News Archives

14th Annual Sunflower Classic Returns to RPM Speedway March 26–28

By Ben Deatherage HAYS, Kan. (Mar. 24, 2026) — RPM Speedway will host the 14th Annual Sunflower Classic presented by Nutrien Ag Solutions on March 26–28 at the 3/8-mile Kansas oval, featuring a full slate of Speedway Motors IMCA competition. Karl Kustoms IMCA Modifieds headline the program and will race for $1,000 to win each night. Each night’s feature will serve as a qualifier for the Fast Shafts All-Star Modified Invitational to be held during the Speedway Motors IMCA Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s in September. Sunoco IMCA Stock Cars will compete for $750 to win nightly, while Sunoco IMCA Hobby Stocks and Karl Kustoms IMCA Northern SportMods will each race for $500 to win. Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compacts will battle for $200 top prizes. The three-day program opens Thursday, March 26 with a Test-N-Tune session. Grandstand admission will be free that evening and pit passes are $25. Racing begins Friday, March 27 and continues Saturday, March 28 with two complete draw-redraw programs that pay full purses each night. Gates open at 3:00 p.m., hot laps [Read More]

Merritt Dominates Marysville SportMod Feature for First Win of 2026

By Troy Hennig MARYSVILLE, Calif. (Mar. 21, 2026) — Yuba City chauffeur Mike Merritt was dominant during the Karl Kustoms IMCA Northern SportMod 20-lap main event at Marysville Raceway. Merritt passed Thomas Reynolds for the lead on lap two and never looked back, opening a sizeable advantage. Merritt beat second-place Dan Brown Jr. by nearly four seconds at the checkered flag to score his first win of the year. Jason Clayton Jr. ran in the third spot for most of the race but unfortunately pulled off the track with less than two laps to go. This moved Oregon’s Travis Pruitt into third after starting ninth. Cole Fear finished fourth, while Reynolds secured the fifth spot at the finish. Brown Jr. won the first heat race, and Jeff Bentancourt picked up the win in heat race two. The event was broadcast live on IMCA TV affiliate NorCal Speed. Catch every lap again with the IMCA TV Replay Subscription, available for just $24.99 per month. And don’t miss Season 2 of the Boone Docuseries, streaming exclusively on IMCA [Read More]

Estes Pounces Late to Capture Gene Adamcik Memorial Win at HOT

By Ben Deatherage WACO, Texas (Mar. 20, 2026) — Claud Estes III capitalized on a late-race opportunity to score an emotional victory in the RaceSaver IMCA Sprint Car feature at the 10th annual Gene Adamcik Memorial at Heart O’ Texas Speedway. Louisianan Thomas Johnson, the reigning 105 Motor Speedway track champion, jumped to the lead at the drop of the green and held off an early charge from Estes. The Mannsville driver briefly took command on lap three, only for Johnson to edge back ahead at the stripe and begin building a solid advantage. Johnson encountered lapped traffic on lap eight, but continued to maintain control until a critical moment on lap 11. After hopping over the cushion in turn four, Johnson lost momentum, allowing Estes to pounce and reclaim the lead. From there, the 2024 track champion pulled away and never looked back, scoring his first win of the season. Daniel Estes Jr. finished second, while Landon Valenzuela came home third. Mark Zoeller earned hard charger honors with a fourth-place finish, and Johnson recovered to [Read More]

Hamilton Wins Modified Thriller at Bakersfield

By Steven Blakesley BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (Mar. 21, 2026) — Eric Hamilton won his second career Bakersfield Speedway at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway Karl Kustoms IMCA Modified feature on Saturday night in a thriller, topping Tyler Bannister for the final night of the Southwest Shootout. Hamilton and Bannister engaged in a slide job-filled battle that thrilled the fans and event organizers with perhaps the best feature of the early part of the 2026 season at the one-third-mile dirt track. Bakersfield Speedway merged operations with Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway at the start of the 2025 campaign, with promoters Tim Huddleston and Scott Schweitzer combining efforts. Hamilton’s victory came over a red-hot Tyler Bannister for his first triumph in the DeVilbiss Racing Chassis Western Region. Bannister, the 2025 IMCA Northern SportMod track champion, has adapted quickly to the Modifieds in 2026, with a win at Merced and the points lead at Bakersfield Speedway. Jake Pike of Pahrump, Nevada again was the evening’s hard charger, matching Friday night’s run from tenth to third to run 11th to third on Saturday. [Read More]

Manning Scores Second Straight Bakersfield Win Friday Night at Southwest Shootout

By Steven Blakesley BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (Mar. 20, 2026) — Racing against one of the strongest Karl Kustoms IMCA Modified fields of the season, Gavyn Manning won his second consecutive feature at Bakersfield Speedway at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway on Friday night. Manning outfoxed a field of 17 Modifieds for his second win in the DeVilbiss Racing Chassis Western Region after 30 laps of competition. Manning won a long duel with multi-time champion Brad Pounds for the lead in the first half of the feature, then defended from 2025 IMCA Northern SportMod champion Tyler Bannister over the closing stages. A green-white-checkered finish did not deter Manning, with the 2024 track champion sailing to the win. The win also represented redemption for Manning after a collision with Pounds on opening night bounced him from the event. Bannister finished second while Jake Pike of Pahrump, Nevada finished third from tenth on the grid. Pounds was fourth followed by Fernley, Nevada’s Shawn Natenstedt. Rob Sanders and Manning split the head races. Nicholas Johnson has had an outstanding start to his [Read More]

Speedway Motors IMCA Weekly Racing National Point Standings through March 19, 2026

Karl Kustoms IMCA Modifieds – 1. Jared Maupin, Helotes, Texas, 331; 2. William Gould, Calera, Okla., 326; 3. Luke Silber, Laveen, Ariz., 319; 4. Kollin Hibdon, Pahrump, Nev., 314; 5. Dylan Thornton, Belle Plaine, Iowa, 300; 6. Steven Whiteaker, Robstown, Texas, 287; 7. Jonathan Mawhinney, Las Vegas, Nev., 285; 8. Brandon Beckendorf, Danube, Minn., 280; 9. Dean Abbey, Boyd, Texas, 271; 10. Ethan Braaksma, Newton, Iowa, 270; 11. Troy III Morris, Waterloo, Iowa, 264; 12. Chaz Baca, Stanhope, Iowa, 260; 13. Bryson Yeager, Green River, Wyoming, 234; 14. Jeff Larson, Freeport, Ill., 216; 15. Gage McCaughan, Scottsdale, Ariz., 210; 16. Justin Erickson, Glendale, Ariz., 208; 17. Spencer Hughes, Meridian, Mississippi, 193; 18. Cole Szlauko, Shell Beach, Calif., 190; 19. Tim Ward, Harcourt, Iowa, 189; 20. Steve Askew, Valley View, Texas, 182. Sunoco IMCA Stock Cars – 1. Shelby Williams, Bonham, Texas, 561; 2. Cameron Starry, Robstown, Texas, 558; 3. Curt Lund, Redwood Falls, Minn., 470; 4. Blake Clark, Joshua, Texas, 413; 5. Dillon Richards, Wymore, Neb., 403; 6. Mike Albertsen, Audubon, Iowa, 400; 7. Kaden [Read More]

Rob Gallaher: From Racer to Promoter and Building Watsonville Speedway’s Future

By Ben Deatherage WATSONVILLE, Calif. (Mar. 19, 2026) — A new era is underway at Watsonville Speedway, and Rob Gallaher is leading the charge. The longtime racer and successful businessman has taken over as promoter of the ¼-mile clay oval at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, a facility long known to fans as Ocean Speedway. With a blend of fresh ideas, deep racing roots, and strong community backing, Gallaher is determined to build on the track’s legacy while pushing it forward. “I’m enjoying this,” Gallaher said. “There’s a lot to do in a short amount of time, but the support from the sponsors and the community has really fired me up and created a lot of energy for me to do the best job I can.” A Storied Facility With a Strong Foundation Watsonville Speedway has been a cornerstone of California dirt track racing since opening in 1960. The track crowned its first Karl Kustoms IMCA Modified champion in 2004, when Kenny Nott put his name into the record books. Nott went on to become one [Read More]

Jerry Schram: Not Done Yet

By Ben Deatherage VANCOUVER, Wash. (Mar. 18, 2026) — For years, Jerry Schram lived on borrowed time. Three days a week, four hours at a time — sometimes far more — he sat connected to a dialysis machine, waiting for it to do what his body no longer could. When the treatments ended, the exhaustion didn’t leave with him. It followed him home. “Dialysis is tough on you,” Schram said. “You start to think it’s killing you slowly — but it’s better than the alternative.” For nearly six years, that was life. Until March 3. That’s when everything changed. A Fight That Took Years Schram’s battle with kidney disease didn’t begin with a dramatic moment. It started quietly in November of 2017 during a routine physical, when doctors discovered blood in his urine. Follow-up testing revealed he was already in end-stage renal disease, operating at just 35 percent kidney function — something he hadn’t even realized. The seriousness of it didn’t fully hit until March of 2018, when he underwent hip replacement surgery and doctors warned [Read More]

Brian McCaughan: Chasing Gold in the Yukon and Racing for the Moments

By Ben Deatherage SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (Mar. 18, 2026) — In the Yukon, the air is so clean you can drink from the streams. The country stretches wide and wild, with mountains on the horizon, deep cuts in the earth, and wildlife moving through a landscape that still feels untamed. In that far-north world, where long days of summer labor are measured against cold, distance, and the uncertainty of what lies beneath the ground, Brian McCaughan has built a life chasing one of the planet’s oldest prizes. Gold. It is a life shaped by risk, patience, hard work, and wonder. Some days the earth gives something back. Other days, after moving millions of tons of dirt, there is almost nothing to show for it. But for McCaughan, the beauty of the Yukon and the challenge of making a living there have become part of who he is. Maybe that is why getting back into racing made sense. The driver of the no. 2D Karl Kustoms IMCA Modified once raced Modifieds and Late Models regularly and made a [Read More]

Bitting Charges from Rear to Win Saturday Hobby Stock Show at Central Arizona

By Rowdy Briggs CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (Mar. 14, 2026) — A strong field of 24 Sunoco IMCA Hobby Stocks answered the call for the $1000 to win feature at Central Arizona. Matt Rice and Joel Magee led the field to green, with Magee taking the early lead. Steve Bitting Jr. spun on lap two and was sent to the rear but mounted an impressive comeback. Up front, Magee and Anthony Madrid battled, for the lead until lap 18, when Bitting charged past both drivers to take over the top spot. Bitting went on to score the win over Magee, Madrid, Charles McDaniel Sr., and Hannah Miller. He stated in his post-race interview that he lost brakes early but kept his car on the bottom and worked his way through the field. Ty Warner and Steve Bitting Jr. led the 18-car field to the green for Friday’s 20-lap feature. Bitting led the opening six laps before Anthony Madrid took over in the Rick Thornton Sr. machine. Madrid pulled away while Bitting battled Joel Magee for second. Madrid [Read More]