Feature Archives

Rodin dominates Sanders Modified Tour for first career victory at Red River Valley

By Mike Spieker WEST FARGO, N.D. (Aug. 18) – A stout field of 40 IMCA Modifieds were checked in Friday for night two of the Sanders Modified Challenge Tour at Red River Valley Speedway. In a dominating performance, Lucas Rodin captured the checkered flag for his first career win at the semi-banked 3/8-mile dirt oval. “I just had to hold it to the floor pretty much the whole way around just to get the car to turn,” said Rodin from victory Lane. “I tried to stay around the bottom and it worked out for us.” Rodin grabbed the lead on lap one from the third starting position as Dale Kraling, Dave Shipley and Trent Grager battled for second. He steadily distanced himself from the field as the race advanced and was able to efficiently slice his way through heavy lapped traffic. The only thing that could slow Rodin was the caution flag, which flew with five laps remaining. Kraling and Shipley lined up on the leader’s rear bumper for the ensuing restart. As the race resumed, [Read More]

Pavlicek prevails for Sanders Mod Tour win at Norman County Raceway

By Mike Spieker ADA, Minn. (Aug. 17) – Rich Pavlicek raced to the $1,000 feature win when season-high 47 IMCA Modifieds checked in Thursday for opening night of the Sanders Modified Challenge Tour at Norman County Raceway. In his first appearance of the season at Ada, the defending champion Pavlicek started on the pole, got the lead back from Michael Greseth following a lap nine restart and cruised to the win and 2018 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational berth. Greseth, Tyler Peterson, John Correll and “B” transfer Austin Arneson rounded out the top five. Pavlicek was running the extreme high groove when Greseth snuck underneath him to claim the lead five circuits into the 25-lapper.. Greseth quickly opened up a 10 car length lead over Pavlicek, but a caution with 16 to go brought the field right back to Greseth’s rear bumper. On the restart, Tyler Peterson momentarily took second away from Pavlicek, but Pavlicek reclaimed the position down the back straightaway. Pavlicek kept moving forward and took the lead away from Greseth in turns one [Read More]

IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing National Point Standings Through Aug. 16

IMCA Modifieds – 1. Jason Wolla, Ray, N.D., 1,183; 2. William Gould, Calera, Okla., 1,177; 3. Cory Sample, Winnemucca, Nev., 1,173; 4. Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa, 1,172; 5. Steven Bowers Jr., Topeka, Kan., 1,160; 6. Dean Abbey, Roanoke, Texas, 1,157; 7. Hunter Marriott, Brookfield, Mo., 1,156; 8. Clinton Luellen, Minburn, Iowa, 1,139; 9. Matt Guillaume, Haslet, Texas, 1,135; 10. Tyler Frye, Belleville, Kan., 1,120; 11. Regan Tafoya, Farmington, N.M., 1,118; 12. Shawn Fletcher, Brainerd, Minn., 1,114; 13. Ricky Stephan, South Sioux City, Neb., 1,112; 14. Bryce Garnhart, Shannon, Ill., 1,111; 15. Jeff Hoegh, New Caney, Texas, 1,098; 16. Tyler Limoges, Redwood Falls, Minn., 1,097; 17. A.J. Ward, Ionia, Michigan, and Tom Berry Jr., Medford, Ore., both 1,090; 19. Anthony Roth, Columbus, Neb., 1,088; 20. Dalton Magers, Redwood Falls, Minn., 1,087. IMCA Late Models – 1. Justin Kay, Wheatland, Iowa, 794; 2. Todd Cooney, Des Moines, Iowa, 790; 3. Matt Ryan, Davenport, Iowa, 788; 4. Rob Toland, Colona, Ill., 778; 5. Jeremiah Hurst, Dubuque, Iowa, 775; 6. Darrel DeFrance, Marshalltown, Iowa, 772; 7. Chad Holladay, Muscatine, Iowa, 761; [Read More]

Strickler switches gears, then checks out in second half of Shryock Memorial All-Star main

BRITT, Iowa (Aug. 12) – Kyle Strickler was right where he wanted to be midway through Hancock County Speedway’s Shryock Memorial All-Star main event. As a result, he was right where he wanted to be at the end of Saturday’s 50-lap feature for IMCA Modifieds. Strickler stayed close to Ryan Ruter following numerous cautions throughout the first half and was running second when the race was halted for the mandatory pit stop at halfway. He restarted second, took the lead almost at the drop of the green and checked out on the rest of the 31-car field, taking the $4,000 checkers handily ahead of Ruter. “It was so important to be lined up second,” Strickler explained. “The track had rubbered up and I was definitely trying to position myself for the restart.” “It’s tough to run well in a field this good but we made a gear change (at halfway) that helped us,” he added. “I knew if I could get out front I’d be tough to catch.” The second 25 laps ran caution-free. The [Read More]

IMCA Speedweek sees first repeat winner as Marriott repeats at Night of 10,000 Stars

BRITT, Iowa (Aug. 11) – Hunter Marriott became the first repeat winner of IMCA Speedweek when he repeated as the Night of 10,000 Stars winner Friday at Hancock County Speedway. Marriott led all but the first lap, earning $7,000 for the IMCA Modified feature victory along with a $1,000 bonus for leading at halfway in the 50-lap main event. Tad Reutzel drew the pole start and was scored first on the opening circuit; the sixth-starting Marriott made the best use of the lower line, had the lead the next time around and stayed in front to the finish. Richie Gustin raced from 13th starting to finish second while hard charger Ryan Ruter passed 21 cars and ended in third. Rounding out the top five were Joel Rust, who had started 22nd, and Ethan Dotson. Marriott, runner-up at Thursday’s Night of 1,000 Stars at Britt, had raced his way onto the 2018 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot by winning Monday’s Arnold Motor Supply Hawkeye Dirt Tour feature at Clay County Fair Speedway. Randy Brands was the [Read More]

Hancock County success continues for Droste at Night of 1,000 Stars

BRITT, Iowa (Aug. 10) – Tyler Droste’s second career IMCA Modified win at Hancock County Speedway looked a lot like his first. Droste led the last 35 times around the track in Thursday’s Night of 1,000 Stars main event at Britt. His $3,500 share of the purse was complemented by a $1,000 bonus for leading at halfway in the 50-lapper. Johnny Whitman ran at the front early on but couldn’t keep Droste, who’d started in the middle of the second row, at bay. There was no catching Droste from that point, although racing continued two, three and sometimes four-wide behind him. The final caution waved with five laps left. Droste, already on the 2018 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot, pulled away again to beat Hunter Marriott to the checkers by half a straightaway. Marriott had started 15th. Defending race winner Richie Gustin was third, Corey Dripps was fourth and Jay Noteboom completed the top five. Dripps made his way from 22nd starting. Hard charger Joel Rust started 28th and finished 11th. Another impressive run up [Read More]

Shryock clinches title, Abelson takes checkers in Arnold Motor Supply Hawkeye Dirt Tour finale

ALTA, Iowa (Aug. 9) – Chris Abelson took the checkers while Kelly Shryock took the championship of the Arnold Motor Supply Hawkeye Dirt Tour Wednesday at Buena Vista Raceway. Abelson passed Shryock for the lead early in the IMCA Modified 30-lapper, stayed in front to the finish of a feature that ran caution-free and pocketed $1,000 for his second tour victory of the season. After finishing in the top five in all but one of the nine tour events – and placing second in each of the last three – Shryock earned a $1,000 share of the tour point fund, along with a Traeger Lil’ Tex Elite Pellet Grill courtesy of Arnold Motor Supply. “Winning a championship is cool,” said Shryock, the eighth different driver to win the Hawkeye Dirt Tour title in as many years. “Maybe we can repeat next year.” Abelson, the 2016 tour champion, has run part-time this season at Alta. He drew the fifth starting spot for the main event and didn’t need much time to get to the front. “We [Read More]

Richie Gustin checks out on IMCA Harris Clash foes

WEBSTER CITY, Iowa (Aug. 8) – Richie Gustin made sure the race was for second Tuesday night at Hamilton County Speedway. Gustin led all 25 laps of the Harris Clash for IMCA Modifieds, earning $2,000 for a dominating performance. Tim Ward took over second late in the contest but didn’t have enough laps left to reel in Gustin. Ryan Ruter chased Gustin early and ended in third while Hunter Marriott was fourth. Kelly Shryock and Joel Rust came out of “B” features to finish fifth and sixth, respectively. Gustin had started outside Todd Shute on the front row and quickly moved into the front spot, running the extreme lower line with Ruter. A couple cautions were all that slowed Gustin as he pulled away from the rest of the field after each restart. Ward found success on the high side in working his way to the runner-up spot. Shryock started 16th, Rust 18th. Already on the ballot for next year’s Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational, Gustin had previously won the Harris Clash in 2010. Rust, the [Read More]

Aug. 18 is deadline for Super Nationals pit stall reservations

BOONE, Iowa – Friday, Aug. 18 will be the final day to make pit stall reservations for the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. Pit stall applicants must be licensed IMCA members and have pre-registered for the Sept. 4-9 Super Nationals at Boone Speedway. “We are still taking pit stall applications but they are filling in quickly,” observed IMCA President Brett Root. “The size of their hauler, the division the driver races in and the nights they will be racing are mandatory requirements for us to know.” “We are doing all we can to accommodate requests for pit stalls,” he continued. Pit stall confirmations will be e-mailed to drivers on Aug. 19 and 20. Drivers should bring those confirmations with them to Boone Speedway to make the parking process easier. “There are still plenty of non-reserved stalls available,” Root said. “Boone Speedway has added an additional 17 acres of camping, grandstand parking and pit parking for the 2017 event.”

Arnold Motor Supply Hawkeye Dirt Tour checkers fly at Clay County for Marriott

SPENCER, Iowa (Aug. 7) – Hunter Marriott has to have Clay County Fair Speedway on his list of favorite tracks. So does Kelly Shryock. Marriott led the last half of Monday’s Arnold Motor Supply Hawkeye Dirt Tour main event, earning $2,000 along with the IMCA Modified checkers. He’d also won the tour event at Spencer last year and now owns four career series victories. Shryock raced all the way back to finish second after exiting for the pits following an early caution and restarting at the back of the field. He’ll take a 12-point advantage over Joel Rust into the tour finale Wednesday at Buena Vista Raceway. Ryan Ruter, Mike Jergens and Tom Berry Jr. completed the top five. Ten states and Canada were represented by the Modified entries. Ruter drew the pole and led the first of 30 laps. Nick Meyer, making the quick transition from a Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod, was alongside and just ahead of Ruter when the second circuit was scored. A long green flag run finally ended with a caution [Read More]