Feature

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]

VINTON, Iowa – IMCA has announced 2022 rules for the Hobby Stock, Southern SportMod and Sport Compact divisions. “There are a number of clarifications and revisions for the Hobby Stocks, and Sport Compacts are an all-OEM car,” said IMCA President Brett Root, “so we wanted to get the announcement made for those divisions as soon as possible. As expected, changes for the Sport Compacts and Southern SportMods were very minimal.”  OEM or aluminum aftermarket replacement hoods, maximum 63×58 inches, and trunk lids, maximum 35×62 inches, will be allowed in the Hobby Stocks. All body panels, including the trunk, may be gutted and the use of unaltered aftermarket tail pieces will be allowed. “The supply of OEM trunks in particular is becoming an issue,” Root said. “They are becoming more expensive and harder to find.” The shock body, stroke and extended length must match both sides, with a maximum eight inch stroke and 20 inch extended length. There is a maximum 13 inch free height for springs and both rear springs and both rear shocks must [Read More]

WINNEMUCCA, Nev. – Kaitlyn Sample drove 6-1/2 hours every weekend of the season just to get to the shop and work on her IMCA Modified. Then she traveled to nine different tracks in four states to earn rookie of the year honors in IMCA’s Shaw Race Cars Western Region. “That was definitely a huge accomplishment,” said Sample, who collected eight of those top five’s in the second half of the season. “I came a long ways from my first race. Winning rookie of the year was one of my biggest accomplishments this season.” Sample is the younger sister of two-time regional champion Cory Sample and drove his 2018 Razor that “fell into her hands.” She had about a month to get the car ready for 2021. “I raced a go kart for one year about 10 years ago and grew up around Cory and his racing,” said Kaitlyn, who earned her dental hygienist degree in December and made the commute from Sun Valley, Idaho, to the family base in Winnemucca, Nev., on weekends. “My brother [Read More]

FORT RIPLEY, Minn. – Greg Kohl Jr. didn’t need to go into much detail to describe his Mach-1 Sport Compact national rookie of the year season.  “It was great,” the Fort Ripley, Minn., flyer said following a 2021 campaign that saw him win eight features and track championships at North Central Speedway and Princeton Speedway. “Our goal was taking top five’s every night. We had three DNFs but after that was all top five’s.” He won three of 14 starts at Princeton and another five of 17 at Brainerd, where his checkers included the Ron Johnson Memorial feature and opening night of the Mighty Ax. “North Central is my home track. I live about eight miles from there and growing up I was always watching races there,” said Kohl, a former dirt bike racer. “Princeton is about an hour and a half from home. It’s a little bit smaller and there’s something about tracks that size that I like.” Fourth in national standings, Kohl ran with younger brother Nathan and cousin Josh Maleski this season [Read More]

BRUSH, Colo. – A season full of firsts saw Hunter Smith race to national IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock and Big Daddy Race Cars Northern Region rookie of the year honors. The 14-year-old Brush High School freshman became the first Colorado driver to win either award. He’s the second 14-year-old to earn the national prize and the youngest to win in the ROY in the Northern Region. “Hobby Stocks are a good class to get started in. I wanted to be in a full-sized car in case I wanted to move up,” he said. “Our goal at the start of the season was regional rookie of the year and we just kept pushing. We dropped out of the national lead but got it back, and we were really excited when points became official. It was really cool to be the first from Colorado to do it, and I was surprised to be the youngest to win the regional rookie.”  Smith did a lot of winning as a rookie, starting with 10 feature victories. His 51 starts [Read More]