Sport Compact Archives

CJ Speedway to host 2023 awards banquet

By Jerry Mackey CJ Speedway set to host 2023 awards banquet By Jerry Mackey COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa (Nov. 14, 2023) – The annual CJ Speedway awards banquet will be held Saturday, Nov. 18 on the Louisa County Fairgrounds in the Youth Center Building located in the center of the fairgrounds in Columbus Junction. Drivers earning top ten in points who are eligible for awards will be honored and recognized for their outstanding achievements. The evening will kick off with a social hour getting underway at 5 p.m. followed by the meal being served at 6 p.m. The awards presentation will get underway at 7 p.m. Following the awards portion of the evening, banquet attendees will be treated to a show presented by hypnotist/comedian Cheryl Shagen. Tickets for the CJ Speedway Banquet can be obtained by contacting the CJ Speedway through the Facebook page.

CJ Speedway drivers earn IMCA national honors

By Jerry Mackey COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa (Nov. 3, 2023) – CJ Speedway provided great racing throughout the 2023 season and the primary reason that the racing was so good was because of the caliber of the competition each and every Friday night. Columbus Junction regular Tucker Richardson won national and Northern Region Rookie of the Year in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby division. Richardson recently turned 17 and is a junior at Winfield Mount Union High School. He raced a Hobby Stock after running two seasons in the mini hauler division (small trucks). Richardson comes from a racing family as he competes weekly with his uncle Shane Richardson and great uncles John and Chuck, who have both raced many laps at CJ Speedway. The Hobby Stock that Richardson raced was a proven car as the Dominator Chassis was raced to a national championship by Kaden Reynolds in 2021 and later raced by Ryan Havel to multiple wins before the Richardsons purchased the car and the young Richardson drove the car to a third place in points [Read More]

The Professor changes point chasing plans, becomes first IMCA Sport Compact national champ from Texas

SPRINGTOWN, Texas (Nov. 2, 2023) – A driver who wasn’t even planning to race for points at the start of the season led them all at the end of it. Twenty feature wins helped make Randall Martin the first Texas driver to win the Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compact national championship. The speedster from Springtown won track titles at Boyd Raceway, Kennedale Speedway Park and Southern Oklahoma Speedway as well as Texas and Oklahoma State titles in his first full season in the 4-cylinder class. “It means a lot for me to win the national championship, and to be the first driver from Texas to do it in the Sport Compacts. That’s one of the reasons why I ran for it,” Martin said. “It’s an awesome feeling and now there’s a sparkle in my eye. I wanted my name on that trophy.” Trophies may have been the last thing on Martin’s mind after his engine went up in smoke on opening night, but he was the king of consistency from that point. The wins … seven [Read More]

Car photos needed for Allstar Performance heat winner awards

VINTON, Iowa (Nov. 1, 2023) – The 2023 point season may be over and the champions announced, but Allstar Performance will still make winners of drivers in all nine IMCA divisions. Drivers who won 10 or more heat races during the season receive $100 gift cards from the Watervliet, Mich., high performance parts manufacturer and heat race winner decal program sponsor. The driver with the most heat race wins gets a $250 gift card. What drivers MUST do to make themselves eligible for gift card awards is email a photo of their car showing proof of heat win decal placement, as distributed by tracks, to IMCA Marketing Integration and Sponsorship Director Carson Becker-Gramm at cbgramm@imca.com by Nov. 7. No pictures will be accepted after that date. “This is easy money,” said Becker-Gramm, “and I encourage all eligible drivers who have not done so already to get a picture of their car showing proof of heat winner decal placement taken and emailed to me by next Tuesday.” Allstar Performance gift cards will be presented during the IMCA national [Read More]

Unofficial 2023 IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing National Point Standings

Ties broken by 40-point feature win totals, then 39 point finishes, then 38, etc. Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds – 1. Chaz Baca, Mesa, Ariz., 1,029; 2. Matthew Day, Farmersville, Texas, 1,016; 3. Jeff Larson, Freeport, Ill., 1,006; 4. Travis Hagen, McGregor, N.D., 1,005; 5. Todd Shute, Norwalk, Iowa, 1,002; 6. Clint Hatlestad, Glencoe, Minn., 999; 7. Myron DeYoung, Stanton, Mich., 999; 8. Joel Rust, Grundy Center, Iowa, 991; 9. Jed Freiburger, Dubuque, Iowa, 988; 10. Jeremy Mills, Clear Lake, Iowa, 987; 11. Tim Ward, Harcourt, Iowa, 985; 12. William Gould, Calera, Okla., 983; 13. Jarrett Brown, Ainsworth, Iowa, 982; 14. Travis Denning, Sterling, Ill., 977; 15. Collin Thirlby, Grawn, Mich., 966; 16. Troy Morris III, Bakersfield, Calif., 962; 17. Chris Zogg, New Liberty, Iowa, 960; 18. Jake Nightingale, Maize, Kan., 959; 19. Anthony Roth, Platte Center, Neb., 959; 20. Ty Clemens, Belgrade, Mont., 954. IMCA Sunoco Late Models – 1. Cory Dumpert, Newman Grove, Neb., 810; 2. Andy Nezworski, Blue Grass, Iowa, 799; 3. Alex Banks, Newman Grove, Neb., 776; 4. Cade Richards, Lincoln, Neb., 775; 5. [Read More]

A first for Arizona as Baca wins Modified crown, IMCA names top champions, rookies of 2023

VINTON, Iowa (Oct. 3, 2023) – After winning his career 100th feature in the division over the Memorial Weekend, Chaz Baca announced that his next goal for the 2023 season would be winning the Friesen Performance IMCA Modified national championship. Goal accomplished. The Mesa driver became the first Arizona driver to earn an IMCA national crown in any division, ending his drive to the title with six straight checkers and a career single-season best 25 feature wins in all. “I’m excited, relieved, everything you can be at once. This is a ‘Wow !’ thing,” said Baca. “We switched to a (2021) Harris car and thought we had a shot at it at the beginning of the season. My whole team, family, friends and sponsors, was really the key. The whole thing wouldn’t have happened without them.” Along with the national title, Baca raced to a career third Shaw Race Cars Western Region crown, track championships at Central Arizona Raceway, Cocopah Speedway and Deuce of Clubs Thunder Raceway and Arizona State title. While 23 of his weekly [Read More]

CJ Speedway hosts two outstanding nights of special races

By Jerry Mackey and Anthony Ainslee COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa (Sept. 22-23, 2023) – CJ Speedway hosted two special nights of racing on the Louisa County Fairgrounds with racers coming from great distances to delight the race fans. Friday night the 22nd of September was the Battle on the Levee. Originally scheduled to be held during the Louisa County Fair, the race was postponed due to the excessive heat during the summer and was run as the opener of the weekend which also hosted the “Governors Cup,“ special on Saturday. The Battle on the Levee featured a talented field of 86 drivers. Twenty-six Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds took the green and a stellar field battled it out for 20 laps for their main event. When the checkers flew it was Spencer Diercks scoring a hard-fought win ahead of Jarrett Brown. Drew Janssen took third ahead of Todd Shute. The IMCA Sunoco Stock Car feature win went to Damon Murty, who led flag to flag and earned the win ahead of Jason See and John Oliver Jr. The Friesen Performance IMCA [Read More]

IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing National Point Standings through Sept. 21, 2023

Final points races of the 2023 season will be Sunday, Sept. 24 Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds – 1. Chaz Baca, Mesa, Ariz., 999; 2. Matthew Day, Farmersville, Texas, 988; 3. Clint Hatlestad, Glencoe, Minn., 987; 4. Tim Ward, Harcourt, Iowa, and Jeff Larson, Freeport, Ill., both 985; 6. Myron DeYoung, Stanton, Mich., 984; 7. William Gould, Calera, Okla., 983; 8. Joel Rust, Grundy Center, Iowa, 980; 9. Travis Hagen, McGregor, N.D., 977; 10. Todd Shute, Norwalk, Iowa, 973; 11. Jed Freiburger, Dubuque, Iowa, and Travis Denning, Sterling, Ill., both 962; 13. Jeremy Mills, Clear Lake, Iowa, 960; 14. Anthony Roth, Platte Center, Neb., 958; 15. Troy Morris III, Bakersfield, Calif., 957; 16. Chris Zogg, New Liberty, Iowa, 955; 17. Ty Clemens, Belgrade, Mont., 954; 18. Kaleb Emerson, Weatherford, Texas, 952; 19. Collin Thirlby, Grawn, Mich., 951; 20. Jarrett Brown, Ainsworth, Iowa, 943. IMCA Sunoco Late Models – 1. Cory Dumpert, Newman Grove, Neb., 795; 2. Andy Nezworski, Blue Grass, Iowa, 784; 3. Cade Richards, Lincoln, Neb., 775; 4. Alex Banks, Newman Grove, Neb., 774; 5. Kale Kosiski, [Read More]

CJ Speedway set to host two big nights of racing

By Jerry Mackey COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa (Sept. 19, 2023) – CJ Speedway, located on the Louisa County Fairgrounds in Columbus Junction, is set to host a racing doubleheader this weekend, Sept. 22 and 23. Friday night, the Battle on the Levee that was originally scheduled to be held during the Louisa County Fair will be held with all drivers gunning for a greatly expanded purse thanks to a very long list of great sponsors. This race was postponed due to the excessive heat that hit Southeast Iowa late in July. Friday night’s racing program will highlight the five divisions of race cars that compete weekly at CJ Speedway. All five classes race under the IMCA banner. Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods and IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks will all be racing for the winner’s prize money of $1,000 while the Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compacts will be gunning for the $500 top prize. Hot laps will get underway at 7 p.m. with racing to follow. And on Saturday night, CJ Speedway will [Read More]

Aztec crowns IMCA champions

By Ranai Toler AZTEC, N.M. (Sept. 15-16, 2023) – The regular season has ended and champions were crowned at Aztec Speedway. On Friday night, Hunter Ferrell claimed the checkered flag in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks followed by John Thomas, Kyler Duggins, Mylee Goldwich-Rhames and Mark Weber. Camron Spangler took the checkers in the Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods followed by Julie Keeler, Rayce Green, Waylon Hale and John Patterson. Katie Barthel finished first in the Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compact feature followed by Cody Witcher, Ted Neergaard, Jesse Stuckman and Abbi Barthel. Jeramy Hughes moved up five spots to take the win in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car main, followed by Steffan Carey, Eric Loyd, Darell Cordary and Allen Bradley. Julie Keeler was the Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod winner in the final points race of the season at Aztec Speedway. (Photo by Ranai Toler) On Saturday, Duggins found the checkers first in the Hobby Stocks after a lap two wreck, followed by Ferrell, Thomas, Goldwich-Rhames and Weber. Keeler took the checkers in the Northern [Read More]