Ryan Clark

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]

Mi22ion IMCA Modified racing to raise awareness, help prevent veteran suicide

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Sean Stacy raced for more than a tall trophy or any amount of money at the 20th annual Duel In The Desert. The 17-year-old from Kearny, Ariz., was behind the wheel of the number Mi22ion IMCA Modified, which gets its number from Mission 22, an organization dedicated to providing treatment for and preventing suicide by military veterans. Raising awareness about the 22 veterans who take their own lives each day because of Post-Traumatic Stress has been Stacy’s goal throughout his rookie season. “This is something that has affected many families,” said Stacy’s father and car owner Curtis. “We were having fun racing then began to see that this was one way we could make a difference.” Primarily sponsored by the Las Vegas Firefighters and Benefit Association, which counts many military veterans among its membership, the Mi22ion car raced six nights this season, at Arizona Speedway and at Central Arizona Speedway prior to the Duel In The Desert. Stacy was ninth in the Young Guns event at the Duel. His final outing of [Read More]

Larry Shaw Race Cars takes top honors in IMCA Manufacturers’ Cup contest

BATESVILLE, Ark. – Larry Shaw Race Cars will receive a second prestigious award at the upcoming IMCA national banquet. The Batesville, Ark., chassis builder won the 2017 Manufacturers’ Cup, with the top point total among the 18 manufacturers entered in the ninth annual contest. Points were awarded based on the make of chassis driven by drivers finishing in the top 10 in each of the five regions for IMCA Modifieds. Shaw led the way with 41 points; rounding out the top five builders were GRT with 38, Razor Chassis with 28, BMS with 27 and Harris Auto Racing with 26. Shaw, already in line for a 10-year sponsor appreciation plaque, gets a $500 cash prize and trophy during the Nov. 25 national banquet in Lincoln, Neb. “We rekindled and started all over after a fire in 1994 and there are so many drivers and their race teams that we have to thank for this,” owner Larry Shaw said. “We’ve built more than 5,300 cars and our employees and family still do everything they’re supposed to [Read More]

Vollmer adds a plaque of her own to family’s state championship collection

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – Kendra Vollmer made good on her pre-season goal of winning an All-Star Performance State championship. As a result, she’ll add a plaque to the collection of awards in the home office that doubles as a trophy display room. Vollmer topped Idaho State standings for the Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod division. She also picked up her career first win in the class on Aug. 19, six days before her 18th birthday, at hometown Idaho Falls Raceway. “Winning the state championship was really the goal for the year,” Vollmer said. “Getting my first feature win was exciting and helped pay more bills but winning the state championship was the big thing.” Her father Kenny raced a Northern SportMod, earning state titles in 2011 and 2015, while uncle Jacob Vollmer was the Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center Southern SportMod king in Idaho in 2010. “My dad liked this class a lot and was the one who got me started in it,” said Vollmer, who ran a go-kart on dirt for six years before moving to the sanctioned [Read More]

IMCA crowns record 107 Allstar Performance state champions this season

VINTON, Iowa – A record 107 IMCA Allstar Performance state champions were crowned this season, including first-ever divisional kings in three states. The previous mark of 103 was set last year; the record for the number of state champions named has been equaled or bettered each year since 2004. Shelby Williams was the only driver winning state crowns in multiple divisions this season, pacing both IMCA Sunoco Stock Car and Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center Southern SportMod points in Oklahoma. Both championships were career firsts. Brian Carey won his first Southern SportMod crowns in Colorado and Wyoming. He’d previously reigned in his home state of New Mexico. State-first champions were in New York and South Carolina, where Jeff Trombely and Danny Jones topped IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car standings, and in Wyoming, where Beau Hutchison led Stock Car points. Eight hundred and eighteen different drivers have won state championships since the awards program began in 2000. Drew Armstrong motored to a career sixth IMCA Modified championship in Arkansas this season. Jeremy Meirhofer won for the fourth time in [Read More]