Feature

HERRIMAN, Utah (Nov. 22, 2022) – Getting to race against more cars got C.J. Thorne into the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock division. Three feature wins and season-long consistency got him the national rookie of the year award. From Herriman, Thorne became the first driver from Utah to win a national IMCA rookie award in any division, and the second from the Beehive State to earn the Big Daddy Race Cars Southern Region rookie prize in as many seasons.  “I raced in open wheel classes since I was seven and came to the Hobby Stocks from a 360 open wing sprint car class,” said the 20-year-old Thorne. “We were racing in fields of 5-7 cars. A friend, Andy Pearce, suggested that I should get a Hobby Stock and run with more cars.”  He bought a former Drew Schafer ride for his rookie campaign, making all but two of his 38 starts at home state tracks and 24 of those at Desert Thunder Raceway.  Thorne’s career first win in the class came on May 7 at Price.  [Read More]

FARMINGTON, N.M. (Nov. 22, 2022) – “Unbelievable” was the word Jason Duggins had used to describe the 2021 IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock season. His 2022 season was even better. Duggins raced to a division record fourth straight regional title, winning 23 features at six different Big Daddy Race Cars Southern tracks. “At the end of last season, I told myself I wasn’t going to go for the fourth one. I wanted to venture out more and race at different tracks,” said Duggins, from Farmington, N.M. “Then we got to racing our weekly tracks and the car counts just exploded in Utah.”  “We were getting 12-16 or more cars a lot of nights. It was just a lot of fun and I raced as much as I could,” he continued. “Every weekend it seemed like there were more people building cars or buying cars or asking about how they could get a Hobby Stock.”  He had shared the division record of three consecutive regional championships with Shannon Anderson, who ruled the Big Daddy North from 2008-2010 [Read More]

WYMORE Neb. (Nov. 22, 2022) – Over the winter, Dillon Richards and his crew laughed about the idea of running for another national championship.  Their early spring success got them thinking more seriously about it.  Richards, from Wymore, Neb., would become just the seventh driver to win national crowns in different IMCA divisions, adding the 2022 Sunoco Hobby Stock trophy to a collection that already includes the 2017 Mach-1 Sport Compact hardware.  “We joked about it over the winter, then we won Spring Nationals at Beatrice, the Dirt Crown Spring Tour at Thayer County and both nights of the Sunflower Classic at RPM Speedway,” he said. “That’s when we decided to get serious and pursue it.” “We really focused on Beatrice Speedway and Eagle Raceway,” added Richards, track champion at both. “We are not a big-time race team. We work out of a two car garage so any time we raced three nights a week, it was a lot of work.” He won 11 times at Eagle and six times in all at Beatrice. Richards’ [Read More]

JOSHUA, Texas (Nov. 21, 2022) – Blake Clark didn’t just emerge as one of the top young guns in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car division this season. He’s also become a first-rate spokesman for The Class Too Tough To Tame.  The 19-year-old from Joshua, Texas, enjoyed a breakout 2022 campaign, winning 19 features and repeated as Boyd Raceway track champion on the way to capturing the EQ Cylinder Heads Southern Region crown. “I love the Stock Car division,” said Clark, who doubled his career win total in his first season behind the wheel of the 2019 Terminator purchased from Leslie Gill that Steffan Carey had won the Southern Region with two years ago. “I love the competition, the setup and the suspension. You can make an IMCA Stock Car work and race door-to-door anywhere on the track.” His father Thomas was the Stock Car champion at Boyd in 2001. Junior mini graduate Clark followed him into the class in 2017, running a homebuilt car and winning what had been a previous season-best 14 times last year. [Read More]

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (Nov. 21, 2022) – They’re going to have to make room in the “little corner” of the race shop where Kaden Reynolds puts his trophies on display. Reynolds took his considerable on-track talent to the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car division in 2022, earning national and EQ Cylinder Heads Northern Region rookie of the year awards. He won 14 features and clinched the track title at Benton County Speedway before returning to Boone and impressing at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. “We were real good this year. I was probably most happy with my consistency,” said Reynolds, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. “We raced weekly with some of the best drivers in the division, then went to Super Nationals and made a statement.” “It was pretty cool.”  He came to The Class Too Tough To Tame after three seasons in an IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock, winning rookie of the year in 2019, the Junior National Champion crown in 2020 and the national championship last year. “The biggest thing we had to do [Read More]

HARLAN, Iowa (Nov. 21, 2022) – The most unique of Mike Nichols’ 25-plus racing seasons had a familiar conclusion. Nichols earned the 11th national and EQ Cylinder Heads Regional championships of his IMCA Sunoco Stock Car career in 2022.  Those achievements, as well as Shelby County Speedway and US 36 Raceway track and Missouri State titles and 600th feature win in The Class Too Tough To Tame, all came despite a June 26 riding lawn mower accident that left Nichols with severe nerve damage in his left shoulder.  “It was dumb luck that I was still able to compete,” said Nichols, who ended up underneath the 1,300 pound mower following a hydraulics failure and a wild ride over a nine foot embankment. “My shoulder was essentially paralyzed and there was a learning curve for me from that point.”  “I know there are drivers out there who race with one hand. I am not one of those racers. If it had been my right arm, I wouldn’t have been able to shift,” he continued. “I had to pick up [Read More]