Feature – IMCA – International Motor Contest Association

IMCA announces Super Tuesday July 30 for All-Star voting

VINTON, Iowa – IMCA Nation goes to the electronic ballot booth on Election Day Tuesday, July 30 to select 28 of the 30 drivers who will start the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational. All voting will be done through the IMCA Facebook page, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. CST. The top three vote recipients from each of the five Modified regions will be guaranteed starting spots, with their region of candidacy determined by where they made the majority of their IMCA sanctioned starts. The next 13 drivers with the highest vote totals, regardless of region, become All-Stars. “We’d like to see All-Star drivers get in the election spirit and promote their campaigns using social media,” IMCA President Brett Root said. “I know there’s a lot of imagination out there and it will be fun for fans to see what drivers can come up with in their respective campaigns to become part of one of our premier events.” Completing the field will be All-Star candidates with the top national point total and with the most 40-point [Read More]

Park Jefferson date kicks off four-night IMCA Dirt Knights Tour swing

JEFFERSON, S.D. (July 14) – The Arnold Motor Supply Dirt Knights Tour journeys out of state for the first time this season, traveling to Park Jefferson Speedway for a Monday, July 22 show that opens a four-night swing. IMCA Modifieds run for $1,500 to win in tour events at Jefferson and on Tuesday, July 23 at Hancock County Speedway in Britt, then for a top prize of $2,000 Wednesday, July 24 at Buena Vista Raceway at Alta, in an event that doubles as the Al Ritts Memorial. Night number four is Thursday, July 25 at Kossuth County Speedway in Algona. That feature pays $1,500 to the winner. All four events are Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot-qualifying races, as is the $1,500 to win Iron Cup/Midwest Madness Tour makeup that precedes the Dirt Knights card at Park Jefferson. IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars and Karl Kustoms Northern SportMods also run during that portion of the program. Stock Cars, IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks and Northern SportMods run all four nights; Mach-1 Sport Compacts are on Wednesday and Thursday [Read More]

Arneson makes like lightning in bolt to Legendary IMCA Modified checkers

MANDAN, N.D. (July 12) – Austin Arneson was almost as fast as the lightning on the horizon Friday night at Dacotah Speedway. Arneson led all 40 laps of the fourth Corral Sales Legendary main event, earning a career-best $10,004 payday, a $500 bonus as the leader at midway and a berth on the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot. He’ll join younger brother Casey, runner-up in both the Legendary and Thursday’s Kupper Chevrolet Dakota Classic Tour finale at Mandan, on the All-Star ballot. “I’ve raced all over the country with the biggest names in the Modified division,” said Arneson, who took the checkers in front of a number of those drivers. “Winning the race was pretty exciting, but what was even more exciting was running 1-2 with my brother.” Ricky Thornton Jr., Hunter Marriott and Lucas Schott rounded out the top five. Dakota Classic Modified Tour champion Tom Berry ran second most of the way before breaking late. After the initial green flag was delayed by a light rain shower and work on the racing surface, [Read More]

Super heroes is theme for best appearing car contest at Super Nationals

BOONE, Iowa – Dirt track racing heroes competing at Boone Speedway won’t be the only heroes in the pits and on the track at the upcoming IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. Modified and Northern SportMod drivers are encouraged to enter cars with the Super Heroes theme. Drivers of the winning cars in each division receive trophies. Speedway Motors gives $100 gift cards to all drivers entering the contest while Sweet Manufacturing gives a steering box to the Modified winner. “Super Nationals is all about heroes, so the tie in to super heroes is obvious,” IMCA Marketing Director Kevin Yoder said. “There’s room for a lot of imagination with the contest and we look forward to seeing what folks come up with.” “While designs should be original, it’s important that drivers and their graphics designers remember that required decals must be incorporated,” he noted. Both winners will be announced during the week at Boone.

Marriott and Flory see checkers in Mandan, Berry and Thornton are Dakota Tour champs

By Jackson Braun MANDAN, N.D. (July 11) – A great week of racing for the 30th annual Kupper Chevrolet Dakota Classic Tour was wrapped up by a nail-biting finale at the Dacotah Speedway that included one of the closest finishes in recent memory. Jeff Taylor and Ricky Thornton Jr. led the IMCA Modified field to green for the final 30 laps on the tour. Coming into the night, Thornton had a 14-point deficit to make up. Three-peat champion Hunter Marriott did not come across his usual luck this season but heated up towards the end of the tour as the Brookfield, Mo., racer took advantage of a starting spot inside of row 2. Taylor got a jump off of the start as Marriott advanced into second. Marriott was able to set his car through the corners smoothly around the rim of the speedway and to pull alongside Taylor. A good run off turn four gave Marriott the momentum to take the lead. As Thornton faded, his hopes of sweeping the your championships came to a [Read More]

Deery Series headlines midweek show at CJ Speedway

COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa – The Deery Brothers Summer Series makes another much-anticipated return to CJ Speedway to headline the Wednesday, July 17 midweek special. Touring IMCA Late Models will race for $2,000 to win and a minimum of $300 to start at Columbus Junction, where pit gates and the grandstand open at 4:30 p.m. Racing follows 7 p.m. hot laps. Spectator admission is $15 for adults, $10 for seniors, $7 for students ages 11-17 and free for kids 10 and under. Pit passes are $30. Chad Holladay of Muscatine was the winner last July, when the Deery Series made its first visit to Columbus Junction since 1996. Three-time and defending series champion Justin Kay and Jeremiah Hurst of Dubuque, the defending IMCA Late Model national champion, are currently tied for the tour point lead. The fourth event of the 2019 tour is the 494th in Deery Series history and will be broadcast by IMCA.TV. More information about the Columbus Junction show is available by calling 319 430-4737 and at the www.cjspeedway.com website. Also on the card next Wednesday are [Read More]

Another Dakota double down for Thornton, this time at Dickinson

By Jackson Braun DICKINSON, N.D. (July 10) – Ricky Thornton Jr. looks absolutely unbeatable right now. The Iowa racer, transplanted from Arizona, found Kupper Chevrolet Dakota Classic Tour victory lane at Southwest Speedway in both the IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Stock Cars for the second event in a row. The last time any other driver found victory lane on tour was all the way back on Sunday when Matt Speckman held off Thornton in the Stock Car portion of the evening. Thornton has won six out of a possible eight features between the two classes. An all-North Dakota front row of Robert Hellebust and Travis Hagen led the 28-car field to the Modified green flag. Hellebust jumped out to the lead early as Thornton loomed behind him from the fourth starting spot. Hellebust was able to make the high line work and get enough momentum to keep his car in the top spot by as little as two-thousandth’s of a second for a few laps in the early running. Several bobbles by Thornton helped Hellebust [Read More]

Dakota Classic Tour rained out at Williston

WILLISTON, N.D. – Rain is officially the winner of the Kupper Chevrolet Dakota Classic Tour date scheduled tonight (Tuesday) at Williston Basin Speedway. Both IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars will be back in tour action Wednesday at Southwest Speedway in Dickinson and Thursday at Dacotah Speedway in Mandan. IMCA.TV will broadcast both nights. Modified features pay $2,400 to win and are Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifying events. Stock Car features pay $800 to win. The fourth annual Corral Sales Legendary 50 is Friday, July 12 at Mandan. IMCA Modifieds race for $10,004 that evening in another All-Star ballot qualifier.

Thornton sweeps Dakota Classic Tour features at Estevan

By Jackson Braun ESTEVAN, Sask. (July 8) – Ricky Thornton Jr. is on an absolute roll. The Adel, Iowa driver has hit his stride right at the perfect time, and doing double duty has not been a hindrance. Thornton grabbed his second victories of the 30th annual Kupper Chevrolet Dakota Classic Tour in both the $2,400 to win IMCA Modifieds and $800 to win IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars Monday night at Estevan Motor Speedway. In the 30-lapper for the Modifieds, Billy Kendall and Jason Wolla led the field to green. Kendall held the lead over Thornton and hometown driver Kody Scholpp as one lap was put into the books. Contact between Kendall and Wolla in the first corner led to a ruffled quarter panel on the Kendall machine. A bobble by Thornton in the middle of turns one and two opened up a lane for Scholpp to get around. Scholpp was hooked up around the corners and powered around Kendall, then started to strengthen his lead while Thornton made the move around Kendall to grab [Read More]

Thornton steals the show at Nodak

By Jackson Braun MINOT, N.D. (July 7) – Ricky Thornton Jr. may have had the worst redraw of the IMCA Modified heat race winners at Nodak Speedway, but he maneuvered his 20RT machine through the field and grabbed a cool $2,400 check in Sunday’s second installment of the Kupper Chevrolet Dakota Classic Tour. The 2015 tour champion started outside row four alongside the winner of the opener at Jamestown, Tom Berry Jr. Chris Schroeder and Iowa wheelman Justin O’Brien led the field to green. O’Brien tried to get a jump on Schroeder, but Schroeder took the field by surprise and powered his machine below O’Brien’s back into the top spot. Racing action was fierce in between the cautions. Lucas Schott challenged O’Brien for second early on. Schott and O’Brien had a handful of cars to fend off, as the likes of Thornton, Berry, Jason Wolla, Hunter Marriott and Robert Hellebust contended for top five positioning. On a restart after the halfway point in the race, Thornton got a couple good runs in the corners and [Read More]