Divisions Archives

Early season doubts disappear as Mitchell is IMCA South Central Region rookie of the year

MILFORD, Texas (Nov. 20, 2024) – After the first two starts of his career, Bradley Mitchell wasn’t sure if he’d ever even finish a race. But after the end of his first Friesen Performance IMCA Modified season, the Milford, Texas, driver was making plans to attend the national awards banquet, where he’ll walk across the stage and accept the GRT Race Cars South Central Region rookie of the year award. “It’s a little bit the excitement of going fast, and it’s the excitement of going around the track and seeing what you can do,” said Mitchell, who helped crew for Ennis driver Mike Svehlak last year, then bought a 2011 Hoffman Chassis to begin his own, self-sponsored career in. “Starting out, I was real nervous and always stayed toward the back but by the end of the year I was more comfortable and started being more competitive.” “It’s something I always dreamed about and now it’s a reality. I enjoy it a lot.” The first member of his family to race, Mitchell debuted at Abilene [Read More]

IMCA crate engine track champion bonuses awarded for 2024

VINTON, Iowa (Nov. 19, 2024) – IMCA drivers earning one or more track championships while competing exclusively with crate engines this season receive $250 bonuses given by Chevrolet Performance. Friesen Performance IMCA Modified, IMCA Sunoco Late Model, IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock and Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod track champions indicating on their 2024 license application that they would run a crate engine will receive $250 checks for each of a total of 186 track championships. Checks will be presented during the upcoming national awards banquet or mailed in December. Modified drivers receiving bonuses for winning one or more track championships, with multiple track titles indicated in parenthesis, while competing exclusively with a crate engine include: Steven Anderson, Chaz Baca (2), Curtis Barnes, Jordan Bartz, Cole Bents, Brett Berry, Tyson Blood, Kenny Boardman, Kyler Bowen, Jarrett Brown, Keith Brown Jr., David Carrera, Kellen Chadwick, Ben Chapman, Brandon Clough (2) and Jimmy Cole. Jeffery Cooper, Ted Cooper Jr., Troy Cordes, Joel Crowbridge, Cole Czarneski, Myron DeYoung, Rick Durica, Dwight East, Grey Ferrando (2), Shawn Fletcher, Dalton Flory, Dakota Fox, [Read More]

Perseverance pays off for Harr with IMCA Central Region rookie award

ASHLAND, Neb. (Nov. 19, 2024) – Those gray clouds that seemed to follow Tyler Harr for so much of the summer gave way to a ray of sunshine at the end of the season. Harr overcame a totaled race car, a slew of engine issues and more rainouts than he really cared to count in earning rookie of the year honors in IMCA’s Jet Racing Central Region for Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds. “In the end it was all worth it. This is the biggest accomplishment of my racing career,” said the determined Harr, who chased rookie points at nine venues in Nebraska and Kansas. “When stuff like that happened, the blown engines, the truck breaking down, the rainouts, it was stressful in the moment.” “It was one of those years when it could be 3 o’clock in the afternoon and not a cloud in the sky, but we were checking the forecast to make sure it wasn’t going to rain,” he continued. “But we always had to do our best to stay in a good [Read More]

Thomas earns IMCA Sport Compact rookie honors after getting offer he couldn’t refuse

BEATRICE, Neb. (Nov. 17, 2024) – After a lifetime around the sport, Johnny Thomas got an offer he couldn’t refuse. Thomas made the most of that offer, to drive a Dillon Richards-built Mach-1 Sport Compact, and raced to rookie of the year honors in the 4-cylinder class and a runner-up finish in national point standings, second only to Richards’ wife Kaylee. “Two feature wins was my goal. I just wanted to have fun and see what happened,” said Thomas, who had made just a handful of starts in the Richards-built ride in 2023. “I went out to have a little fun and everything turned out pretty good really quick.” “When someone like Dillon makes you an offer like that, you can’t say no, especially when you already love the sport,” added Thomas, who dates Richards’ aunt Michelle Moore. “I never in my wildest dreams thought I’d get to race a car, let alone have the success I did this year.” He’d total 10 feature wins and 30 top five finishes in his 42 starts, along with [Read More]

Glick gets better racing with the fast guys in quest for IMCA STARS Mod Lite rookie of the year award

MADRID, Iowa (Nov. 14, 2024) – Tracen Glick did most of his racing and most of his on-track learning close to home. But it was the results of a late-season trip to Indiana that made him the 2024 Stealth Racing IMCA STARS Mod Lite national rookie of the year. Fourteen years old and a freshman at Madrid, Iowa, High School, Glick was in a tight as could be battle for the rookie title with Show Me State speedster Zach Christopher. He’d join the Hoosier State Mod Lites and score his best finish of the season, finishing second in their Sept. 21 show at Lincoln Park Speedway and earning what eventually proved to be the tie-breaking difference in determining rookie of the year honors. “I was probably about a car length behind at the finish,” said Glick, whose father Joe was track champion at Boone Speedway “That was very exciting, it was a very fun race.” Moving up this season following a brief go kart career, Glick made 45 starts this season, more than he’d originally [Read More]

Early podium finish gives boost to Gaston in IMCA Southern SportMod rookie title pursuit

WEATHERFORD, Texas (Nov. 14, 2024) – Results of his second start made it clear to Cameron Gaston that his first Smiley’s Racing Products IMCA Southern SportMod season could be something special. Gaston followed a DNF on opening night of Kennedale Speedway Park’s February Spring Kickoff special with a solid third-place run on night two. Another 13 top five finishes would follow, taking the 19-year-old from Weatherford straight to national rookie of the year honors, as well as Southern Oklahoma Speedway track and Oklahoma State crowns. “That first-night DNF kind of killed some hopes but the next night I got a third and that definitely helped set the mood for the year. To get an early podium is always a good way to start the season,” said Gaston, eighth in the national points race. “Around here, Kennedale is one of the first tracks to start the season and basically everyone is going to be there. It was definitely stacked so to get a third was definitely a good way to start.” Gaston came to the division [Read More]

IMCA Sprint Car travels take Donnohue to RaceSaver rookie of the year award

ARDEN HILLS, Minn. (Nov. 13, 2024) – Brady Donnohue decided that this spring would be the season to spread his wings and travel to different tracks. Thirty-four starts at a dozen different speed factories in five states later, he had a track championship at Huset’s Speedway as well as IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car national rookie of the year award to show for his efforts. “The first time we went to Huset’s it was like ‘Man, this is fun!’ We could get two nights of racing every week between there and I-90 Speedway, plus everywhere else we could go,” said Donnohue, who made regular tows to South Dakota from his home in Arden Hills, north of the Twin Cities. “We really didn’t start running for rookie of the year until about the last three weeks. There were no goals at the start of the season, We just wanted to take one race at a time and see how it goes,” he explained. “It all just kind of worked out and we’re grateful it happened that way. [Read More]

Finish to 2024 already has IMCA Central Region champ Nightingale looking ahead to next season

MAIZE, Kan. (Nov. 12, 2024) – How he finished his 2024 campaign already has Jake Nightingale looking forward to next year. The Maize, Kan., clipper repeated as back-to-back champion in the Jet Central Region for Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds, with the same consistency but none of the late-season drama as last year. “We were getting down to the last month and realized we were in the fight, we were right there,” said Nightingale, who tallied six feature wins and 23 top five finishes in his 31 starts, all but one of them coming in his home state. “We didn’t win as much as I think we should have. We had a lot of second place finishes and some of them were hard to swallow,” he’d continue. “We were good, but we weren’t good enough and I’ll be the first to tell you that.” Fast but not fast enough through the middle of June, Nightingale picked up a slew of runner-up’s before winning consecutive outings at Saltcity Racing, RPM Speedway and Salina Speedway. “That was a [Read More]

Gould gets 200th IMCA Modified win, takes seventh turn as South Central Region champ

CALERA, Okla. (Nov. 12, 2024) – A season that started with no clear-cut goals still produced what William Gould called “some pretty cool” accomplishments. Gould became just the ninth Friesen Performance IMCA Modified driver to reach the 200-career win mark while earning a career seventh championship in the GRT Race Cars South Central Region. “My only goal was to win when it was my turn,” said Gould, who took his turn on top of the podium 10 times in all in 2024. “It always means a lot to us when we’re able to win our region and getting the 200th win was pretty cool, too. “We’ve raced a Modified for a lot of years and I’m glad we were able to get it this season,” he’d add. “We didn’t have a regular Friday night track so moving up the list in wins isn’t easy.” From Calera, Okla., Gould also raced to the All-Star Shootout and a career seventh state championship, the sixth of them coming in Texas. He’d started the season sweeping Kennedale Speedway’s Spring Kickoff [Read More]

IMCA Eastern Region king DeYoung is Modified winner in 30th straight season

STANTON, Mich. (Nov. 12, 2024) – The numbers that stand out most from Myron DeYoung’s 2024 race season are two, eight, 11 and 30. From Stanton, DeYoung motored to a second straight championship in the DeVilbiss Racing Chassis Eastern Region, along with a career eighth Michigan State crown and career 11th track title, at Lake Odessa’s I-96 Speedway. And notably, DeYoung became the first driver to win at least one Friesen Performance IMCA Modified feature in 30 consecutive seasons. He captured seven checkers over the course of his latest campaign, matching the career total of 150 of Michigan legend Rick Stout, IMCA’s national champion in 1995, DeYoung’s rookie season. “It took a little while to really set in,” admitted DeYoung, who got his first win of the season on May 18 at long-time home track Crystal Motor Speedway. “It made me think a lot about all the people who have helped me since I started racing. I’ve been real fortunate – we’re not rich or anything, we’re just normal people who like to race and have [Read More]