Feature Archives

It’s almost showtime for inaugural IMCA Southern SportMod Nationals

KENNEDALE, Texas (Sept. 8, 2022) – Just about the time promoter James Lopez gets one project done, there’s another one that needs his attention before the start of the Smiley’s Racing Products IMCA Southern SportMod Nationals. And he wouldn’t have it any other way. Lopez and his small but mighty crew at Kennedale Speedway have worked long days and late nights to get everything just right for the inaugural event Sept. 8-10. The winner’s share of the purse is $5,000, which includes a $2,000 bonus from IMCA. The main event pays a minimum of $300 to start, with another $50 paid to the leader of each lap plus an extra $50 paid to drivers finishing 10th through 19th courtesy of Performance Transmissions in Kennedale. Top four finishers in the main event receive trophies identical to those to be awarded in each of the divisions competing this weekend at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s at Boone Speedway. “I’m literally getting 50 to 75 calls or texts a day about this race,” said Lopez, adding [Read More]

Defending champ joins Superman driver from Oregon as Stock Car qualifying winners

BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 7, 2022) – The defending champion and the driver of the Superman car led their respective fantastic four’s to the finish line on the first night of qualifying for the record-breaking Stock Car division at the 40th annual IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. 2021 king Dallon Murty raced from second place to the lead following a restart 17 laps into the first qualifying feature, then led a field featuring another six former Super Nationals champions to the stripe Wednesday at Boone Speedway. Collen Winebarger adjusted quickly to the Iowa dirt, driving his Superman logo-numbered ride to victory lane in the second qualifier and becoming the first driver from Oregon to make the Stock Car Big Dance. The top four finishers from each race advance to the inside row of Saturday’s main event. A Super Nationals record 243 Stock Cars saw action on NAPA Pole Night. That’s 19 more than the division record set in 2021 and a big part of the event record 995 cars that had competed at Boone through [Read More]

Beckendorf aims to end decade-long Saturday drought

By Ben Deatherage BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 8, 2022) – It’s been a decade since he made the final night of action of the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s and Brandon Beckendorf is back at Boone Speedway and looking to end that drought. Beckendorf, from Danube, Minn., has made the Big Dance once in his distinguished Friesen Performance Modified career, in 2012 when he finished in fourth place. “You have to be open-minded for Super Nationals,” said Beckendorf. “Anything can happen. You can be really good or really bad. It’s a luck deal sometimes, and you have to take advantage of the opportunity you are given. And, he adds, “Every day is a new day.” Beckendorf has seven wins on the season for 2022, most notably the Salute to Veterans show at Clay County Fairgrounds Speedway, his career best payday at $3,500, and at North Central Speedway’s Mighty Axe. “It’s been up and down year for us. We seem to run top five at the bigger shows, but we haven’t been running hard [Read More]

Moore wants to go dancing at Boone

By Ben Deatherage BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 8, 2022) – One driver who has visited Boone Speedway many times for the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s is Bob Moore. The Sioux City, Iowa, racer has never qualified for a Friesen Performance IMCA Modified dance but started his latest quest with the win in the first of the division’s 30 heat races. “We want to get this first day out of the way and see what we got,” commented Moore beforehand. “We have made at least 15 trips here. We’ve never made the big dance but to win a heat is what we are going to try and do in the feature.” For 2022, Moore picked up four wins on the year, including three at Raceway Park and one at Park Jefferson International Speedway, both located in Jefferson, S.D. “We’ve struggled the last few years but have gotten some good help from Precision Performance. They’ve helped me a lot and got me on the right track the last couple of seasons,” he said. “We [Read More]

April winner Lamberies seeks September success at Boone

By Ben Deatherage BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 7, 2022) – With a feature win and another top five finish at Iowa’s Action Track already to his credit this season, Lucas Lamberies returns to Boone Speedway looking to build on his previous IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s success. The Clintonville, Wis.-based racer was a weekly winner at Boone early in the season and ran fifth in the Saturday night Wild Rose Casino Prelude. “We drew pretty good for our qualifying night,” commented Lamberies. “We are just going to have to leave it all on the track. You’ve got to race smart but also drive hard. Everything has got to fall into place. The car’s got to go good and you’ve got to avoid any wrecks.” Lamberies has danced on the final night four times, twice in a Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod and twice in the Modified. Fourth in 2015 and 29th in 2018 in the SportMod, he moved to the Modified and ran 20th in 2019 and eighth last year. Lamberies has visited victory lane four times [Read More]

Whiteaker takes first racin’ vacation to Super Nationals

By Ben Deatherage BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 7, 2022) – In a banner year for entries in general and from the Lone Star State in particular, Texan Steven Whiteaker is among the now nearly 1,000 drivers competing at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. The Friesen Performance IMCA Modified racer from Robstown makes his first-ever journey to Boone Speedway and the 40th edition of America’s Racin’ Vacation. “I have zero expectations going into this week,” Whiteaker said. “We just came to have a good time. We’ve never been here before and we wanted to experience it. Then a couple of months ago, I got a wild hair and decided to pre-register.” 2022 has seen limited action out of Whiteaker but he has nonetheless picked up three wins in his home state, two at I-37 Speedway and another at South Texas Race Ranch. “We haven’t raced too much this year. We took the first half of the season off and got our new CDR car done,” he explained. “We have run about 10 times around home [Read More]

Record-smashing IMCA Super Nationals sees 995 cars at Boone

BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 7, 2022) – All the numbers have added up to a record number of cars competing at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. The start of qualifying for Modifieds and Stock Cars Wednesday afternoon at Boone Speedway brought the total number of entries at the 40th annual event to 995, smashing the previous mark of 909 set just last year. “From the number of pre-entries to the number of pit stalls reserved, every indication we had was that there would be this kind of car count,” said IMCA President Brett Root. “It’s pretty cool that so many drivers want to come to Boone to be part of the 40th Super Nationals.” New Super Nationals records were set before the first green flag flew with pre-entries coming from 27 states and from four Canadian provinces. New records by division since racing started include the 71 STARS Mod Lites that ran Saturday and Sunday, the 91 Sport Compacts on Tuesday and 243 Stock Cars today. Forty-one Late Models, the most in a decade, [Read More]

Kuehl stays cool in front, collects Super Nationals SportMod qualifying checkers

BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 6, 2022) – Taylor Kuehl started the season at Boone Speedway by topping the April Frostbuster special. Now she’ll look to end the year with a much bigger victory. The Arizona native led every lap in winning Tuesday’s first qualifying feature for Northern SportMods at Boone and will start at the front of the middle row in the Saturday night IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s championship event. “I’ve been watching Super National for years. I always hoped to make the show but to start on the front row is a dream come true,” said Kuehl, the first female driver in the division to accomplish the front row feat. “A goal now is a podium finish but I’ve watched a lot of my idols win Super Nationals championships. It would be another dream come true for me to do that on Saturday.” Kuehl drew the pole start and held off familiar foe Jake Sachau, winner of the BSB Manufacturing Race of Champions earlier in the program, following the last two [Read More]

Benischek takes home champion’s trophy after classic IMCA Super Nationals Sport Compact tilt

BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 6, 2022) – After getting held up most of the race, Jake Benischek held up an IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s championship trophy. Benischek completed his run to the front on the top side of the Boone Speedway oval, catching Kimberly Abbott with two laps to go to win his first Sport Compact crown and $1,000 Tuesday night. A record 91 Sport Compacts from 16 states were at Boone for the 40th annual Super Nationals and the division’s 10th appearance as part of America’s Racin’ Vacation will long be remembered as one of its best. “This is something we’ve been chasing for a long time. I feel like we’ve always been pretty fast but this is one tough race to win,” Benischek said, following his career seventh start in the Big Dance. “You’ve got to get lucky and you’ve got to be fast.” “Some years we were neither and some years we were both, and I guess we ended up here today.” Abbott’s runner-up finish was the best by a female driver competing [Read More]

Colorado Hobby Stocker in the hunt for Super Nationals success

By Ben Deatherage BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 6, 2022) – Count Hunter Smith among the young lions in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock ranks. The Brush, Colorado teenager, IMCA’s national and Big Daddy Race Cars Northern Region rookie of the year in 2021, has had a roller coaster of a past year on and off the race track but will look to end his 2022 IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s run on a positive note. Tragically he lost his father last winter and is running in his memory this season. “We want to get in the top eight in our qualifier,” said Smith, 15. “We should be good if we can make the dance this week. I’m comfortable with this race track and I feel confident.” Although he didn’t make the Big Dance last year, he did become the first Colorado driver to qualify for the Stephenville Starter Race of Champions. He has already more than doubled last year’s total of 10 wins with the majority of those checkers coming in the Centennial [Read More]