Articles by Ryan Clark

TOPEKA, Kan. – It’s a good thing Steven Bowers Jr. doesn’t believe in bad omens. Bowers ran out of gas en route to the practice night that preceded the season-opening Sunflower Classic at RPM Speedway in March. Undeterred, he returned to Hays to sweep the weekend IMCA Modified features and begin his drive to the Jet Racing Central Region championship. “Winning the region is pretty cool,” said Bowers. “Winning both nights of the Sunflower Classic was probably the highlight. It really amped up our season and we went from there.” Bowers totaled 14 wins despite “a rough July,” along with Thunder Hill Speedway and Heartland Park Topeka track championships and the Allstar Performance Kansas State crown. Fourth in the national points race, he’d collect six checkers at Heartland Park, three at both Thunder Hill and RPM, and single victories at Salina Speedway and Beatrice Speedway. The Topeka, Kan., veteran drove a homebuilt car to his career-first regional title. He plugged both the cost of the division and the point system that allowed him to compete [Read More]

WINNEMUCCA, Nev. – After winning a second straight Larry Shaw Racing Western Region crown, Cory Sample gave some thought to the day when he’ll make a large addition to his trophy collection. From Winnemucca, Nev., Sample won 23 of 50 IMCA Modified starts while traveling to a baker’s dozen tracks in five states this season. Champion at both Rattlesnake Raceway and Winnemucca Regional Raceway, he also won a second straight and career fourth Allstar Performance Nevada State crown. All those titles came behind the wheel of a 2010 Razor Chassis. Sample has a total of 83 feature wins in that car since he bought it four years ago. “It’s been the perfect car for us. I don’t know of another driver who has as many wins in the same car,” Sample said. “When the time comes for us to get a new car, we won’t sell this one. It will become a trophy.” Runner-up in the national points race for a second consecutive season, Sample won four of six April starts. He had a streak [Read More]

NORFOLK, Neb. – IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock national and Big Daddy Race Cars Northern Re­gion rookie of the year awards were the ultimate goals this season for Lance Mielke. The five feature wins he collected during the season in addition to those rookie honors were a bonus. Mielke, from Norfolk, Neb., followed in the tire tracks of older brother TeJay in earning national and regional rookie of the year awards (in 2014) and even did so in the same Big Daddy car. “We first thought about it at the end of last season,” said Mielke, who had totaled 16 feature wins in three Mach-1 Sport Compact campaigns. “It came back to mind at the beginning of this season and we dedicated everything to running for rookie of the year.” He got his first feature win in the class on May 25 at U.S. 30 Speedway, where he went on to fin­ish second in the point race. “Going into the year, I thought I might get one or two wins. I never thought I’d get five, [Read More]

WEATHERFORD, Texas – Coming from a drag racing family, Dakota Dees didn’t understand how going fast and turning left could be all that difficult. Now that he’s done it himself, he understands. The Mach-1 Sport Compact national rookie of the year won seven of his 30 starts and six of his last 10 outings, finishing third in points at 281 Speedway and at Boyd Raceway. Girlfriend and Allstar Performance Texas State champion Julia Childs was runner-up in the standings at both tracks. “I watched her do it and thought it was awesome. She got me hooked on it,” said Dees, from Weather­ford. “Before I started racing, I couldn’t figure out how it could be so hard. When I started (in Julia’s original car) I couldn’t keep it on the track.” “I’m ecstatic about winning rookie points,” he added. “It’s the last thing I ever thought would hap­pen.” Dees’ first win came on April 29 at 281. After rolling his car at Boyd on May 12 he was consistent but didn’t make his way to victory [Read More]

KEMP, Texas – Nathan Buchanan started the 2017 season with the goal of winning Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center Southern SportMod rookie of the year honors. Goal accomplished. In his first full season of racing in any class, the Kemp, Texas, hotshoe followed an ambitious schedule that took him to eight different tracks. Fifteen of his 40 starts came at 85 Speedway, where Buchanan won his career-first feature on July 22. “I couldn’t believe it when they threw the checkers and pointed me to victory lane. Everything was really cool,” said Buchanan, fourth in the standings at 85 and 16th nationally. “I couldn’t believe it then. I still can’t.” Self-funded, Buchanan had raced a street stock a couple times in 2005. His father Ronnie had raced and he came into the year with a learn as you go approach that paid big dividends. “It was always my dream to race and I finally got the chance to do it. I learned a lot as we went. We started from scratch. I think I started with five ratchet [Read More]

OVERTON, Neb. – Jacob Olmstead proved up to the challenge in a second IMCA division this season. Olmstead earned national Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod rookie of the year honors, winning 10 of his 43 starts and the track title at Lexington Raceway. “We started strong, won a feature, wrecked a car and had some bad luck,” the Overton, Neb., driver summarized. “I got to run with guys I grew up watching and kept racing hard locally as many nights as we could.” Third in national point standings for the Hobby Stocks in 2015 – the year his brother Zach was the top rookie in that class – Olmstead ran an abbreviated 2016 season before selling his car and crewing full-time. “I wanted something different. I wanted a new challenge, so I bought the car that Tyler Frye had driven to the national championship and ran that a couple times after the point season,” he ex­plained. “Our goal in 2017 was to run for national rookie. I wanted to get some seat time and experi­ence so [Read More]