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NORFOLK, Neb.  – A top five finish here and there would have convinced Kyle Prauner that his first IMCA Sunoco Late Model season was a success.  Prauner far exceeded those aspirations, winning five features along with the track championship at hometown Off Road Speedway and the national rookie of the year award.  “Any expectations we had were blown out of the water,” Prauner said following his 19th season on the track. “We were hoping for a handful of top five’s but the season went way better than we thought it would.” A long-time IMCA Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod driver – he is still fourth on the career wins list for that division with 141 – Prauner had both a growing family and a new job to consider when making his 2021 race plans. “There was some discussion of retirement. I had always wanted to race a Late Model but never felt I would be able to afford it,” he said. “Then IMCA came to town with Late Models and the crate motor. I started perusing ads [Read More]

EXETER, Neb. – A season that saw its shares of highs and lows ended with a new high for Cory Dumpert. Dumpert clinched his third consecutive IMCA Sunoco Late Model national championship with his 17th feature win on the final night of the 2021 campaign. That matches the divisional modern era streaks of three straight by Ray Guss Jr. from 2010-2012 and Justin Kay from 2013-2105. “It’s cool to be one of only three drivers to do that,” said Dumpert. “Winning another national championship wasn’t something we thought we’d be able to do at the start of the season this year. There was a point when we didn’t even know if we’d be racing at all.”  Dumpert was traveling home from an early-spring event when the trailer hitch came off and while his race car was not damaged, the trailer and many of its other contents had to be replaced. “We limped along early but some new sponsors stepped up and really made the season happen for us,” he explained. “Things really started to turn around [Read More]

BUTLER, Pa. – Jarrett Rosencrance made a couple late-season starts last fall to get a feel for his IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car. Late-season starts this year saw him win his career first feature and national rookie of the year honors in the division. “I hadn’t raced anything before the Sprint Car,” said Rosencrance, from Butler, Pa. “Ever since I was little, I always loved Sprint Cars and my dad told me it that if it was something I wanted to do, I should. Two weeks later we bought a car.”  David Rosencrance had raced street stocks, hanging up his helmet after his son was born on Christmas Day in 1997. Twenty-four years later, he was part of the crew that helped Jarrett become the first Pennsylvania driver in any division to earn IMCA national rookie honors. Rosencrance made 23 starts in a 2006 Maxim in his freshman campaign, following the Allegheny Sprint Tour and hitting seven Ohio Thunder Sprint Car Series or Laurel Highlands Sprint Series events, four of which were co-sanctioned with the Allegheny [Read More]

HAMERSVILLE, Ohio – Justin Clark knew he’d have to travel to have a shot at winning the IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car national championship.  After winning 16 times in five states and with as many different series, he accomplished just that.  From Hamersville, the fourth-year RaceSaver competitor became the first driver from Ohio in more than half a century to win the national IMCA Sprint Car crown.  “With the number of races here (in Ohio), we knew we’d have to work hard and travel if we wanted to win it. I feel like I raced 80 times with all the traveling we did,” said Clark, who collected nine checkers in his home state, along with feature victories in North Carolina, Indiana, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. “We have really enjoyed this division. There were challenges this year but when we got knocked down, we got back up.”  Clark won 10 times in topping Ohio Thunder Sprint Series points – he won the July 10 feature at Wayne County Speedway after restarting 18th – and once en route to the [Read More]

IONIA, Mich. – The start of his season had A.J. Ward wondering if he’d even be racing for points in 2021. The end saw him winning a career fourth Dirt Works Eastern Region championship and finishing as runner-up in the national IMCA Modified standings for the second time in four years. From Ionia, Mich., Ward battled early April engine issues before righting the ship and winning three straight and seven of his next nine outings before the Memorial Weekend. “This was our first full season in a Razor Chassis and the April 3 race (at Winston Speedway) was our earliest ever in Michigan,” said Ward, who also ventured to Pennsylvania for the first time and won the inaugural NY-Penn Series event, the Sean Lias Memorial at Penn Can Speedway. “We blew two new engines early and had to decide whether or not to chase points.” The decision to get back on the track paid off with 20 feature wins, track championships at I-96 Speedway and Thunderbird Raceway, along with a career fifth KMJ Performance Michigan [Read More]

CALERA, Okla. – After getting back behind the wheel of an IMCA Modified he’d last driven five years ago, William Gould raced to a career fifth championship in the Razor Chassis South Central Region. Gould added 15 feature win stickers to the collection that came already on the roof of that old ride while earning Grayson County Speedway track and KMJ Performance Texas State titles. “Starting in late February, I drove an older chassis I had built owned by Dino Rendon,” said Gould, from Calera, Okla. “I’d sold it to him in 2016 after getting back from Super Nationals. It still had the old roof with the stickers on it and the same body. I just put my number on it.” “It was like getting reacquainted with an old friend,” he said. “Other than the engine and shocks, I don’t believe technology has changed as much as some other people do. We’d won the national championship in 2013 in a car we had bought back. Things get more expensive but otherwise I don’t see where [Read More]