Feature Archives

IMCA Late Model point season starts this weekend

VINTON, Iowa – Opening night events are this weekend for the 2016 IMCA Late Model point season. IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing National, Allstar Performance State and local track points will be awarded from Friday, April 22 through Sunday, Aug. 28. Regular Friday night shows will be held at Davenport Speedway, Farley Speedway and the Iowa State Fairgrounds Speedway in Des Moines. Saturday sanctions are Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City, Independence Motor Speedway, Maquoketa Speedway, Shelby County Speedway in Harlan and West Liberty Raceway. Dubuque Speedway and Quad City Speedway in East Moline feature the Late Models on Sunday race programs. Six Friday events are on the schedule at Marshalltown Speedway. Late Models make five Sunday visits to Benton County Speedway in Vinton and another – on July 3 – to Stuart Speedway.

Great Scott! Deery Series win at Hamilton County is first for Fitzpatrick

WEBSTER CITY, Iowa (April 16) – Losing position helped make Scott Fitzpatrick a first-time Deery Brothers Summer Series feature winner. Fitzpatrick checked out on the rest of the IMCA Late Model field Saturday at Hamilton County Speedway. He’d started outside Chad Holladay on the front row, fell behind Darrel DeFrance and Todd Cooney, then put himself in position to take charge after Holladay suffered mechanical issues. “This was awesome,” Fitzpatrick said. “(Getting) This win was haunting me and I finally got it done in true fashion. There were some of the best IMCA drivers here. This win is very humbling.” The $2,000 victory came in Fitzpatrick’s 34th career Deery start and just his second at Webster City. He’d been runner-up twice, at Des Moines in 2014 and at West Liberty last year. Jeff Aikey, Richie Gustin, Tyler Bruening and DeFrance completed the top five. Sixth was Cooney and seventh was hard charger John Emerson, who had started last in the field of 25. Making his first visit to Webster City, Holladay impressed in winning his [Read More]

Farley Deery checkers are first in a decade for Martin

FARLEY, Iowa (April 15) – A hero from the early days of the Deery Brothers Summer Series turned backed the clock Friday at Farley Speedway. Curt Martin led the last 35 of 50 laps in winning the IMCA Late Model tour feature and $2,000. Forty-two Late Models were entered. The 1990 and 1991 Deery champion had last won a series event in May of 2006 at the old Highway 3 Raceway in Allison. The Farley checkers, Martin’s tour career 26th, came in a car Doug Cue and Gene Budzine bought as a backup for Tyler Droste to run weekly at Independence Motor Speedway. They’d originally asked Martin about shaking down the car and a test drive was in the works for Saturday at Indee. “I asked why not take it out Friday, too,” said Martin. “This could be the oldest car and I could be the oldest driver (he’s 52) on the track. It felt awesome to win tonight. It made me feel like – I should say 30 but I’ll say like I was [Read More]

IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing National Point Standings Through April 14

Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modifieds – 1. Chaz Baca, Mesa, Ariz., 634; 2. Lance Mari, Imperial, Calif., 632; 3. Brian Schultz, Casa Grande, Ariz., 602; 4. Cody Laney, Torrance, Calif., 519; 5. Ricky Thornton, Harcourt, Iowa, 506; 6. Jason Noll, Peoria, Ariz., 489; 7. Hunter Marriott, Brookfield, Mo., 482; 8. Ethan Dotson, Bakersfield, Calif., 475; 9. Tim Ward, Harcourt, Iowa, 469; 10. Matt Guillaume, Haslet, Texas, 404; 11. Paul Stone, Winton, Calif., 389; 12. Ryan Gaylord, Lakewood, Colo., 385; 13. William Gould, Calera, Okla., 377; 14. Brent Schlafmann, Bismarck, N.D., 376; 15. R.C. Whitwell, Tucson, Ariz., 372; 16. Zachary Madrid, Phoenix, Ariz., 350; 17. Anthony Roth, Columbus, Neb., 344; 18. John P. Gober, Poolville, Texas, 331; 19. Jason Batt, Harker Heights, Texas, 330; 20. Jordan Grabouski, Beatrice, Neb., 324. IMCA EMI RaceSaver Sprint Cars – 1. Logan Scherb, Decatur, Texas, 297; 2. Chase Parson, Abilene, Texas, 276; 3. Michelle Melton, Flower Mound, Texas, 232; 4. Robert Vetter, Wolfe City, Texas, 229; 5. Chad Wilson, North Richland Hills, Texas, 216; 6. Bryan Debrick, Irving, Texas, 211; 7. John [Read More]

Positive response nets 2016 start for IMCA Northwest SportMod Challenge

PORTLAND, Ore. – Shares of a point fund that already totals $1,200 will be paid to Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod drivers competing at three tracks in Oregon and another in northern California. Northwest SportMod Challenge standings will be determined using a system awarding 10 points for first place down to one point for 10th place on back. Drivers’ 12 best feature finishes during the IMCA regular point season at Cottage Grove Speedway, Southern Oregon Speedway and Sunset Speedway in Oregon and at California’s Siskiyou Motor Speedway will apply. “The IMCA Northern SportMod division is getting bigger and bigger here in the Pacific Northwest,” explained Challenge organizer Steve Kerstulovich. “I was going to spend this year talking to potential sponsors. We were already promised $1,000 before we decided to do it this season.” The top driver in Pacific Northwest Challenge points is now in line for $500. Three hundred dollars will be paid for second, $200 for third, $150 for fourth and $50 for fifth. “This is really a complementary thing to local track point funds,” said [Read More]

Day gets feature win, fiancée at Sprint Series of Texas show

CRANDALL, Texas (April 8) – Michael Day became a double winner at Friday’s Sprint Series of Texas event at RPM Speedway. After being promoted to the top spot when the first car across the finish line came up light on the post-race scales, Day made good on a promise and proposed to girlfriend Terra Harris, getting down on one knee in victory lane and sealing the deal with a zip tie. “When I started racing a Sprint Car two years ago, I promised to propose after I won my first feature and it happened this weekend,” Day said. “She’s been expecting this for about a year now.” Day raced limited modifieds for two seasons, then took a couple years off before getting into his father Jeff’s back-up ride. He’d finished second to his dad a number of times before running with and finally passing him Friday at RPM. A portion of his share of the purse has been designated for wedding expenses. The bride and groom to be haven’t set a date yet but have [Read More]

Farley, Webster City weekend shows are next for Deery Series

FARLEY, Iowa (April 12) – A pair of $2,000 to win Deery Brothers Summer Series main events headline season-opening shows this weekend. The IMCA Late Model tour is at Farley Speedway on Friday, April 15 and at Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City on Saturday, April 16. Pit gates at Farley open at 5:30 p.m. and the grandstand opens at 6:30 p.m. Hot laps are at 7:30 p.m. with racing to follow. Spectator admission is $16 for adults, $14 for seniors, $10 for students ages 13-17 and free for 12 and under. Also running are Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modifieds for all applicable points. On Saturday, pit gates open at 3 p.m. The grandstand opens at 4:30 p.m., hot laps are at 5:30 p.m. and racing starts at 6 p.m. Admission is $15 for adults, $10 for kids ages 6-12 and free for five and under. Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks and Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods, running for all applicable points, complete the card. Pit passes are $30 both nights. Jeff [Read More]

Early entries top 230 for Ice Breaker special at Eagle

EAGLE, Neb. – The Twice is Nice Challenge is new to the season-opening Ice Breaker Challenge at Eagle Raceway April 15 and 16. Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modifieds race for $1,000 to win on Friday and for $2,000 to win on Saturday while Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods run for $500 to win both nights. More than 230 drivers from Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Minnesota are already pre-entered for the event. The driver who can win both nights in either division pockets a $1,000 Twice is Nice Challenge bonus. Both Modified features are qualifying events for the 2016 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot. IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks chase a $400 top check while Mach-1 Sport Compacts run for $150 to win on Friday. The Saturday card also totes a $1,000 to win IMCA EMI RaceSaver Sprint Car feature and $500 to win IMCA Sunoco Stock Car feature. IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing National, regional and Allstar Performance state points will be awarded each night. Special series points will also be given for Saturday’s Sprint Series of [Read More]

Raceway Park homecoming pays off for Hansen

By Bob Coney JEFFERSON, S.D. (April 8-9) – Mike Hansen returned to his old stomping grounds to score the $1,000 Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modified checkers at Raceway Park South Dakota Spring Nationals. The North Dakota transplant led the last 16 circuits in Saturday’s 20-lap finale, earning a spot on the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot along with the big check. “We had a trailer full during and after the races,” said Hansen, who’d been a Raceway Park regular for most of eight seasons and won in front of a large contingent of family and friends in his return to Jefferson. “It was a good time.” Ricky Stephan jumped out front at the drop of the green flag and led the first four circuits before Hansen moved into the top spot, switching to the low line in the first set of turns to make the pass, then going back to the higher line and running in front to the finish. While Stephan stayed in tow, Jeff Larson charged through the field only to come up [Read More]

Thornton outruns Brown for IMCA Frostbuster checkers at Benton County

VINTON, Iowa (April 10) – His first-ever visit to Benton County Speedway ended with Ricky Thornton Jr.’s second $1,000 Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modified Frostbuster feature win in as many nights. Thornton followed the Saturday checkers at Boone Speedway with the Sunday night victory in a star-filled field at Vinton. He led the last 21 of 25 laps, outrunning Kyle Brown – himself a two-time Frostbuster winner – in the race to the checkers. “It feels awesome to be able to win here,” Thornton said before the victory lane photos were snapped. “Tim Ward was here for the Frostbuster last year and gave us an idea what gear to run.” “We loosened the car up and changed gears after the heat race tonight,” the Chandler, Ariz., driver continued. “We set the car up to run up top and it worked for us.” Brown had won the first two Frostbuster features, at Southern Iowa Speedway and Friday at Marshalltown Speedway. He’d made a late challenge on the inside but Thornton was faster on the backstretch and [Read More]