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VINTON, Iowa – 2022 rules for another four IMCA divisions have been announced and posted on the IMCA website. Rules items to note for Karl Kustoms Northern SportMods include:  *The minimum wheelbase is 108 inches, the maximum wheelbase 112 inches with a maximum one inch difference from side to side.  *Air cleaner top is a maximum of six inches above the hood.  *Must use 16 inch minimum, 19 inch maximum lower control arms. The rear lower control arm must be centered under the axle tube (with a one inch tolerance) and bolted a minimum of two inches to a maximum of five inches from the bottom of the housing. *Tires may be ground, straight siped or grooved. *The air cleaner top, stud and base cannot direct air into the carburetor. No top flow housings, air cleaner inserts or cold air boxes. *All engines must use unaltered MSD #8727CT rev control and maximum 6,200 rpm chip for crate engines and maximum 6,800 rpm chip for claim engines. *No oil pan vents. “Any of the Northern SportMod [Read More]

LINCOLN, Neb. (Nov. 27) – A record 700 champions and rookies of the year were honored as IMCA returned to Lincoln for the 2021 national awards banquet. National champions from both the 2021 and 2020 seasons took their turn at the podium during the Saturday night celebration of dirt track success. 2021 national champions were Jeff Larson, IMCA Modified; Cory Dumpert, IMCA Sunoco Late Model; Justin Clark, IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car; Mike Nichols, IMCA Sunoco Stock Car; Dillon Raffurty, IMCA STARS Mod Lite; Kaden Reynolds, IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock; Matthew Looft, Karl Kustoms North­ern SportMod; Matthew Day, Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMod; and Caine Mahlberg, Mach-1 Sport Compact. Raffurty is the first-ever Mod Lite national champion. Dumpert and Nichols both defended titles won in 2020, when the banquet was canceled because of Covid. Also winning national crowns last season were Tom Berry Jr., Modified; Garrett Bard, Sprint Car; Cory Probst, Hobby Stock; Doug Smith, Northern SportMod; and Ramsey Meyer, Sport Compact. Both a video tribute to the late Jason Smith and remarks by Speedway Motors [Read More]

SPANISH FORK, Utah – Just 10 races into the season, Haiden Reese set a different goal for his rookie IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock campaign.  That mission accomplished, the Spanish Fork, Utah, speedster already has a new goal for 2022.  Reese became the first driver from Utah to win Big Daddy Race Cars Southern Region rookie honors, logging all 35 of his starts in his home state. Team Reese also produced a pair of state champions with Haiden topping KMJ Performance State standings for the Hobbies and his father Jason leading the way in Utah points for Modifieds. “I hadn’t raced anything before but my dad has been with IMCA for six years, the last three of them in a Modified, so I’ve been around it for a while,” Reese said. ”IMCA has a great rookie program going on and I needed to get into a class where I could learn. I spent November through April building a car and got it race-ready.”  “The first time I practiced it was more car than I expected,” he [Read More]

APACHE JUNCTION, Ariz. – A driver who likes to travel raced his way into the IMCA history book this season. Larry Brigner became the first driver from Arizona to earn rookie of the year honors in the EQ Cylinder Heads Southern Region for IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars. While supporting three tracks in his home state and a fourth in Colorado, he complemented his first feature win in The Class Too Tough To Tame with 17 top five finishes “National and regional rookie of the year awards were what I really wanted to go for at the start of the season. We had a lot of fun and we were able to race at a lot of different tracks,” said Brigner, from Apache Junction. “I like the close racing in this class and that you don’t tear too much stuff up.”  The runner-up in KMJ Performance State standings, Brigner finished second in point standings at Arizona Speedway and third at Cocopah Speedway. Career win number one came on opening night at Cocopah, in front of eventual [Read More]

MILTON, Fla. – Owen Barnhill started the season winning in the IMCA Modified his father Jesse drove to a regional championship before he was born.  He ended it winning rookie of the year honors in the Dirt Works Eastern Region. “We set the standards pretty high for this season. I never like to finish second,” said Barnhill, 16 years old, from Milton, Fla., and now a sophomore at Central High School. “We had about five races left in the season and I wasn’t sure if I would be able to win the rookie award. I was worried about getting torn up and messing up in points.” Barnhill didn’t mess up much in his rookie campaign, totaling seven feature victories and another 15 top five finishes in just 26 starts. He was track champion at Northwest Florida Speedway and hometown Southern Raceway, as well as the KMJ Performance Florida State champion. His first three feature wins came in the 2001 Pro Chassis that his dad won the 2004 Gulf Coast Region crown with. That car had [Read More]

PROSPER, Texas – Thirty-one years after he last wheeled a race car, Steve Askew raced to rookie of the year honors in IMCA’s Razor Chassis South Central Region for Modifieds. The Prosper, Texas, driver, teammate to five-time regional champion William Gould and two-time regional champ Matt Guillaume, made 39 starts at six different tracks, earning his career first feature win in IMCA Modified on Aug. 21 at Grayson County Speedway.  “I knew I had the potential. Everything just fell into place that evening,” said Askew, who had posted what was then a career-best finish by running third the night before at Boyd Raceway. “I raced with William almost every night and was more excited that I beat him. He and (Gould’s wife) Dana were in victory lane with my wife Michelle and I and we got pictures. It was a cool night, very cool.”  Askew had raced late models in Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas in 1990-91, earning rookie of the years at home track County Line Speedway.      He stepped away from the sport, [Read More]