Ryan Clark

Off Road winners are Mielke, Landauer, Kirk

By Randy Pospishil sports@norfolkdailynews.com NORFOLK, Neb. (Aug. 10, 2024) – Tejay Mielke, Travis Landauer and Willy Kirk all won IMCA main events Saturday at Off Road Speedway. Mielke began the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car feature in the middle of the pack but used two caution restarts to move into the top five, battling with Cameron Wilkinson and Justin Bertschinger to challenge race leader Kyle Wilkinson. Mielke pulled away from that competition to pursue Kyle Wilkinson, closed the distance, then passed on the outside of turn four to take over the lead. Four laps later, despite one final caution, Mielke took the checkered flag for the win. Cameron Wilkinson, meanwhile, had been in third place behind the leaders but passed brother Kyle immediately after that last caution, spun out as the cars entered turn four on the final lap, leaving brother Kyle to secure second place with Derek Sehi finishing third. In the IMCA Sunoo Hobby Stock feature, Landauer parlayed a chance to start on the pole into a wire-to-wire win, while the other front-row starter, [Read More]

Nielsen, Garrigan dominate IMCA features at Black Hills

By Ben Deatherage RAPID CITY, S.D. (Aug. 9, 2024) – Friday had Black Hills Speedway fire things up again at the South Dakota 1/2-mile oval. The Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds and Sunoco IMCA Hobby Stocks filled the pit area as the two sanctioned divisions on the card. Jack Hubbard Jr. sprinted to the early lead in the Modified ranks. However, Brent Nielsen closed the gap between himself and the leader to contest for first place. Nielsen successfully obtained the position by moving inside Hubbard at the line on lap three. From there, the new pacesetter had no issues. He extended his lead to a sizable advantage and took care of business the rest of the distance to win by 6.551 seconds after starting last in the lineup. The race for second was a thrilling battle that kept the audience on the edge of their seats. Nate Hand made a daring move to secure the runner-up spot, with Hubbard and Adam Boggs following closely behind. Brent Nielsen was nothing short of dominant in winning Friday’s Friesen [Read More]

Bencken’s latest pretty big accomplishment is 100th career IMCA Hobby Stock feature win

OAKLEY, Kan. (Aug. 9, 2024) – Brady Bencken raced his way into the IMCA history book Friday night but probably wasn’t the proudest person standing in victory lane. Bencken won for the 100th time in his IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock career at home track Thomas County Speedway and was joined after the checkers flew by father Rod and grandfather Wes in displaying the congratulatory banner. “It’s pretty big. When I got my first track championship, it was unbelievable. Now we’re 10 years down the road and 100 wins. It’s pretty neat,” the Oakley, Kan., driver said. “I didn’t even realize until last year that we were even that close. I was just racing, not paying attention to the wins, and then IMCA contacted me.” “It’s a pretty big accomplishment.” Bencken has racked up a lot of pretty big accomplishments since recording his first Hobby Stock win, also at Thomas County, in 2014. The 2016 Kansas state and an 11-time track champion, he won at least 10 features every season from 2016 to 2021. Bencken had a [Read More]

RaceSaver checkers fly at Arlington for Graf

ARLINGTON, Minn. (Aug. 10, 2024) – New cars in victory lane and a rain-free evening provided a great night of racing for the Back to School Kids’ Night at Arlington Raceway. Hunter Hanson had some bad luck in the IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car feature as he had a commanding lead before his motor expired on lap four and he drove to the infield, ending up in a water hole off the front straightaway. Hannah Graf then took the lead on the restart with Brett Allen and Matt Johnson behind her racing side-by-side and trading second and third. Allen got to second and had his sights on Graf but it was Graf taking the checkered first with Allen following and Johnson in third. There were three different leaders in the Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod feature and close racing throughout the entire 15 laps. The early leader was Tony Stephensmeier, who saw Joey Reimers get around him on the third circuit. On the 10th lap, a tire was hit in turn four, causing a yellow flag. That [Read More]

Pickett, Filloon find first Boone checkers of season

By Joyce Eisele BOONE, Iowa (Aug. 10, 2024) – Boone Speedway held another of its weekly racing series events Saturday with only one more week of points racing to go. Two drivers picked up their first season wins as Tyler Pickett took the checkers in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars and Dustin Filloon went to victory lane for the first time when he won the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock feature. Jake McBirnie won the Friesen Performance IMCA Modified main event, Brayton Carter took the honors in the Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods and Bryan Zehm was the winner of the Stealth Racing IMCA STARS Mod Lites. Feature racing kicked off with the 15-lap Mod Lite main. William Nobles was holding down the lead when the race was red flagged at lap three when Joel Huggins, in just his second night out this year, rolled several times in corner one as he appeared to wheel hop a car trying to avoid another that was sitting still on the track. It was a relief to have Huggins emerge from [Read More]

Murty tops Bald Tire Bash, Snyder gets first win at The Bullring

VINTON, Iowa (Aug. 11, 2024) – Dallon Murty was the $2,000 winner in the Bald Tire Bash Sunday night at Benton County Speedway. The event, which required a maximum tire tread depth of 1/8” in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car division, featured a 40-lap feature that Murty dominated once he got out front. Kyle Olson was the early leader in the Christie Door Company main event. He was pressured by Kaden Reynolds and Damon Murty while Dallon Murty was making his way through traffic from the fifth row. A terrific battle among the front-runners ensued before Dallon Murty made his way to the front around midway. He then built a lead of over four seconds while his pursuers jockeyed for position behind him. Despite lapped traffic slowing his progress late, Murty raced to the convincing win ahead of Reynolds. Buck Schafroth, who started 16th, ran third ahead of Damon Murty. Jacob Snyder’s weekly improvement in the Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds paid off Sunday night. He topped the Wright Way Trailers 20-lapper to earn the first [Read More]

Denning scores Fan Appreciation Night win at Maquoketa

By Jerry Mackey MAQUOKETA, Iowa (Aug. 10, 2024) – The Maquoketa Speedway hosted Fan Appreciation Night on Saturday sponsored by our friends at Oly’s Garage in Preston and the Hayes Family Farms of Monmouth and 124 race teams packed the pit area for another action-packed night of racing on the ¼-mile dirt oval located on the Jackson County Fairgrounds. The IMCA Sunoco Late Model feature took the green with Michael Leal pacing the field early from his pole position start. Kelly Pestka applied pressure early while Travis Denning was steadily advancing to the front, working the extreme high line around the smooth track. Denning was able to take the lead as the feature closed in on the 10 to go mark. Denning went on to record the win from his ninth position start. Steve Johnson turned in another strong run in advancing seven spots to cross under the checkers in second ahead of Don Pataska. The Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds saw another first time winner in 2024 for point racing at the Maquoketa Speedway. The Concrete [Read More]

Schmitt’s Super Nationals goal is to be competitive in Saturday night Modified, Stock Car main events

SUN PRAIRIE, Wis. (Aug. 12, 2024) – Brandon Schmitt isn’t coming to Boone with a goal of making the Saturday night show. He’ll make the trip to the Sept. 2-7 IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s looking to qualify for both Modified and Stock Car main events and, most importantly, being competitive in each. “I’ve made it in the show before and that was cool,” said the Sun Prairie, Wis., speedster, 21st in the Modified Big Dance two years ago. “Obviously, everybody wants to get in the main event but I want to make both big shows, be competitive and run in the top five or top 10.” “To get into an All-Star race would be special, too, because of the amount of talent. To get in those races would be special.” Schmitt is one of a handful of drivers eligible to qualify for both the B & B Racing Chassis All-Star Invitational and Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational events, doing so on back-to-back nights July 19 and 20 at home track Beaver Dam Raceway. [Read More]

Rich Marshalltown checkers to Inman, Nielsen, Padilla

By Joyce Eisele MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (Aug. 9, 2024) – It was a beautiful night for racing at Marshalltown Speedway on Friday when it was VESSCO/BHE/RBF Electric night at the track. Those sponsors added extra money to the SportMod, Hobby Stock and Mod Lite classes, all paying $1000 to win. Visiting driver in the IMCA Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods Tyler Inman took the checkers in that division. It was another visitor on the night, Brandon Nielsen, taking the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock win, and Jon Padilla was back in victory lane in the Stealth Racing IMCA STARS Mod Lites Tripp Gaylord matched his opening night win when he took the checkers in the IMCA Friesen Performance Modifieds, Michael Jaennette was the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car winner and Michael Gardner won the IMCA Mach-1 Sport Compact feature. The Northern SportMod 16-lap feature ran first. Inman, a hired gun for the evening, redrew the outside front row starting spot and from there on out, never looked back on his run to the checkers and the win. Cory Van Zante [Read More]

Ferrando shines at Sunset Speedway’s Mod Frenzy

By Ben Deatherage BANKS, Ore. (Aug. 10, 2024) – The event at Sunset Speedway Park on Saturday, Aug. 10, was significant, attracting a large field of Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds for the third running of the Whisler Construction Mod Frenzy, with a cool $3,000 on the line. The 40-lap finale for Modifieds was a thrilling spectacle. Multi-time defending track champion Craig Cassell immediately seized the top spot, setting the stage for an intense battle. Cassell had to put up a hard fight on the initial start when he went three-wide with Grey Ferrando and Bricen James. As Cassell secured the lead, Ferrando held off James for second before concentrating his efforts on running down the leader. Ferrando, determined to secure the lead, worked the inside line on the fifth circuit as Cassell kept his faith on the top shelf. The two dueled for quite some time with no clear advantage to either party, showcasing their unwavering determination and skill. Things would take a twist when lapped traffic entered the mix on lap 18. Using [Read More]