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BLOOMFIELD, N.M. – Steffan Carey accomplished a lot in a season he described as “pretty uneventful.”  Carey won 11 IMCA Sunoco Stock Car features, earning his career first EQ Cylinder Heads Southern Region crown and runner-up honors in the division nationally.  “We didn’t plan to race for points. By the end of the season, we weren’t racing that much and had to watch everybody else catch up but the last six or seven races (all top four finishes) went really good,” said Carey, also track champion at Desert Thunder Raceway and Fairgrounds Speedway. “Everything just aligned for us.” From Bloomfield, Carey became just the second New Mexico driver to win a regional Stock Car prize. The first was his father-in-law, Rex Higgins, in 2009, the same season Carey scored regional rookie of the year honors in the class. He finished second or third in all but one on nine early-season starts in Arizona this year, topping Winter Series point standings at Cocopah in a brand new Terminator. “The car was good right out of the [Read More]

MESA, Ariz. – Chaz Baca started 2020 racing with the big boys.   He ended it hoisting the big trophy.  The IMCA Modified driver from Mesa, Ariz., recorded a single-season career-best 16 feature wins to earn the first Shaw Race Cars Western Region championship of his career. Sixth nationally, his awards haul also included Battle Mountain Raceway and Cocopah Speedway track and KMJ Performance Arizona State crowns.  “Winning the region is really a big thing for us. We’ve been trying to do it for years,” he said. “When you look at how many states are in this region, it’s definitely exciting to have accomplished this.”  Baca got off to a fast pre-pandemic start, winning seven of his first 22 starts. Two of those checkers came in Arizona Dirt Track Tour battles with home state hero Ricky Thornton Jr. “I got to race with the big boys in the tour and beat Ricky twice. He’s fast everywhere but he grew up here and he knows these tracks,” Baca said. “Being able to race with, and beat [Read More]

HASLET, Texas – Matt Guillaume’s goals for a low-key season were to have fun, make some charges to the front and win some IMCA Modified races.  He did all that and won a regional championship, too. Guillaume topped the Razor Chassis South Central Region for the second time in his career, earn­ing Boyd Raceway and Southern Oklahoma Speedway track titles and the KMJ Performance Ok­lahoma State crown as well.  “I hadn’t even looked at points until there were about three weeks left in the season. I wasn’t try­ing to win track championships. I wanted to get feature wins,” said the Haslet, Texas, charger. “I didn’t set out to do anything points wise. I would love to have had more wins but all the top four finishes certainly helped.”  Guillaume saw mixed results in four early season starts. He was the king of consistency once racing resumed, complementing four feature wins with 17 top five finishes.  “We ran well and had good performances but DNFs for silly reasons early. After tracks closed (for the pandemic) we [Read More]

BEATRICE, Neb. – First he caught his breath. Then Jordan Grabouski caught his stride. The defending champion in both IMCA Modified and IMCA Sunoco Stock Car divisions, Grabouski pared his starts in both classes while racing to a career fifth Jet Racing Central Region crown and finishing sixth in rookie standings for IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Cars.  “While we missed 10-20 starts and all the early-season specials, it gave us a chance to catch our breath. Never in a million years did I think we’d be able to win the region,” he said. “It was defi­nitely a challenge but I felt like we were able to catch our stride as we got closer to the end of the season.”  Grabouski totaled 11 wins and won track championships at hometown Beatrice Speedway, Eagle Raceway and U.S. 30 Raceway. He swept Salina Speedway’s Mid-America Clash on the final weekend of the point season before winning Oktoberfest at Beatrice.  “We took Sundays off for family (Grabouski and wife Whitney look forward to the arrival of second daughter) during the [Read More]

KENT CITY, Mich. – There was never any question that Mitchell Hunt was going to race an IMCA Mod­ified. With the book closed on his sixth season in the division, the only question left is where to dis­play his Dirt Works Eastern Region championship trophy and Thunderbird Raceway and Winston Speedway track championship plaques. Just 21, the Kent City, Mich., chauffeur had seven feature wins and another 11 top five finishes in his 28 regional starts. He was 14th in national point standings.  “The regional championship was a big surprise. After tracks in Michigan opened in June, we were pretty much racing for fun,” he explained. “We got rolling with the July 11 win at Thunderbird and started chasing it from there. The wins and top five’s started to roll off more.” “We looked at the points a couple weeks before we left for Super Nationals and realized we just had to win those two track championships and get the bonus points,” he continued. “Everything just fell into place. I’m glad I was able to check [Read More]

VINTON, Iowa – Another 19 IMCA Modified drivers have put their names of the 2021 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot.  Matt Guillaume, champion of the Razor Chassis South Central Region and the KMJ Performance Oklahoma State king, is among the new candidates. He’s joined by fellow state champs Eric Barnes in Illinois; John Campos in Oregon; Chris Carter in Arkansas; Ty Clemens in Montana; Toby Herring in New Mexico; Corey Kortum in Idaho; Wade Lumsden in Nevada; Chris Mills in South Dakota; Max J. Quint in Colorado; James Roete in Florida; Jesse Rogotzke in Minnesota; Brad Smith in New York; Bart Taylor in Wyoming; Marcus Tomlinson in North Dakota; Jon White Jr. in Texas; and Jerry Wilinski in Wisconsin.  New All-Stars Cody Leonard won the Fall Classic at Heart O’ Texas Speedway while Tanner Black topped night two of the Turkey Classic at Cocopah Speedway.  Regional champions Chaz Baca in the Shaw Race Cars Western, Tom Berry Jr. in the Side Biter Chasss North Central, Jordan Grabouski in the Jet Racing Central and Mitchell Hunt [Read More]