Feature Archives

After $2,000 checkers, Smith notes Septemberfest win put him on All-Star ballot

BEATRICE, Neb. (Sept. 22-23) – It’s hard to believe but Dylan Smith wasn’t even on the ballot for the 2017 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational. After winning Saturday’s Septemberfest feature at Beatrice Speedway, the fact he was already vote eligible for the 2018 event was one of the first things Smith noted. “That $2,000 (win) put me on the All-Star ballot for next year,” Smith said. “And it wasn’t easy. The quality of cars there was huge. There were a lot of good cars at Beatrice.” The 30-lap win came ahead of two frequent visitors to victory lane at Beatrice, Johnny Saathoff and Jordan Grabouski. Smith drew the outside front row start; Saathoff worked his way up from the fourth row to battle Grabouski behind the leader. “I knew the outside front row would be the place to be. The draw really helped me,” said Smith. “Johnny and Jordan were really racing hard behind me and I hate to think how many wins the two of them have here. There was a caution with about 10 [Read More]

Ron Little Memorial winner adds Stuart to favorites list

STUART, Iowa (Sept. 23) – While he’s known to prefer bigger tracks, Kelly Shryock has added quarter-mile Stuart Speedway to his list of favorites. Shryock held off Richie Gustin in winning Saturday’s Ron Little Memorial IMCA Modified main event, earning $2,000 and a Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot berth. “My dad raced here but this was this first time I’d raced at Stuart myself,” Shryock said following his 15th win of the season and IMCA career 81st checkers. “I came out of hot laps thinking it was fast. Stuart is a racy, fun little track.” He’d swapped the lead in traffic with Nick Roberts a couple times before Gustin, the champion at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s, came calling. “There were a number of yellows and we were kind of saving our tires. We didn’t know how hard we’d been on them,” said Shryock. “I knew Richie was back there and thought oh boy, he’s been on a pretty good roll.” Shryock held on to win the 30-lapper ahead of Gustin, Shane DeMey, [Read More]

Kay wins Deery Series finale, Sobbing earns IMCA Late Model tour crown

WEST LIBERTY, Iowa (Sept. 23) – Justin Kay celebrated another feature win and Jesse Sobbing celebrated a first championship when the final Deery Brothers Summer Series checkers of the season flew Saturday at West Liberty Raceway. Kay topped the $5,000 to win, 100 lap Liberty 100 main event while Sobbing persevered to a 15th place finish, good enough to make him champion and the top rookie of the 2017 tour for IMCA Late Models. Tyler Bruening led all but the first nine and the last nine laps before chasing Kay across the stripe. Jake Neal ran in or close to the top three all night and finished as the runner-up to Sobbing in the points race. Kay had raced his way to the 16th starting spot in the feature by finishing second in his “B” race earlier in the evening; he and Sobbing were part of a multi-car tangle on the 26th lap that was loaded with potential to change both the outcome of the main event and the series standings. After restarting at the rear, Kay raced his way [Read More]

Kay tops IMCA Modified main to repeat as Governor’s Cup champ at Davenport

DAVENPORT, Iowa (Sept. 22) – Even when you’ve won as often as Justin Kay has, you can enjoy new accomplishments. And on Friday night at Davenport Speedway, that feat was accompanied by a $5,000 check. Kay earned his second straight Iowa Governor’s Cup crown along with the IMCA Modified checkers. His 2016 Governor’s Cup title had come with Late Models as the premiere division. “It was pretty cool. There were a lot of good cars here,” Kay said after the biggest payday of his Modified career. “It rained earlier in the week so the track was a little rough in spots, but I kept looking for the smoothest way around and tried not to let the car push.” He started fourth in the 25-lapper and passed Eric Barnes and then Kurt Kile to get to the front on the sixth circuit. Chris Simpson was running second when the final caution of the night came out, with six laps left. “I’ve raced with Chris enough in a Late Model that I was not going to give [Read More]

2017 IMCA point season ends this weekend

VINTON, Iowa – Final point races of the 2017 season will be held this weekend for all IMCA divisions. Modifieds, Sprint Cars, Stock Cars, Northern SportMods, Southern SportMods, Hobby Stocks and Sport Compacts wrap up the IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing point season on Sunday, Sept. 24. The final national and state points for Late Models will be given at through the West Liberty Raceway Deery Series event on Sept. 23. The Late Model track point season ended on Aug. 27. Bonus points will be figured and national and regional champions and rookies of the year announced as soon as possible. Local track officials will have until noon Central Standard Time on Monday, Oct. 23 to notify IMCA of corrections that affect their top 15 point standings before all standings for those divisions become official. Questions about IMCA point totals and standings should be directed to Virginia Lindsey, director of membership and points, at vlindsey@imca.com or by calling 319 472-2201, ext. 215.

IMCA Modifieds chase $2,000 check at Stuart’s Ron Little Memorial

STUART, Iowa – A $2,000 top prize and 2018 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot berth are at stake this Saturday at Stuart Speedway’s Ron Little Memorial. Also on the Sept. 23 card are IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks and Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods, all racing for $500 to win. IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing National, regional and Allstar Performance State points will be awarded. There is no entry fee for the draw/redraw show. Grandstand admission is $10 for adults, $4 for kids and free for five and under. Pit passes are $30 for drivers and $20 for crew members. Pit gates will be open all day. The grandstand opens at 5 p.m. and hot laps are at 78 p.m., with racing to follow. More information is available by calling 515 238-6945, by emailing stuartracetrack@gmail.com and at the www.stuartspeedway.net website. The Ron Little Memorial will be broadcast by IMCATV.

Iowa Governor’s Cup returns to Davenport Speedway

DAVENPORT, Iowa – Davenport Speedway hosts the Iowa Governor’s Cup, the official stock car championship of the State of Iowa, this Friday, Sept. 22. The premier class will be IMCA Modifieds racing for $5,000 to win. This will be the largest Modified purse in the history of the race track and the winner earns a berth of the 2018 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot as well. Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods run for a $2,000 top prize. All racing will be on the quarter-mile oval and there are no entry fees for the draw/redraw show. IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing National and Allstar Performance State points will be awarded in both divisions. Modifieds also earn Side Biter Chassis North Central Region points. Hot laps are at 6:15 p.m. and racing is at 6:45 p.m. Twenty-four cars will start each IMCA feature. Spectator admission is $20 for adults, $18 for seniors and students, and free for kids ages 12 and under. Pit passes are $35. The first Iowa Governor’s Cup race was held in 1986, at Hawkeye Raceway. [Read More]

Deery Series heads to West Liberty for $5,000 to win Liberty 100 finale

WEST LIBERTY, Iowa – The final Deery Brothers Summer Series checkers of the season fly this weekend at West Liberty Raceway. The 21st annual Ideal Ready Mix Liberty 100 program is also the final event IMCA Late Model drivers can vie for IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing National and Allstar Performance State points. Time trials, qualifying races and a $1,000 to win race of champions are on the Friday, Sept. 22 card. Last-chance qualifying precedes the $5,000 to win, minimum $600 to win 100-lap main event on Saturday, Sept. 23. Jesse Sobbing of Malvern brings the point lead to town, with Jake Neal of Omaha, Neb., Chad Holladay of Muscatine, Matt Ryan of Davenport and Marshalltown’s Darrel DeFrance rounding out the top five. Qualifying also gets underway Friday for IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods and Mach-1 Sport Compacts. Modifieds run for $1,000 to win and a 2018 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot berth on Saturday. Stock Car and SportMod features both pay $600 to win while the Sport Compact feature pays [Read More]

Phillips shows the way to $10,000 World Nationals checkers

By Joyce Eisele MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (Sept. 16) – Veteran Terry Phillips made his way to Marshalltown Speedway from the Show Me State and showed his IMCA Modified expertise on the track, topping Saturday’s $10,000 to win World Nationals main event. Richie Gustin of Gilman gave Phillips a run for the big money when he took the lead on lap 21, only to have Phillips come right back and regain it on the next lap. From there on, Phillips put distance between himself and Gustin, and took the 50-lapper by a comfortable margin. Along with the big payday, the checkers put Phillips on the ballot for the 2018 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational. Gustin had to be content with the runner-up spot. Cayden Carter of Oskaloosa started ninth and finished third, fourth was Chris Abelson of Sioux City and Joel Rust of Grundy Center rounded out the top five. Fifty-nine Modified drivers from nine states began qualifying heats Friday at the 11th annual event. Damon Murty of Chelsea swept $1,000-to-win IMCA Sunoco Stock Car features during the weekend while [Read More]

Richie Gustin reigns again at Super Nationals

BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 9) – After finishing second in his qualifying feature on Friday night, Richie Gustin figured he had a pretty good chance to win Saturday’s IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s Modified main event. He was right. The 2011 Super Nationals champion, Gustin passed 2007 winner Todd Shute to get to the front of the 40-lap headliner, then outran defending champion Ricky Thornton Jr. in taking the Boone Speedway checkers. “I felt like we had a pretty good race car when we qualified last night,” said Gustin, who had passed 24 cars to finish second behind Thornton on Friday. “People say there’s a lot of luck that plays into this deal but when you get your second championship, it’s not luck. This is unbelievable.” Shute ended in third and Ricky Stephan was fourth. Three other former champions were in the show, with Gustin’s brother Jimmy finishing fifth, Randy Havlik seventh and Kyle Strickler 18th. Mike Nichols became a first-time Stock Car champion, beating Devin Smith across the stripe by not much [Read More]