Feature Archives

Hibdon returns to Cocopah’s victory lane, Winter Nationals win is IMCA first for Starry

SOMERTON, Ariz. (Jan. 6, 2024) – Kollin Hibdon turned his first competitive laps at Cocopah Speedway at the age of 14. Fast forward six years and the Nevada native returned to Somerton to win his career fourth IMCA.TV Winter Nationals main event. Hibdon got the lead following a late restart in a fast and furious battle with defending national king Chaz Baca and topped Saturday’s $1,000 to win Friesen Performance IMCA Modified feature. “There was some pretty intense lapped traffic,” said Hibdon, newly Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational qualifying eligible with his 40thcareer win in the class. “I know this track pretty well. It’s always fun to come back here in the winter.” The front pair traded sliders in the waning laps before Hibdon got the lead for good with a nifty crossover move. Grey Ferrando, defending series champion Tim Ward and Jake Pike completed the top five. Hibdon will return to the Midwest again this season, loading up the trailer after the snow melts this spring to race out of North Dakota. Cameron Starry’s first-ever [Read More]

Mills ends streak of fifth place finishes with first IMCA.TV Winter Nationals win

SOMERTON, Ariz. (Jan. 5, 2024) – His streak of fifth place finishes came to an end Friday night, when Jeremy Mills topped the Friesen Performance IMCA Modified feature at Cocopah Speedway. The Iowa long tow, an IMCA.TV Winter Nationals regular the last three years, had placed fifth in four consecutive Somerton starts dating back to last January. He started on the pole and led all 25 laps in ending that streak despite the best efforts of Thursday winner Ethan Braaksma. “We’ve been coming here the last few years and I’ve finished second a couple times but had never won at Cocopah before,” said Mills, who earned $1,000 and Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational qualifying eligibility with his career 135th win in the division. “I’d finished fifth the last four features here. I was just trying to do better than that.” “It means a lot to be able to win at Cocopah,” he continued. “There are so many good cars here. It’s hard just to qualify out of the heat.” Braaksma worked his way up from fifth to [Read More]

34 years of great races, great racers, great memories: Gartner retires as IMCA Dakota Classic Tour director

MANDAN, N.D. (Dec. 21, 2023) – The idea for a traveling Modified series in his home state came while John Gartner was not far from the sand and surf at Daytona Beach. The founder, and director of the Dakota Classic Modified Tour since its inception, can now look back at 34 years of great racing, great racers and countless new friendships. “I never dreamed it would be this successful, but I always knew we had drivers who would support it and that we could always bank on the hospitality of fans in North Dakota,” said Gartner, after selling the long-running series to a governing group of promoters representing the tracks hosting tour events. “There are a lot of tours out there, and a lot of people have called us over the years asking us how we did it.” “For 34 years, we kept the same philosophy of a good payout, lots of contingency prizes and treating everyone fairly,” he continued. “And it worked.” Jamestown Speedway, Dacotah Speedway and Nodak Speedway are the longest-tenured tour tracks, [Read More]

IMCA.TV Winter Nationals start 2024 season at Cocopah

SOMERTON, Ariz. (Dec. 21, 2023) – The start of the 2024 Speedway Motors Weekly Racing season takes five IMCA divisions and several hundred drivers from across the U.S. and Canada to Arizona’s Cocopah Speedway for eight January dates. Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars and Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods race for $1,000 to win, IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks for $500 to win and Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compacts for $275 to win each night of the IMCA.TV Winter Nationals at the Somerton speed plant. Race nights are Wednesday through Saturday Jan. 3-6 and 10-13. Pit gates open at noon each day and racing starts at 4 p.m. Pit passes are $35. While each Modified winner becomes eligible to qualify for the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational and each Stock Car winner earns eligibility for the B & B Racing Chassis All-Star Invitational, there’s plenty more at stake for drivers who can dominate those divisions. The Superior Fuel Cells Challenge pays $25,000 to the Modified driver winning all eight features, $15,000 for seven feature wins [Read More]

Chevrolet Performance bonuses are record $54,750 for IMCA crate engine track champions

VINTON, Iowa (Nov. 29, 2023) – Chevrolet Performance bonuses added up to a record $54,750 for IMCA drivers who won one or more track championships while competing exclusively with crate engines this season. Friesen Performance IMCA Modified, IMCA Sunoco Late Model, IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock, Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod and Smiley’s Racing Products IMCA Southern SportMod drivers who indicated on their 2023 license application they would run a crate engine receive $250 checks for each of a total of 219 track championships. “Those numbers are impressive,” observed IMCA Marketing Integration and Sponsorship Director Carson Becker-Gramm,” but what really stands out is that since the introduction of the original track championship bonus program in 2005, Chevrolet Performance has now paid over half a million dollars to IMCA drivers competing with crate engines and winning track titles.” “This program is a great way that Chevrolet Performance is able to support drivers across the country.” Modified drivers receiving bonuses for winning one or more track championships, with multiple track titles indicated in parenthesis, while competing with a crate [Read More]

Drivers at 57 tracks earn IMCA.TV replay bonuses adding up to $97,645

VINTON, Iowa (Nov. 28, 2023) – IMCA drivers won’t have to wait ‘til Christmas morning to open envelopes containing IMCA.TV bonus checks. A total of 705 drivers in the nine divisions sanctioned by IMCA earned shares $97,645 generated by replays of weekly and special events at 57 tracks broadcast by IMCA.TV or its affiliates. Modified, Late Model, RaceSaver Sprint Car and Stock Car drivers finishing in the top three in point standings at those tracks receive checks for $240, $160 and $135; Northern SportMod and Southern SportMod checks are distributed in the amounts of $140, $115 and $100, and Hobby Stock, STARS Mod Lite and Sport Compact checks are in the amounts of $115, $85 and $70. Those checks are being mailed this week from the IMCA home office. “This bonus program is the first of its kind and was developed by our streaming platform provider Riivet in 2021,” explained IMCA President Brett Root. “A percentage of subscription fees paid by replay viewers is paid to tracks and to top three drivers in sanctioned divisions.” “Almost $28,000 was paid to nearly [Read More]

Dirt track racing foray leads Leasure to IMCA Junior National Championship

MANSFIELD, Texas (Nov. 9, 2023) – iRacing got Sean Leasure hooked on racing. IMCA Racing got the Mansfield, Texas, driver on the track, and his Mach-1 Sport Compact nine feature wins and consistent top five finishes throughout an abbreviated season got him the Junior National Championship. “This was my final year of being eligible to run for Junior National Champion. It was definitely an accomplishment,” said Leasure, 18. “Sport Compacts gave me my first foray into dirt track racing and most nights they were a blast to drive.” More than 500 drivers ages 13-18 contended for Junior National Champion honors and accompanying post-high school education scholarship funds in 2023. “We had a lot of fun this season and were right up there in national points,” said Leasure, already a high school graduate with an associate’s degree from Tarrant County Community College and planning to resume computer science studies next fall. “I’m looking forward to getting more seat time and seeing what we can do next season.” He’d raced a go-kart in addition to seven seasons [Read More]

Raffurty’s formula for success equals third straight IMCA STARS Mod Lite national title

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Nov. 9, 2023) – Start with long hours in the shop and a sharp eye for detail, then add good help and good sponsors. The result was 28 feature wins and another Stealth Racing IMCA STARS Mod Lite national championship for Dillon Raffurty. “We’ve got a formula that works and we’re going to keep using it,” explained Raffurty, from Kansas City, Mo. “I don’t like change, anyway, and if something is working for you, there’s no reason to change.” There have been few reasons to do anything different as Raffurty has raced to the national crown each of the three years the Mod Lite division has been sanctioned by IMCA, totaling 88 feature victories while winning an other-worldly 80 percent of his weekly starts. He won 28 of 34 outings, along with US 36 Raceway and Valley Speedway track and the Missouri State title in 2023. After a three-race sweep of the Sugar Bowl Winter Nationals at Florida’s Hendry County Motorsports Park in February, Raffurty returned home and went a perfect 16-for-16 [Read More]

Drueke tops tough competition in drive to IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car national title

EAGLE, Neb. (2023) – Tyler Drueke started the season looking to race with the toughest competition and prove he was the best RaceSaver Sprint Car driver in the country. He accomplished both goals, racing to a division best 13 feature wins and a career-first IMCA national crown. “I wanted to do it my way,” said Drueke, also champion at hometown Eagle Raceway. “I wanted to find the toughest competition and leave no doubt we were the best RaceSaver team in the country.” “Winning the national championship was our goal from the start of the season,” he stated. “I meet with sponsors every winter and when I talked with Cody Cherney at Cherney Enterprises, he thought we should try for it. Rachel Kroese and Matt Warner at mysalesman.com said ‘Let’s do it.’” “We’ve been close but I’d never won it before,” continued Drueke, also track champ at Eagle and national runner-up in both 2016 and 2018. “This year we sealed the deal.” A top five finisher in eight of his first 13 starts, Drueke won at a .500 [Read More]

Headers, ride height highlight few changes to 2024 IMCA rules

VINTON, Iowa (Nov. 8, 2023) – Hobby Stock drivers have an exhaust header option and minimum and maximum ride height is specified in four divisions, in the 2024 rules announced today by IMCA. Changes from 2023 and other previous seasons were few, noted IMCA President Brett Root, so drivers who were legal this year won’t be spending extra money to be legal next year. Beginning next season, Hobby Stock drivers competing with a crate engine can use Schoenfeld header part no. 1485-CM2-22 or an OEM exhaust manifold with a 2-1/4 inch diameter exhaust pipe while those competing with a claim engine can use a Schoenfeld header part no. 1485-20 or OEM exhaust manifold with a two inch diameter exhaust pipe. “This is a step we believe will keep the field level for more drivers in the division,” explained Root. “Schoenfeld has already added header awards to their 2023 contingency program which drivers will be receiving at our upcoming national banquet.” Minimum and maximum ride heights for Modifieds and Northern SportMods are four inches and 7-1/2 inches, and [Read More]