Feature Archives

Petaluma California IMCA Speedweek feature wins to Morris, Tyler Bannister

By Stephanie Deatherage PETALUMA, Calif. (May 6) – Troy Morris III raced to his first California IMCA Speedweek presented by Hoppes Motorsports feature victory while Tyler Bannister won for the second time in as many nights Thursday at Petaluma Speedway. Morris topped the $1,000 to win, Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifier for IMCA Modifieds while Bannister followed his Wednesday checkers at Antioch with the Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod main event win. “I was speechless when it happened,” said Morris, acknowledging the caliber of the competition he beat for his first win in the division. “I feel like I’m on top of the world. It was a stacked field of cars on a technical track and it was fun. I had a blast.” Buddy Kniss was on a rail at the drop of the green in the 25-lap Modified main, pulling away from the pack before what proved to be a fateful lap four caution. Kniss had an incredible start when things returned to green but briefly lost control in on the sixth circuit and [Read More]

Defending champion Hogge, rookie Bannister pick up IMCA Speedweek victories at Antioch

By Stephanie Deatherage ANTIOCH, Calif. (May 5) – A defending champion and a rookie were feature winners in the fifth round of the California IMCA Speedweek presented by Hoppes Motorsports. 2020 Speedweek king Bobby Hogge was the $1,000 IMCA Modified winner Wednesday at Antioch Speedway while Tyler Bannister won his career-first Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod feature. Hogge stormed to the point pulling away from the rest of the Modified field following two early restarts. Speedweek point leader Ethan Dotson challenged following a lap 10 caution but couldn’t complete the pass. A lap 21 caution set up a late-race restart with an open racetrack for the leaders to deal with. Hogge, already a Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot candidate, hit all his marks perfectly and was the first to the finish line, ahead of Dotson in a close second, Troy Morris III, Kellen Chadwick and Nick DeCarlo. For the Northern SportMod feature, Bannister put his mount in the prime position on the first lap. The Bakersfield teenager was slowed by three consecutive cautions but once a good green [Read More]

Kay collects career 100th IMCA Late Model win at Dale DeFrance Memorial

By Joyce Eisele MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (May 6) – Justin Kay stole the spotlight Thursday night, in one of the biggest IMCA Sunoco Late Model events of the season. Kay complemented his career 100th win in the division with a check for $1,925 at Marshalltown Speedway’s fourth annual Dale DeFrance Memorial. The headline event of the evening, held in honor of the patriarch of the well-known racing family, was 44 laps. Veteran Greg Kastli started on the outside of the front row and immediately took the lead over Joe Zrostlik By lap 10, the seventh starting Kay had made his way to second place and began reeling in the leader. Kay took the lead with a move to the outside of Kastli as they came out of corner four as lap 19 went into the books. From there on, Kay had little trouble in keeping his run at the front of the field, pulling away and taking the victory. He finished well ahead of second place Zrostlik while Todd Cooney made a late-race pass around Kastli as [Read More]

Time is right to add Stock Cars to IMCA Manufacturer’s Cup contest

VINTON, Iowa – Call it a case of perfect timing as growth in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car division results in an expanded Manufacturer’s Cup contest this season. While 17 chassis builders vie for national and regional honors in the 13th annual Manufacturer’s Cup contest for Modifieds, a dozen builders are in the running for similar accolades in the inaugural Cup competition for Stock Cars. Standings will be based on makes of chassis driven by top 10 drivers in each of the five Modified regions and both Stock Car regions. Builders with the highest overall point total will be named IMCA Modified and Stock Car national Manufacturers of the Year. “There has always been an interest in a Manufacturer’s Cup program for Stock Cars and this season the timing was right,” explained IMCA Marketing Director Kevin Yoder. “The number of Stock Car drivers and sanctioned tracks continues to grow and that has helped get more builders to become part of, or return to the Cup program.” Builders entered in both Modified and Stock Car Cup contests [Read More]

Dotson masters Merced, Bannister also hits California IMCA Speedweek gold at Merced

By Stephanie Deatherage MERCED, Calif. (May 3) – The California IMCA Speedweek presented by Hoppes Motorsports kept rolling northwards and Ethan Dotson kept rolling with two more feature wins Monday night at Merced Speedway. Dotson won his second straight IMCA Modified main event and fourth straight IMCA Sunoco Stock Car outing, while Jason Bannister became a first-time Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod Speedweek winner. When the green flag dropped for the 25-lap Modified feature, Cody Laney rocketed out to the point and went straight to work on building a sizable interval over the rest of the pack. As the long green flag run continued, Dotson closed in and as the pair entered lapped traffic maneuvered his mount underneath Laney, took the lead on the 15th circuit. Dotson remained in front to the $1,000 checkers for his sixth Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifying victory of 2021. Oregon’s Collen Winebarger, Darrell Hughes II, Laney and Nevada’s Jake Pike completed the top five. After an early restart, Garrett Corn beat out Nicholas Johnson to set the pace [Read More]

Dotson wins twice at Hanford, Ryland also tames California Speedweek foes

By Stephanie Deatherage HANFORD, Calif. (May 2) – Ethan Dotson had himself quite a night Sunday at Keller Auto Speedway. Dotson topped both the $1,000 to win California Speedweek presented by Hoppes Motorsports IMCA Modified feature and the evening’s IMCA Sunoco Stock Car main event, while Fred Ryland won the Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod main. Forty-one Modifieds, 35 Northern SportMods and 11 Stock Cars saw action on the night. Dotson and Kellen Chadwick battled for the front spot on the opening circuit of the Modified feature. Dotson got the edge before the field went on an extremely long green flag run. As the run extended, so did Dotson’s gap over second place. Lapped traffic did come into play but Dotson cruised through the pack for his career-first Speedweek checkers and seventh victory of 2021. Already a Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational candidate, Dotson won ahead of Cody Laney, Troy Foulger, Bricen James and Chadwick. Dotson led start to finish in the caution-free Stock Car 20-lapper for his fifth win of the season in The Class Too Tough To Tame. [Read More]

Reichenbach, Nation, Dotson strike twice on IMCA Speedweek in Tulare

By Stephanie Deatherage TULARE, Calif. (May 1) – The faces in victory lane were familiar when Thunderbowl Raceway hosted Saturday’s second installment of the 2021 California IMCA Speedweek presented by Hoppes Motorsports. Clint Reichenbach, Jason Nation and Ethan Dotson, all Friday winners at Bakersfield Speedway, also topped main events as the series made its first visit to the Tulare facility for a complete IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing program with 44 IMCA Modifieds, 37 Karl Kustoms Northern SportMods and a dozen IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars. Reichenbach outdueled Robby Sawyer for the early lead, then pulled away from the rest of the Modified pack following a lap four restart. Dotson challenged after the next caution and the front pair battled door-to-door on a couple occasions before a lap 10 incident. Dotson again tried to slip underneath but Reichenbach prevailed in the struggle. The race stayed green and he led the rest distance for a second $1,000 feature win in as many nights. The first Modified driver to win multiple Speedweek features, Reichenbach crossed the stripe ahead of Dotson, the [Read More]

Callahan, Carter collect Drive For Five qualifier wins at Lee County

By Brian Neal DONNELLSON, Iowa (April 30) – Joel Callahan and Cayden Carter took home $1,000 checks from Lee County Speedway’s first Drive For Five qualifier of the season Friday night. Callahan and Ben Seemann drew front row starts for the IMCA Sunoco Late Model 25-lapper and it was Callahan jumping into the lead on lap one over Seemann and Matt Strassheim. While Seemann tried to stay in Callahan’s tire tracks, the rest of the field was racing all over for positions behind them. Callahan’s fast pace put him into lapped traffic on lap 14 and this allowed Seemann to close in. Callahan was able to maneuver the lapped traffic without any problems however and pulled away over the later part of the caution-free race to score the top prize. Seemann finished second, Logan Duffy was third and Tommy Elston was fourth, with Strassheim fifth. Already on the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot, Carter and Jeff Waterman drew the front row for the IMCA Modified main with Carter leading Ethan Braaksma and Waterman early on. A [Read More]

Reichenbach, Nation open California IMCA Speedweek with Bakersfield wins

By Ben Deatherage BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (April 30) – Clint Reichenbach and Jason Nation dazzled in their respective features as the California IMCA Speedweek presented by Hoppes Motorsports opened Friday at Bakersfield Speedway. Reichenbach parlayed his outside front row starting spot into the $1,000, Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifying feature win while Nation won the Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod main event and $750 from the fifth starting spot. Forty-two Modifieds and 37 Northern SportMods saw action in the tour lidlifter. Reichenbach bolted into the front at the start and just a single caution waved during the Modified headliner, which meant for a long green-flag run. Lapped traffic did come into play but was not a major obstacle for Reichenbach, who nonetheless was pressured by hard-charging Ethan Dotson toward the end of the race. Reichenbach pulled away in the final laps to earn his first win of 2021 ahead of Dotson and Jake Pike. Jerry Flippo grabbed fourth with Cody Laney, via transferring out of a “B,” ending in fifth. Tanner Thomas managed to beat [Read More]

IMCA sets maximum rear tail height for Stock Cars, Hobby Stocks

VINTON, Iowa – IMCA has announced that maximum rear tail heights for Stock Cars will be set at 42 inches and at 40 inches for Hobby Stocks. The rule goes into effect on June 1. Height measurements will be enforced across the top of the rear tailpiece in both divisions. “The rear tailpiece mounting rule, along with the rule that doesn’t permit any rear bumper bars to be lower than the tailpiece, has always controlled this issue,” said IMCA President Brett Root. “The height of aftermarket tailpieces has always been in the 20-23 inch range and we do not permit additional plastic to be mounted to the bottom of the tailpiece. All of these issues control the rear trunk height. However, creative personal interpretation and ignoring some of these rules in combination with adjustable body mounts has forced IMCA to publish a dimension that all cars will be required to follow.” “Due to the different body makes and models IMCA permits in the Stock Car division, 42 inches is plenty of rear tail height in that [Read More]