Gould, now 51. “I was street racing and [Read More]

Mills, Swearingen, Fett, Nielsen earn Hancock County crowns

By Chad Meyer BRITT, Iowa (Aug. 23, 2024) – Season championship night at Hancock County Speedway on Friday night was sponsored by Doug Studer Farms and KIOW 107.3 Radio. In the Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds, Jeremy Mills entered the night with a sizable point lead and was crowned the track champion. In the feature, he worked the top side repeatedly until he was able to get past Cody Knecht in the second half of the main. Knecht, who led the first half of the event, used a late-race caution to make one last attempt to get past Mills but had to settle for second. Kelly Shryock gained six spots to finish third ahead of Nick Meyer. The closet point battle of the night was in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars. Troy Swearingen entered the night with a three-point lead on Heath Tulp. Tulp led the entire feature and collected the trophy but had to fend off a charging Swearingen, who fell back several spots early in the race. Swearingen finished a close second and secured [Read More]

Braaksma rides IMCA Modified momentum to Fayette County win

WEST UNION, Iowa (Aug. 23, 2024) – Ethan Braaksma had all kinds of momentum on his side when he pulled into the pit area at Fayette County Speedway Friday night. He rode that momentum straight to victory lane, winning the Friesen Performance IMCA Modified feature and $1,200 on opening night of the Fall Finale. “I feel pretty confident going to momentum race tracks and coming from go kart racing, I feel like Fayette County is one of those,” explained Braaksma, who’d also won the Rage 40 special at West Union in July. “I like when the track is slick and I can just roll around it. You have to get up on the wheel but at the same time keep the tires underneath you and you should be pretty good.” He was pretty good from the drop of the green, starting from the pole and leading the distance of a 25-lapper interrupted by four cautions. Braaksma hit lapped traffic late but put some real estate on teammate and crew chief Drew Janssen, debuting a new [Read More]

Off-track Super Nationals activities centered at NAPA Fan Zone

BOONE, Iowa (Aug. 23, 2024) – The NAPA Racing Fan Zone is again the locale for many of the special off-track events during the week of the 42nd annual IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s at Boone Speedway. Located south of the main grandstand at Boone Speedway, the Fan Zone will be site of scheduled and perhaps some spontaneous activities beginning with the Sunday, Sept. 1 Prelude show and continuing through the Sept. 2-7 Super Nationals. “What’s new this year is the Tuesday afternoon Women in IMCA presented by NAPA and Dynamic Drivelines,” noted Carson Becker-Gramm, marketing integration and sponsorship director for IMCA. “Female drivers have played an important role in this organization for more than 40 years. There’s no better time than to recognize them, and maybe get an autograph or two, than during our biggest event.” All female drivers competing at Super Nationals will be invited to display their cars at the fan zone and sign autographs; NAPA will provide shirts they can sign and autograph for fans as well. More than a dozen [Read More]