Feature Archives

Kay just in time to take Drive For Five checkers

By Brian Neal DONNELLSON, Iowa (May 14) – Justin Kay was just in time to the checkers to win Friday’s second installment of Drive For Five for IMCA Sunoco Late Models at Lee County Speedway. Dennis Woodworth and Justin Kay drew the front row for the 25-lap feature, with Woodworth grabbing the early lead over Kay and Matt Ryan. The action was slowed for the first time of the race on lap three, as Sam Halstead spun to bring out the yellow. On the restart, Kay slipped past Woodworth to take over the top spot. While Kay set the pace out front, Woodworth, Ryan and Mark Burgtorf battled for the runner-up spot. Anthony Haines spun in on lap 15 to bring the action to a slow pace. Kay jumped back out front on the restart, with Tommy Elston, who started 11th, overtaking Ryan for second. Three laps later, a brief rain shower slowed the action, and after a few laps to pack the racing surface back in the green was waved for the final six laps. Kay [Read More]

Reichenbach, Bannister end Speedweek with Silver Dollar wins; Dotson, Nation take titles

By Stephanie Deatherage CHICO, Calif. (May 8) – Clint Reichenbach and Tyler Bannister won feature events while Ethan Dotson and Jason Nation won championships Saturday night. Reichenbach and Bannister topped IMCA Modified and Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod features at Silver Dollar Speedway while Dotson and Nation wrapped up titles in those respective divisions on the final night of the California IMCA Speedweek presented by Hoppes Motorsports. In the first-ever Speedweek visit to Chico, Troy Foulger pulled away from the rest of the IMCA Modified pack before forced to deal with lapped traffic while Reichenbach delt with a charging Nick DeCarlo in the latter’s bid for the runner-up spot. A caution on lap 22 bunched the field up for the only time of the main event and Reichenbach again tried to rail around the high side of the leader. Foulger and Reichenbach drag raced to the white flag, with Reichenbach having the advantage at the line. Reichenbach rode his momentum up top to hold off Foulger for his third $1,000 win of Speedweek. Foulger ended the [Read More]

Dotson, Pearce get IMCA Speedweek wins at Placerville

By Stephanie Deatherage PLACERVILLE, Calif. (May 7) – Round seven of the California IMCA Speedweek presented by Hoppes Motorsports took IMCA Modifieds and Karl Kustoms Northern SportMods to Placerville Speedway, where Ethan Dotson and Andrew Pearce ended the night in victory lane. In the IMCA Modifieds twenty-five lap feature, Jim Pettit motored his way to lead the first circuit ahead of Clint Reichenbach before two early cautions. Once the field got going again, Pettit took off with a strong run. Reichenbach hunted down and passed Pettit but the caution came out on lap nine before the entire circuit could be complete. The front two battled hard after the green light came back on. Dotson, who started 17th and after transferring out of the ‘B’ main, went into the fray to make it a three-car battle for the lead. Dotson moved into second and was on his way to the front only for the yellow to come back out with 14 laps down. When the action resumed, Dotson went straight to work on Pettit, taking the top position [Read More]

Petaluma California IMCA Speedweek feature wins to Morris, Tyler Bannister

By Stephanie Deatherage PETALUMA, Calif. (May 6) – Troy Morris III raced to his first California IMCA Speedweek presented by Hoppes Motorsports feature victory while Tyler Bannister won for the second time in as many nights Thursday at Petaluma Speedway. Morris topped the $1,000 to win, Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifier for IMCA Modifieds while Bannister followed his Wednesday checkers at Antioch with the Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod main event win. “I was speechless when it happened,” said Morris, acknowledging the caliber of the competition he beat for his first win in the division. “I feel like I’m on top of the world. It was a stacked field of cars on a technical track and it was fun. I had a blast.” Buddy Kniss was on a rail at the drop of the green in the 25-lap Modified main, pulling away from the pack before what proved to be a fateful lap four caution. Kniss had an incredible start when things returned to green but briefly lost control in on the sixth circuit and [Read More]

Defending champion Hogge, rookie Bannister pick up IMCA Speedweek victories at Antioch

By Stephanie Deatherage ANTIOCH, Calif. (May 5) – A defending champion and a rookie were feature winners in the fifth round of the California IMCA Speedweek presented by Hoppes Motorsports. 2020 Speedweek king Bobby Hogge was the $1,000 IMCA Modified winner Wednesday at Antioch Speedway while Tyler Bannister won his career-first Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod feature. Hogge stormed to the point pulling away from the rest of the Modified field following two early restarts. Speedweek point leader Ethan Dotson challenged following a lap 10 caution but couldn’t complete the pass. A lap 21 caution set up a late-race restart with an open racetrack for the leaders to deal with. Hogge, already a Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot candidate, hit all his marks perfectly and was the first to the finish line, ahead of Dotson in a close second, Troy Morris III, Kellen Chadwick and Nick DeCarlo. For the Northern SportMod feature, Bannister put his mount in the prime position on the first lap. The Bakersfield teenager was slowed by three consecutive cautions but once a good green [Read More]

Kay collects career 100th IMCA Late Model win at Dale DeFrance Memorial

By Joyce Eisele MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (May 6) – Justin Kay stole the spotlight Thursday night, in one of the biggest IMCA Sunoco Late Model events of the season. Kay complemented his career 100th win in the division with a check for $1,925 at Marshalltown Speedway’s fourth annual Dale DeFrance Memorial. The headline event of the evening, held in honor of the patriarch of the well-known racing family, was 44 laps. Veteran Greg Kastli started on the outside of the front row and immediately took the lead over Joe Zrostlik By lap 10, the seventh starting Kay had made his way to second place and began reeling in the leader. Kay took the lead with a move to the outside of Kastli as they came out of corner four as lap 19 went into the books. From there on, Kay had little trouble in keeping his run at the front of the field, pulling away and taking the victory. He finished well ahead of second place Zrostlik while Todd Cooney made a late-race pass around Kastli as [Read More]

Time is right to add Stock Cars to IMCA Manufacturer’s Cup contest

VINTON, Iowa – Call it a case of perfect timing as growth in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car division results in an expanded Manufacturer’s Cup contest this season. While 17 chassis builders vie for national and regional honors in the 13th annual Manufacturer’s Cup contest for Modifieds, a dozen builders are in the running for similar accolades in the inaugural Cup competition for Stock Cars. Standings will be based on makes of chassis driven by top 10 drivers in each of the five Modified regions and both Stock Car regions. Builders with the highest overall point total will be named IMCA Modified and Stock Car national Manufacturers of the Year. “There has always been an interest in a Manufacturer’s Cup program for Stock Cars and this season the timing was right,” explained IMCA Marketing Director Kevin Yoder. “The number of Stock Car drivers and sanctioned tracks continues to grow and that has helped get more builders to become part of, or return to the Cup program.” Builders entered in both Modified and Stock Car Cup contests [Read More]

Dotson masters Merced, Bannister also hits California IMCA Speedweek gold at Merced

By Stephanie Deatherage MERCED, Calif. (May 3) – The California IMCA Speedweek presented by Hoppes Motorsports kept rolling northwards and Ethan Dotson kept rolling with two more feature wins Monday night at Merced Speedway. Dotson won his second straight IMCA Modified main event and fourth straight IMCA Sunoco Stock Car outing, while Jason Bannister became a first-time Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod Speedweek winner. When the green flag dropped for the 25-lap Modified feature, Cody Laney rocketed out to the point and went straight to work on building a sizable interval over the rest of the pack. As the long green flag run continued, Dotson closed in and as the pair entered lapped traffic maneuvered his mount underneath Laney, took the lead on the 15th circuit. Dotson remained in front to the $1,000 checkers for his sixth Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifying victory of 2021. Oregon’s Collen Winebarger, Darrell Hughes II, Laney and Nevada’s Jake Pike completed the top five. After an early restart, Garrett Corn beat out Nicholas Johnson to set the pace [Read More]

Dotson wins twice at Hanford, Ryland also tames California Speedweek foes

By Stephanie Deatherage HANFORD, Calif. (May 2) – Ethan Dotson had himself quite a night Sunday at Keller Auto Speedway. Dotson topped both the $1,000 to win California Speedweek presented by Hoppes Motorsports IMCA Modified feature and the evening’s IMCA Sunoco Stock Car main event, while Fred Ryland won the Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod main. Forty-one Modifieds, 35 Northern SportMods and 11 Stock Cars saw action on the night. Dotson and Kellen Chadwick battled for the front spot on the opening circuit of the Modified feature. Dotson got the edge before the field went on an extremely long green flag run. As the run extended, so did Dotson’s gap over second place. Lapped traffic did come into play but Dotson cruised through the pack for his career-first Speedweek checkers and seventh victory of 2021. Already a Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational candidate, Dotson won ahead of Cody Laney, Troy Foulger, Bricen James and Chadwick. Dotson led start to finish in the caution-free Stock Car 20-lapper for his fifth win of the season in The Class Too Tough To Tame. [Read More]

Reichenbach, Nation, Dotson strike twice on IMCA Speedweek in Tulare

By Stephanie Deatherage TULARE, Calif. (May 1) – The faces in victory lane were familiar when Thunderbowl Raceway hosted Saturday’s second installment of the 2021 California IMCA Speedweek presented by Hoppes Motorsports. Clint Reichenbach, Jason Nation and Ethan Dotson, all Friday winners at Bakersfield Speedway, also topped main events as the series made its first visit to the Tulare facility for a complete IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing program with 44 IMCA Modifieds, 37 Karl Kustoms Northern SportMods and a dozen IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars. Reichenbach outdueled Robby Sawyer for the early lead, then pulled away from the rest of the Modified pack following a lap four restart. Dotson challenged after the next caution and the front pair battled door-to-door on a couple occasions before a lap 10 incident. Dotson again tried to slip underneath but Reichenbach prevailed in the struggle. The race stayed green and he led the rest distance for a second $1,000 feature win in as many nights. The first Modified driver to win multiple Speedweek features, Reichenbach crossed the stripe ahead of Dotson, the [Read More]