Feature Archives

IMCA to honor 21 sponsors at national awards banquet

LINCOLN, Neb. – Twenty-one marketing partners will be recognized with well-deserved special awards during the national IMCA banquet on Saturday, Nov. 25 in Lincoln, Neb. Performance Bodies will receive a 35-year sponsor award while Sunoco Race Fuels receives a 25-year plaque. Twenty-year sponsors are Edelbrock, Hypercoils, Jet Racing and KRC. Axle Exchange and Brinn Transmissions are 15-year recipients while Classic Trophy, Dakota Track Side, Flow Design and Larry Shaw Race Cars all get 10-year awards. Casey’s General Store, Champ Pans, EMI, Kupper Chevrolet, Leary Racing Products, Penske Shocks, QuickCar Products, RAM Clutches and Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center all will be recognized for five years of support for IMCA drivers. The awards banquet will be held at the Cornhusker Marriott Hotel in downtown Lincoln. Drivers winning championships and rookie of the year awards will also be honored and track sanction awards will be presented during the evening. Cocktails are at 5 p.m. with dinner at 6 p.m. and the awards ceremony to follow. Tickets are $35 each and available by calling the IMCA home office at 319 [Read More]

Early entries for 20th annual Duel In The Desert already top 100

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – More than 100 early entries have already been received for the Nov. 8-11 Duel In The Desert. The 20th annual special at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Dirt Track boasts a $7,777 top prize and Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot berth for the IMCA Modifieds and first place money of $1,777 for Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods Modified drivers pre-registered for the Duel include: Jerry Bailey, Pocatello, Idaho; Tim Balding, Prunedale, Calif.; Christy Barnett, El Paso, Texas; Jason Beaulieu, Campbell River, B.C.; Eddie Belec, Arvada, Colo.; Bret Bennett, Bakersfield, Calif.; Tanner Black, Great Bend, Kan.; Bland Bohannon, Williston, N.D.; Steve Boles, Bakersfield, Calif.; Bill Brack, Mead, Colo.; and Randy Brown, Chowchilla, Calif. Scott Brown, Meriden, Kan.; Bill Butcher, Magna, Utah; Doug Davenport, Vernonia, Ore.; Nick DeCarlo, Martinez, Calif.; Casey Delp, Rock Springs, Wyo.; Chris Delp, Rock Springs, Wyo.; Ron Dickerson, Petaluma, Calif.; Ethan Dotson, Bakersfield, Calif.; Logan Drake, San Luis Obispo, Calif.; Scott Drake, Diamond, Mo.; and Darin Duffy, Urbana, Iowa Bill Egleston, Atwater, Calif.; Steven Fangmeyer, Lake Elsinore, Calif.; Grey Ferrando, Stayton, [Read More]

Throwback theme to best appearing car contest at LVMS’ Duel In The Desert

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Ready to show off at Las Vegas Motor Speedway? Enter your IMCA Modified or Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod in the throwback-themed Duel In The Desert IMCATV Best Appearing Car Contest hosted by the School of Racing Graphics. Prizes for drivers and designers alike are among the new twists for the 2017 contest. Both divisions will be combined for judging. Both the designer and driver of the overall winning car receive a year’s subscription to IMCATV; the driver gets $750 cash, the design a $750 credit from SRGFX. Second place is good for a six month’s subscription to IMCATV, $500 for the driver and a $500 SRGFX credit to the designer; third place is good for a three-month subscription to IMCATV, $250 to the driver and a $250 SRGFX credit for the designer. “The purpose of this contest is to challenge the skills of wrap designers and painters. Graphic designers must enter the car (by midnight CST on Nov. 5) and can do so through the schoolofracinggraphics.com/duel-in-the-desert-best-appearing-2017 link,” IMCATV’s Barry Braun explained. “Designs can [Read More]

Laney, Winebarger win Modified features during emotional weekend at Bakersfield

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (Oct. 13-14) – Racing took a backseat to remembering a much loved member of the Bakersfield Speedway family. Bailey Schweitzer, daughter of promoter Scott Schweitzer, was one of the victims of the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting in Las Vegas. She was remembered in pre-race ceremonies before both nights of the Budweiser Nationals, with a balloon launch held before racing began on Saturday. “This has been a race I’ve always wanted to win and especially being able to do it this year means a lot to me,” said Friday night IMCA Modified winner Cody Laney. “There were a lot of people here and a lot of work went into this weekend. A lot of people came together.” Laney’s 30-lap win on Friday and Collen Winebarger’s 40-lap victory on Saturday both paid $1,500 and were Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifying events. Robby Sawyer ran up front early on Friday and was in and out of the lead before Laney got there to stay on the 18th lap. After moving to the lower line, Laney [Read More]

Memorial services are Wednesday for Bailey Schweitzer

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – A memorial will be held Wednesday for Bailey Schweitzer, 20, daughter of Bakersfield Speedway promoters Scott and Crissy Schweitzer and a victim of the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting in Las Vegas. Those services begin at 11 a.m. in the Valley Bible Fellowship Church, at 2300 East Brundage Lane in Bakersfield. “Everyone at IMCA extends their sympathy to Bailey’s family and many friends,” IMCA President Brett Root said. “We share in their loss and will continue to remember them in our prayers.” Burial will be at Greenlawn Cemetery. A reception will follow at Salty’s BBQ Banquet and Event Center, 6720 Schirra Court. Her racing family remembered Bailey during the weekend event at Bakersfield Speedway.

Southern Challenge checkers fly at Abilene for IMCA Modified winner Allen

ABILENE, Texas (Oct. 14) – Another win at another late-season IMCA Modified special put another $2,000 in Chase Allen’s bank account. Allen aced Abilene Speedway’s Ryan Bard Memorial Southern Challenge main event, taking the lead early and running away from the rest of the 20-car field. “We got a little redemption this year, thankfully,” said Allen, who broke leading his previous Southern Challenge outing. “We had a tough Friday night in qualifying and tore up the car some but we got everything fixed and we were fast the next night.” The 2013 race winner, Allen started outside row two and passed tough customers Dean Abbey on the outside and Josh McGaha on the inside in making his way to the front. Abbey ended his night in second. Chris Elliott, Tommy Fain and McGaha rounded out the top five in the 25-lapper. Allen had raced his way onto the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot by winning Kennedale Speedway Park’s rescheduled Showdown special the previous weekend. Other winners at Abilene’s 23rd annual Southern Challenge were Andy Roller in [Read More]

US 36 plans Oct. 21 special for IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Cars

OSBORN, Mo. – IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Cars debut at a Show Me State track built with Sprint Cars in mind later this month. The Saturday, Oct. 21 main event at US 36 Raceway in Osborn pays $700 to win and a minimum of $250 to start. Promoter Jon Boller Jr. said interest from local drivers will be complemented by competitors from the Kansas Ciy area and as far away as Minnesota. “I’ve been hearing a lot about IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Cars. A lot of people have told me they’d like to see them run here,” said Boller, looking to add the division to his IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing Friday night programs beginning next April. US 36 is a 3/8-mile clay oval located in the northwest corner of Missouri. “This track was built for sprint cars. It’s high-banked and super fast,” said Boller, citing comparisons to Eagle Raceway in Nebraska, the flagship track of RaceSaver and home to the RaceSaver Sprint Nationals. “There isn’t a bad seat in the house and we want to get [Read More]

Abelson gets 5,000 reasons to remember his first IMCA Modified Fall Nationals feature win

HAYS, Kan. (Oct. 7) – If he’s remembering right, Chris Abelson had never won a race before Saturday at RPM Speedway. There are 5,000 reasons why he won’t forget his first IMCA Modified main event win at Hays. Abelson led all 40 laps of the Fall Nationals fueled by Casey’s feature, taking the $5,000 checkers ahead of Tyler Frye. After Friday’s program was lost to inclement weather, Abelson won his heat and topped the second qualifying feature Saturday afternoon to start on the outside of the front row in the main event that evening. “For the amount of rain they’d gotten, the track wasn’t that rough,” said Abelson. “I could run top, middle, bottom. I used different lines in traffic and to avoid rough spots.” Kelly Shryock, Tim Ward and Scott Drake rounded out the top five. “It’s been four or five year since the last time I was here,” said Abelson, already on the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot. “This year, the race we’ve been going to was on a different weekend so it [Read More]

Abilene Speedway set for 23rd annual Southern Challenge

ABILENE, Texas – The 23rd annual Ryan Bard Memorial Southern Challenge sees four IMCA divisions in action Friday and Saturday, Oct. 13-14. IMCA Modifieds race for $2,000 to win their main event, a qualifier for the 2018 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot. IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars and Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center Southern SportMods both run for $1,700 to win. IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks run for $650. An open practice runs from 6-10 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 12. All four divisions can time trial as part of that evening’s Fast Lap Challenge, with the top two cars in each class receiving an optional provisional if they don’t qualify. Pit gates and the grandstand open at 3 p.m. and racing starts at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Grandstand admission is $12 for adults, $10 for military with ID, $5 for kids ages 6-12 and free for five and under. Pit passes are $30. More information is available from promoter Rob Poor at 325 725-3849 or 325 692-8800, on Facebook and at the www.abilenespeedway.com website.

Wolla’s IMCA Modified national championship is North Dakota first

VINTON, Iowa (Oct. 3) – The driver known as The Big Show is the big name in IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing this season. Jason Wolla raced to the national IMCA Modified championship. The 25-time feature winner, from Ray, is the first North Dakota driver to win a national crown in any IMCA division. “We didn’t have any expectations for this season. We just wanted to put some wins together,” said Wolla, also the first driver from North Dakota to win IMCA’s Side Biter Chassis North Central Regional title. “We had no intentions of running for the national title. We were just racing.” “About midway through the season we were coming home after winning at Minot, got to looking at the points and started to think maybe it was doable,” he continued. “That was when we made the commitment to run for the national championship.” Wolla was track champion at Nodak Speedway and Southwest Speedway and scored Allstar Performance North Dakota State honors as well. Other first-time national champions were Marcus Thomas of Corsicana, Texas, in the [Read More]