Feature Archives

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]

Expanded California IMCA Speedweek primed for eight race dates

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – West Coast fans who called for an encore after the inaugural California IMCA Speedweek can mark April 30-May 8 on their race calendar. The second annual tour, presented by Hoppes Motorsports, expands to feature eight dates at as many different tracks for IMCA Modifieds and Karl Kustoms Northern SportMods. Modified main events pay $1,000 to win and a minimum of $100 to start and are qualifying races for the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot; SportMod mains pay $750 to win and a minimum of $75 to take the green. Opening night is Friday, April 30 at Bakersfield Speedway. Speedweek travels to Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare on Saturday, May 1; Kings Speedway in Hanford on Sunday, May 2; and Merced Speedway on Monday, May 3 before a travel day. The second half of the tour sees dates Wednesday, May 5 at Antioch Speedway; Thursday, May 6 at Petaluma Speedway; and Friday, May 7 at Placerville Speedway, with the Saturday, May 8 finale at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico. Point funds will be paid to [Read More]

Long distance chat with dad follows Blixt’s first IMCA Modified Wild West Tour victory

BATTLE MOUNTAIN, Nev. (April 16-17) – Like he does after every race, Cody Blixt had a chat with crew chief and father Kelly Saturday night at Battle Mountain Raceway. What was different this time is that Cody had just won his first IMCA Modified Pitt Stop Motorsports Wild West Tour feature, while his dad was in Kuwait, recently deployed with the National Guard. “We FaceTimed after I went through tech,” explained Blixt, the first Montana driver to win a Wild West Tour event and new to the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot after taking the $1,000 checkers. “He watched on IMCA.TV and was thrilled that I won. He told me how well I drove.” After a 10th place finish Friday night, Blixt drew the pole on night two and led start to finish. “It was 25 laps but it felt like the longest race ever,” said Blixt, chased by Bert Beech and opening night winner Chaz Baca. ”Last year I raced a lot of specials and ran almost 50 nights. The Wild West Tour win is [Read More]

Stock Cars added to IMCA Manufacturers’ Cup contest

VINTON, Iowa – Another chassis building champion will be crowned in 2021 as the IMCA Manufacturers’ Cup contest expands to include Stock Cars. Top Modified builders will be recognized based on both national and regional point standings for a 13th consecutive year. Inaugural Stock Car awards will also be determined on the same basis. “The continued growth of our Stock Car division warrants a Manufacturers’ Cup competition of its own,” said IMCA Marketing Director Kevin Yoder. “We will sanction weekly racing and special events for Stock Cars at nearly 90 tracks in 18 states and Canada this season, making chassis builders for those competitors deserving of cup recognition as well.” Chassis builders interested in being part of the Manufacturers’ Cup can contact Yoder at 319 472-2201 or by email at kyoder@imca.com.

IMCA.TV Weekly Racing bonuses added to track point fund checks

VINTON, Iowa – IMCA drivers who compete at tracks hosting events broadcast by IMCA.TV or any of its affiliates will see increased track point fund checks this fall. Twenty-five percent of all revenue generated by monthly IMCA.TV replay subscriptions will be added to 2021 point funds paid at those tracks. IMCA.TV Weekly Racing bonuses will be included in track point fund shares presented during the national awards banquet or mailed beginning the following week. “This bonus program is designed to support and reward the IMCA racer,” said IMCA President Brett Root. “We are able to do this because of our direct involvement with IMCA.TV,” he explained “We are able to allocate revenue in a way that other broadcasters can’t and the ultimate winners are the IMCA racers.” While IMCA.TV continues to build its network of affiliates, expansion of in-house production will further benefit drivers competing at sanctioned events and promoters of tracks that host them. IMCA.TV broadcasts provided approximately $20,000 in bonus money to competitors at the 2020 IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s [Read More]