Feature Archives

Clay County Salute To Veterans checkers are IMCA Modified career 100th for Shute

NORWALK, Iowa (July 26, 2023) – Todd Shute came up big-time again, at another big-time IMCA event. Shute won for the 100th time in his Friesen Performance IMCA Modified career Wednesday at Clay County Fair Speedway, in the Hunting With Heroes Salute To Veterans main event at Spencer. “It didn’t sink in for a bit,” said Shute, so focused on the drive from 11th starting to the lead and then the $2,000 checkers that he need a post-race reminder from brother Troy he’d just earned win number 100. “There was a time when we were in the 80’s for wins and thought it would be nice to get to 100. It seemed unattainable for a while, but we got there and now it’s something we can hang our hat on.” Shute grew up going to the races at Des Moines and Knoxville, made up his mind he was going to race himself and turned his first laps in a used dwarf car he bought from Jim Cooper. Now from Norwalk and a 20-year veteran of the IMCA [Read More]

Done just in time, new bridge is a big deal for Smiley’s Southern SportMod Super Nationals

KENNEDALE, Texas (July 24, 2023) – Being able to host hall of fame night in conjunction with the second annual IMCA Southern SportMod Super Nationals powered by Smiley’s Racing Products, says promoter James Lopez, is a pretty big deal. Not having to take the detour from town to get to Kennedale Speedway Park will be a pretty big deal, too. The new, wider bridge on New Hope Road that takes traffic over Kennedale Creek, to and past the track opened late last week. Traffic of all shapes and sizes had been rerouted since last year, with the entrance to the pit area at KSP tantalizingly close but on the wrong side of the orange and black detour signs. “If you knew how long you had to drive around to get to the track …” Lopez began. “It’s a long ways, especially if you’re coming from the north or the west and you’re hauling a trailer. The detour was probably 10 miles. Smiley’s isn’t that far from here and you had to take the detour to [Read More]

Murty reigns at King of the Katwalks, Boone win is IMCA Stock Car career 300th

BOONE, Iowa (July 22, 2023) – They unrolled and then they showed off his 300 IMCA Sunoco Stock Car Career Wins banner on Saturday. And as far as Damon Murty is concerned, there couldn’t have been a better night to do it, or at a better track. Murty’s latest milestone win came in the main event of the King of the Katwalks show at Boone Speedway. The Chelsea Charger led the last 22 of 25 laps and simply ran away from the rest of the field after both restarts, taking the $2,500 checkers ahead of son Dallon. “To do this at Boone is very special. This place is IMCA. This is where the Super Nationals are,” said Murty, second on the all-time wins list for the division and now the fifth IMCA driver with 300 career wins. “My 300th win is something I wanted to get this season and I’m glad I was able to do it at a race with 59 cars,” he added. “And I love being able to do it racing with Dallon. It’s the [Read More]

Mullen reigns at 141’s IMCA King of the Creek

FRANCIS CREEK, Wis. (July 19, 2023) – Mike Mullen kept his focus on what was happening on the track and not on the leader board late in 141 Speedway’s King of the Creek finale. As a result, the two-time race runner-up became a second-time winner of the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car special at Francis Creek, earning $10,000 for his start to finish run at the front of the 50-lapper at Francis Creek. 2021 and 2022 King of the Creek winner Benji LaCrosse was close behind, racing from 15th starting to just half a second off the pace at the checkers. “I don’t think we had the car as good as it could have been but we did our best all 50 laps,” said Mullen, who had finished third and then second in his Tuesday night heats and started pole in the main event. “We had some early yellows, then a long green flag run, and I didn’t look at the board the last five laps.” “I didn’t want to get snuckered up on again. I’m glad [Read More]

Williamson is captain of IMCA Shipwreck Beads Nationals

By Aaron Reed ELMA, Wash. (July 15, 2023) – Jesse Williamson made another trip to victory lane at Grays Harbor Raceway Saturday night, this one worth $7,500. One night after topping the race of champions at Elma, Williamson outran and outlasted the Friesen Performance IMCA Modified field at Grays Harbor Raceway, topping the 24th annual Shipwreck Beads Nationals main event ahead of 2022 race winner Collen Winebarger. The Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational eligibility qualifying victory was Williamson’s fifth. Grey Ferrando, Geoff Morris and Robert Jenner rounded out the top five. A who’s who of Modified drivers from the Pacific Northwest and Canada vied for starting spots on the 24-car grid and Bricen James took the early lead with Jon DeBenedetti in second and Williamson third. Lap two saw a multi-car incident on the front stretch and Williamson moved to second following the restart ahead of DeBenedetti, Winebarger and Ferrando. James put some distance on his challengers, making the most of the bottom of the raceway, but slowed and exited on lap nine with a flat tire. [Read More]

Carter is speedy in IMCA SportMod win at Benton County Urbana Five Memorial

VINTON, Iowa (July 16, 2023) – Brayton Carter brought his ‘A’ game back to Benton County Speedway. As a result, he took $2,000 home to Oskaloosa. Carter reeled in cousin Dylan VanWyk, took the lead just after midway and outran Taylor Kuehl and hard chargers Matt Avila and Tony Olson in winning the Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod feature, the nightcap for Sunday’s ninth annual Urbana Five Memorial special. “We’re just good at endurance-type races like these and we were able to make the most of our opportunities on restarts,” the national points leader said following his 19th IMCA win of the season. “To come here and support this race, and to be able to win it is huge,” he added. “It’s one of our top five races. We’ve been lucky and won it twice (previously in 2020) and both times it was exciting.” Sam Wieben drew the pole start and led the first 11 caution-free circuits. VanWyk took charge, Carter took over second and Wieben took a ride off the track after contact with another [Read More]

First IMCA.TV Dakota Tour feature wins go to Hagen, LaBatte in finale at Mandan

MANDAN, N.D. (July 13, 2023) – Travis Hagen and Brendon LaBatte won first-ever IMCA.TV Dakota Tour features Thursday at Dacotah Speedway. Tim Ward and Rob VanMil, meanwhile, wrapped up tour titles during the aptly billed Championship Night show in Mandan. Hagen led the last 26 of 30 Friesen Performance IMCA Modified laps, earning $2,000. And LaBatte came out on top of what might have been the best race of the 34th annual tour, regaining the lead on the last lap and beating Dan Mackenthun to the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car checkers by a tenth of a second. That win was good for $1,000 and put LaBatte on the B & B Racing Chassis All-Star Invitational eligible list. Ninety-one cars representing 16 states and two Canadian provinces saw action in the finale for the tour, title sponsored and broadcast by IMCA.TV. Runner-up in both the first two shows of the week, Hagen became the fifth different winner in as many Modified tour features at the end of a race that ended with a 28-lap green flag run. Spencer [Read More]

Two of the best in the west are IMCA.TV Dakota Tour winners at Southwest

DICKINSON, N.D. (July 12, 2023) – Drivers from, or with close ties to the West Coast have enjoyed their share of success and then some over the course of recent IMCA.TV Dakota Classic Tours. That trend continued Wednesday night at Dickinson, when Californian Jerry Flippo and Arizonan Zachary Madrid made trips to Southwest Speedway’s victory lane. Flippo caught Drew Janssen for the lead following a restart at midway then led to the end of the Friesen Performance IMCA Modified 30-lapper, dogged to the $2,000 checkers by Kyle Strickler. 2021 tour champion Madrid, meanwhile, led all but the first circuit in the 25-lap, IMCA Sunoco Stock Car main, keeping the handle after inadvertent contact with second running and two-time tour winner Rob VanMil late in their battle for a $1,000 payday. Flippo’s win was his tour career first and second since returning to IMCA action in the Midwest in early May. He’d started fifth and got the best of a four-car battle for second before the fateful lap 15 restart. Janssen and Tanner Black both ran in [Read More]

Estevan fans cheer Scholpp to IMCA.TV Dakota Tour checkers

ESTEVAN, Sask. (July 10, 2023) – Fans at Estevan Motor Speedway cheered one of their own to the checkers Monday night, when the IMCA.TV Dakota Classic Tour returned to Canada. Hometown driver Kody Scholpp led all but one lap of the 30-lap Friesen Performance IMCA Modified main event, taking his first-ever tour win, good for $2,000, ahead of Jason Wolla and Tim Ward. “I’ve never done that great on the tour,” said Scholpp, who had a career-best third place finish the previous night at Minot. “This was my main goal for the tour this year. I wanted to win at Estevan and defend my home track.” “It’s amazing,” he added. “I’ve raced here for 19 years and in a Modified since 2008. The fans here support me so well.” Scholpp was fast from the get-go, taking charge from his outside front row starting spot and running three seconds ahead of Ward before he got into lapped traffic at halfway. Ward, who’d won Sunday’s opening night feature Sunday at Jamestown, was in front briefly following a lap [Read More]

Nichols scores IMCA Stock Car career best payday at Pelster Memorial

ALBION, Neb. (July 9, 2023) – A couple laps in and Mike Nichols knew he had a pretty good car. At the end of 30 laps, that pretty good car took Nichols to the highest paying victory in his remarkable IMCA Sunoco Stock Car career, Sunday’s Tanner Pelster Memorial at Boone County Raceway. Nichols raced from 12th starting, passing Tyler Iverson for second and then Jordan Grabouski for the lead in the waning laps of the $6,111 to win main event. The checkers, Nichols’ IMCA best 617th, were accompanied by an automatic starting spot in the B & B Racing Chassis All-Star Invitational. “We’ve been out to Albion a dozen times over the years and they always have a good track. They did a great job, with how many cars and races there were. The track was phenomenal. You could run anywhere,” said Nichols, from Harlan, Iowa. “We changed our setup after the heat race for more drive in the feature and everything worked like we wanted it to. We knew in the first couple laps [Read More]