Feature Archives

Thornton tops IMCA Modifieds in Winter Nationals opener at Cocopah

SOMERTON, Ariz. (Jan. 9) – His return to his home state put $1,000 in Ricky Thornton Jr.’s bank account Thursday night. Thornton led every lap in winning the IMCA Modified feature on opening night of Winter Nationals at Cocopah Speedway. The victory came in the first sanctioned Modified event of the 2020 IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing Season. Piloting Kollin Hibdon’s backup car, Thornton had started outside the front row. He walked away from the rest of the field following a lap 13 restart. Runner-up was Jeff Taylor and Jake O’Neil challenged before finishing third. “B” feature winner Tom Berry Jr. started 16th and finished fourth while Hibdon completed the top five. Already on the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot, Iowa transplant Thornton won for the 148th time in his IMCA Modified career. Other winners in the lidlifter at Somerton were Iowan Troy Jervetz in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, Shelby Frye in the Karl Kustoms Northern SportMods and defending track champion Joshua Cordova in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks. Jerovetz led start to finish in [Read More]

IMCA boosts RaceSaver Sprint point fund to $18,150

VINTON, Iowa – Bigger numbers on the track at IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car events will translate into bigger numbers on point fund checks mailed at the end of the season. IMCA will boost the point fund for the winged division $18,150 beginning in 2020. That amount includes $5,000 for the national champion with $300 paid to the 20th place driver. “We are investing in the RaceSaver Sprint Car division,” noted IMCA President Brett Root, “and want the national top 20 point fund to reflect both the membership support and the number of sanctions involved.” “IMCA has a long history with Sprint Cars,” he continued. “We’ve seen a huge resurgence in membership and sanction numbers during our seven-year association with RaceSaver. Both the growth we have already seen in the division and its potential more than justify the increased point fund.” IMCA RaceSaver sanctioned Sprint Car events in 17 states in 2019 and drivers from six of those states finished in the national top 20 standings. “New sanctions and solid car counts gave RaceSaver Sprint Car drivers [Read More]

$44,250 in Chevrolet Performance bonuses paid to IMCA crate engine track champions

GRAND BLANC, Mich. – Chevrolet Performance bonuses totaling $44,250 have been paid to IMCA drivers who won track championships while competing exclusively with crate engines in 2019. In all, 177 IMCA Modified, IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock, Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod and Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMod drivers received $250 checks, mailed this month from the IMCA home office. This was the third season in the latest three-year bonus agreement with Chevrolet Performance, which has now awarded more than $325,000 to eligible drivers over the course of the crate engine track championship program. Both the number of drivers receiving bonuses and the total bonus amount in 2019 were the most ever in the history of the program. “Chevrolet Performance is such an ally in the promotion of IMCA dirt track racing and their yearly bonus program speaks for itself,” said IMCA Marketing Director Kevin Yoder. “IMCA racers continue to cash checks for championships while competing with a reliable and sustainable motor program.” Modified drivers who received bonuses for winning a track championship(s) while competing with a [Read More]

IMCA junior national championship announced for 2020

VINTON, Iowa – IMCA’s first junior national champion will be crowned in 2020. Drivers between the ages of 13 and 18 in all eight IMCA divisions will compete for the title, with point standings to be based on the best 20 finishes in their first 40 starts. The junior national champion will be given the same accolades as national champions in each of those divisions during the IMCA awards banquet in November and receive a trophy, ring and jacket. Top 10 drivers in junior national champion point standings each receive $500 scholarships applicable toward post-high school education in the first year of the program. Scholarship funds will be paid when drivers register for their first year of higher education. “This is something we’ve wanted to do for a while. This is a good time to get the junior national champion and scholarship fund established,” IMCA President Brett Root said. “It’s our way of helping build the sport and rewarding the participation of our youngest competitors.” “They’ll be able to race for their own national championship [Read More]

2020 IMCA Late Model point season dates announced

VINTON, Iowa – The 2020 IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing point season for Late Models will run from Wednesday, Jan. 1 through Sunday, Sept. 27. Points earned at sanctioned events during that time will apply toward national, track and E3 Spark Plugs State standings. National point standings will be based on drivers’ best 20 of their first 40 sanctioned starts. Plans are for Late Models to be part of the opening night program Monday, Sept. 7 at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s at Boone Speedway. That evening’s purse will be similar to what has been paid at recent Super Nationals.

IMCA stars walk the red carpet at national awards banquet

LINCOLN, Neb. (Nov. 30) – The stars of the IMCA dirt track racing world walked the red carpet Saturday night at the national awards banquet. The more than 600 champions and rookies of the year crowned during the 2019 IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing season were honored during the annual gala, held at the Marriott Cornhusker Hotel in Lincoln. National champions feted included Jordan Grabouski, IMCA Modified and IMCA Sunoco Stock Car; Matt Ryan, IMCA Late Model; Cory Dumpert, IMCA Late Model; Kenneth Duke Jr., IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car; Jeff Ware, IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock; Tyler Soppe, Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod; James Hanusch, Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMod; and Alex Dostal, Mach-1 Sport Compact. Regional Modified champions were Bricen James in the Shaw Race Cars Western; Tom Berry Jr. in the Side Biter Chassis North Central; Grabouski in the Jet Racing Central; William Gould in the Razor Chassis South Central; and Matt Szecsodi in the Dirt Works Eastern. Grabouski also ruled the EQ Cylinder Heads Northern Region for Stock Cars while Westin Abbey paced the [Read More]

MBSLM Series acquires IMCA Summer Series for 2020 and beyond

VINTON, Iowa (Dec. 3) – One era in IMCA Late Model racing ends and another begins in 2020. The IMCA Summer Series becomes part of the Omaha, Neb.-based Malvern Bank Super Late Model Racing Series, owned by Joe and Steve Kosiski, next season. “It has been a great 33-year ride for this series and our traveling Late Model drivers,” IMCA President Brett Root. “The growth in Late Model sanctions, however, in 2019 demonstrated that we needed to commit our time and resources to further developing national and weekly race programs for that division.” “I firmly believe Late Model touring series across the Midwest need unification,” Root added. “The Malvern Bank Super Late Model Racing Series has rules that accommodate IMCA Late Model members and this is a positive step in the right direction for those drivers who want to be part of touring events.” “I can’t adequately thank the many drivers and track promoters who have supported this series for so many years. Summer Series events have been season highlights at a lot of tracks [Read More]

Dream comes true for Lady Eagle winner Florio

COPPERAS COVE, Texas – Taylor Florio grew up watching Robin Batt and dreaming of the day when she, too, would win the IMCA Lady Eagle award. Those dreams became reality as the Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMod driver from Copperas Cove, Texas, raced to the top point total of the 227 female drivers competing in IMCA this season. “I grew up watching Robin race and wanted to be like her. I thought it was the coolest thing ever when she won the Lady Eagle (in 2010) and I wanted to do it, too,” said Florio, who also repeated as the E3 Spark Plugs Texas State champion. “I knew at the beginning of the season we wanted to do it. We set out to achieve our goal and midway through started thinking maybe this was our year. And it was.” She’ll display her Lady Eagle award on the TV stand, right next to the trophy she received in 2015 after becoming the first female driver to win national rookie of the year honors, also in a [Read More]

IMCA Modified, Hobby, Northern SportMod rookies of year earn Friesen crate engines

LINCOLN, Neb. – Friesen Performance made stellar seasons pay off even more for rookies of the year in three IMCA divisions. Modified rookie of the year John Oliver Jr. received a 604 crate engine while Hobby Stock rookie of the year Kaden Reynolds and Northern SportMod rookie of the year Cade Richards both earned 602 crates. Reynolds also paced Big Daddy Race Cars Northern Region rookie standings. He was a 10-time feature winner and was 13th in the national points race. Richards won five features and was 17th nationally. He continued his rookie campaign despite a broken left hand suffered in a crash midway through the season, finishing in the top five in seven of nine starts made with a form-fitting cast. Also the top rookie in the Side Biter Chassis North Central Region, Oliver won half a dozen features and was track champion at Lee County Speedway. “This is a great program that has fresh new faces receiving awards each and every year and made possible by the great relationships we have with Friesen and Chevrolet,” [Read More]

Taylor tops Desert Thunder Nationals finale, Thompson sweeps Casa Grande SportMods

By Lonnie Wheatley CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (Nov. 24) – Central Arizona Speedway’s sixth annual Desert Thunder Nationals came down to the final lap with Jeff Taylor denying R.C. Whitwell a sweep of the three-race weekend by winning Sunday afternoon’s 30-lap IMCA Modified main event atop the 3/8-mile clay oval in Case Grande. Taylor jumped into the lead at the outset of the $3,000 to win IMCA Modified feature and led throughout, fending off a late challenge from Whitwell. “We got a little more balance in the car today,” Taylor said afterward. “We held on, the car was pretty good so we’re happy with that.” While Taylor set the pace ahead of Alex Stanford, Whitwell was working his forward from 16th in his quest to sweep the weekend. Reaching the fourth position by the time a caution flew after 19 laps, he made quick work of Jason Noll and Stanford on the restart to take command of second and set his sights on Taylor for the lead. A final caution with five laps remaining put Whitwell on Taylor’s rear [Read More]