Divisions Archives

Fulton Nets $3,016 Payday with First IMCA Modified Win at Thunder Mountain

By Michael Benjamin CENTER ISLE, N.Y. (Nov. 1, 2025) — The Close Racing Supply NY-Penn IMCA Modified Series presented by Insinger Performance wrapped up its season Saturday night at Thunder Mountain Speedway, where 27 Friesen Performance IMCA Modified competitors converged for the richest event in the tour’s five-year history. The Ed and Jan Billings Classic headlined the evening, paying $3,016 to the winner and promising a dramatic conclusion to the 2025 campaign. When the green flag flew on the 26-car feature, Charlie Fulton wasted no time jumping out to an early lead. Keith Lamphere, however, quickly found his rhythm and powered past Fulton on lap 10. His time out front was short-lived, as Fulton came charging back just two laps later, finding speed on the high side to reclaim the top spot. From there, Fulton hit his marks perfectly and never looked back, cruising to his first-ever NY-Penn Series victory in commanding fashion. Lamphere crossed the line second, securing the 2025 series championship in the process, while Brad Sites, Tyler Belcher, and Randall Paxton rounded out the [Read More]

Allstar Performance to Reward 2025 IMCA Heat Race Standouts; Submissions Due Nov. 18

VINTON, Iowa (Nov. 4, 2025) — IMCA drivers who piled up heat race wins this season can cash in with Allstar Performance gift cards — but they must submit proof by Nov. 18. Any driver who wins more than 10 heat races in 2025 is eligible for a $100 Allstar Performance gift card. The single driver with the most heat-race wins nationwide will receive a $250 Allstar Performance gift card. Gift cards will be presented during the IMCA National Banquet on Nov. 29. To be eligible, drivers must email a photo of their car showing the official heat-win decal in place, as distributed by tracks, to IMCA Marketing Integration & Sponsorship Director Carson Becker-Gramm at cbgramm@imca.com. Photos must be received no later than Nov. 18.

A First for California as Reuter Sails to IMCA Hobby Stock Rookie Title in Southern Region

By Bill Martin CHULA VISTA, Calif. (Oct. 31, 2025) — An early January suggestion became reality in late September as Kevin Reuter sailed to rookie of the year honors in the B & B Racing Chassis Southern Region for Sunoco IMCA Hobby Stocks. He’d raced the first four nights of the IMCA TV Winter Nationals at Casa Grande’s Central Arizona Raceway, planning “a hit or miss kind of season” and racing when and where he could, all depending on when he’d be at sea as a U.S. Navy aviation ordinance man, loading and arming bombs, missiles, rockets and small caliber weaponry on jets that fly off aircraft carriers homeported in San Diego. Those deployments can last six to eight months and despite the uncertainty, Reuter agreed to make the rookie chase when friend and fellow Hobby Stock driver Scott Tenney suggested it. From Chula Vista and the first California driver to earn the Southern Region rookie title, he collected six top five finishes in 25 starts, racing at one track, Barona Speedway, in his home [Read More]

Lagroon Has All The Right Answers to Modified Questions in IMCA Central Region Rookie Quest

By Bill Martin SALINA, Kan. (Oct. 31, 2025) — There was never a question that Cale Lagroon would race a Friesen Performance IMCA Modified. The 16-year-old from Salina, son of long-time hotshoe Corey Lagroon, needed just a single season to prove his own skills in the sanctioning body’s premier division, motoring to both Rookie of the Year and runner-up honors in the Jet Racing Central Region. The Kansas State champion was second in the points race at hometown track Salina Speedway, where he made half of his 30 2025 starts. Lagroon had one win and another 15 top five finishes to show for those outings. “I always looked up to dad, watching him race while I was growing up,” he said. “Racing a Modified has pretty much been the plan my whole life.” “We didn’t plan to run the Modified that much this year, because I also race a micro sprint and we were going to split it up more,” added Lagroon, who turns most of his laps in that class in Oklahoma, Missouri and [Read More]

Michigan’s Kay Merits Rookie Honors in IMCA’s Eastern Region for Modifieds

By Bill Martin MERRITT, Mich. (Oct. 31, 2025) — Tylor Kay started his first Friesen Performance IMCA Modified season with two goals. First, win rookie of the year in the Devilbiss Racing Eastern Region. Second, run against the big names to do it. The Merritt, Mich., speedster made good on both objectives, edging Fred Dow Jr. by just five points, the smallest margin to decide any regional rookie race in 2025. “Winning rookie of the year was our goal from before the season even started. We wanted to try to go after it,” said Kay, who counted seven top five finishes in 33 starts. “We’re proud that we were able to achieve that, and that we were able to do it running against a lot of really tough guys every week.” Runner-up to Cody Goodwin at Mt. Pleasant Speedway, he was sixth in points at home track Merritt Speedway and in Michigan State standings, and eighth in the regional title chase. An occasional visitor to Crystal Motor Speedway, Kay had all of three partial seasons [Read More]

Plans Made in 2024 Become Reality in 2025 as Gaston Rules Southern SportMod Rookie Race

By Bill Martin WEATHERFORD, Texas (Oct. 31, 2025) — The planning for Christian Gaston’s 2025 rookie of the year run started early the season before. Younger brother Cameron topped point standings for first-year Smiley’s Racing Products IMCA Southern SportMod drivers in 2024. As was their goal, Christian made it two straight rookie crowns for Team Gaston this season, besting fellow Texan Colton Birmingham in a title chase that went all the way into September. “It would have been hard, my brother and I both racing for rookie the same season,” said Gaston, 23 years old and from Weatherford. “We had been just racing and having fun. Our grandfather Langston Layne is from the dirt track racing world and knew how this rookie of the year thing worked. He helped us set it in motion. Camo would run for it in 2024 and I’d run for it this year, it all worked out and we won back-to-back titles.” The Oklahoma State champion and eighth nationally, Gaston was runner-up to his brother at Southern Oklahoma Speedway. He [Read More]

Veloz Masters IMCA Late Models in Near Perfect Run to National Rookie Award

By Bill Martin COLONA, Ill. (Oct. 31, 2025) — Logan Veloz acquired the nickname The Master when he was little because even back then his family joked that when it came to anything racing, he wanted to have everything perfect. The now 21-year-old from Colona, Ill., a third-generation driver, came close to perfection this season in earning Sunoco IMCA Late Model rookie of the year honors. “When I was a kid watching racing on TV, I didn’t watch and cheer for one driver, I cheered for whoever raced the best, like whoever hit their marks, and my mom Carolyn gave me that nickname,” said Veloz. “So, whenever I raced myself, whether it was go karts or big cars, I tried to be the most perfect I could, like I was trying to master something.” Coming off a Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod career best 21-win season in 2024, when he’d finished fourth in the national points chase, Veloz was quick to prove his mastery in the new class. He won his first feature in just his third night [Read More]

Richards Tastes Victory in IMCA Rookie Stock Car National and Regional Races

By Bill Martin DENTON, Neb. (Oct. 31, 2025) — Just how good was Mason Richards’ first Sunoco IMCA Stock Car season? The National and EQ Cylinder Heads Northern Region Rookie of the Year inspired his own line of seasoning. From Denton, Neb., Richards won six features, collecting another 13 top five finishes in 48 starts at 10 different tracks. That success gave sponsor Serina Strizek, owner of sponsor and Lincoln-based food wholesaler Grill Starters the idea of introducing Mason Richards Victory Blend seasoning. “It’s kind of like a taco seasoning, only a little saltier and a little sweeter at the same time,” said Richards, also the 2025 Nebraska State Champion. “It tastes really good. You can pretty much put it on whatever you want, meat, vegetables, even pasta. It’s so good it sells out every time, but you can get it through their (Grill Starters LLC) Facebook page.” When not racing or promoting Victory Blend sales, the 20-year-old Richards is a junior mechanical engineering major at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. He’s a third-generation driver, following grandfather Terry Sr., a [Read More]

Consistency is Key as Mooney Stars in IMCA Stock Car EQ Southern Region

By Bill Martin COPPERAS COVE, Texas (Oct. 31, 2025) — Consistency was the story of Dustin Mooney’s drive to Sunoco IMCA Stock Car Regional Rookie of the Year honors in 2020. Taking a page from that same book, he raced to the EQ Cylinder Heads Southern Region championship this season. Mooney combined 20 top five finishes with the track title at Cotton Bowl Speedway in earning his career first regional crown. “It’s pretty crazy,” acknowledged Mooney, from Copperas Cove and also a first-time Texas State champion in The Class Too Tough To Tame. “I would definitely have wanted to win some of those races I feel I could have (he finished second in five of his 35 outings) but consistency is more important when you’re running for a track or regional championship,” he continued. “I felt it was better to get the best finish I could rather than getting caught up in something I shouldn’t and winding up 15th or 17th at the end of the night.” Mooney ran junior minis, a Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMod and winged [Read More]

Super Cheap Ride Proves Priceless as Sabin Races to IMCA National and Northern Region Rookie Crowns

By Bill Martin DES MOINES, Iowa (Oct. 30, 2025) — A “random, home-built car” that Kolby Sabin bought super cheap sat in his dad Kurt’s driveway, covered by a tarp, for more than a year before he got it on the dirt. It’s long since been promoted to prime parking, in a heated garage, after carrying Sabin to Sunoco IMCA Hobby Stock national and B & B Racing Chassis Northern Region rookie of the year titles. “I’ve tried to find out more information about the car, but I’ve just run into a dead end,” said Sabin, a three-time feature winner and also track champion at Marshalltown Speedway in the mystery machine. “We got it in the middle of 2023, let it sit for a while before we worked on it and got it race-ready for 2024, then made a few spot starts and hit some practice nights.” “After looking at other people’s cars, we made some changes in the off-season. We put in a new fire wall and floor pan and made some other updates [Read More]