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Aikey adds to IMCA Super Nationals legacy with Modified championship

BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 8) – A driver who’s made plenty of history at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s made even more Saturday night. Jeff Aikey, a six-time Late Model champion at America’s Racin’ Vacation, started on the pole and led all 40 laps of the Modified main event at Boone Speedway. He’s the fourth driver to win Super Nationals crowns in multiple divisions and just the second to earn Late Model and Modified titles, joining Kevin Pittman in that accomplishment. His total of seven championships is a Super Nationals record. Only two cautions came out over the course of the 40-lapper and Aikey pulled away after restarts on the second and eighth circuits. Ryan Ruter ran second much of the distance before giving way to Cayden Carter with four laps left. Six lapped cars separated Aikey and Carter at the checkers. Ethan Dotson started 13th and completed the top four. “My car was extremely good, probably the best it’s been hooked up all year,” Aikey said. “When I came down here [Read More]

Veronica Anderson

While drivers are living out their dreams on the track at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s, Veronica Anderson is living out her dream in tech. The 19-year-old daughter of Late Model Director Randy Anderson has worked full-time as part of Executive Director of Competition Dave Brenn’s crew at Boone Speedway this week, doing everything from checking safety gear, carburetors, and ignition boxes to pulling mud plugs. “I’d love to do this every year,” said Anderson, a graduate of the Universal Technical Institute and most recently the Mercedes Benz program in Long Beach, Calif. “It’s fun and I get to learn a lot. It’s one thing to sit in the stands but to get hands-on experience is definitely better.” Anderson learned the tech inspection ropes from her father and more than a few dinnertime conversations have been spent discussing the finer points of the job. She’ll go home on Sunday, get moved to Chicago on Monday and then start a job with Mercedes Benz on Tuesday. Anderson hopes to start her own [Read More]

Friday Stock Car qualifiers go to Strickler, Wagner

BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 7) – Kyle Strickler and Shawn Wagner were Friday Stock Car qualifying feature winners Friday at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. Strickler, twice a Super Nationals Modified champion, made his first start in the division in a loaner from Elijah Zevenbergen. Second across the stripe in the opening qualifier, he was moved up to the top spot when Wayne Gifford was disqualified in post-race tech for an engine component infraction. The first driver from North Carolina to make the stock car dance, Strickler was scored ahead of Todd Reitzler, 2003 and 2004 champion Randy Brands, and 2007 champion Kevin Opheim. Wagner led all 25 laps of the second qualifier, outdistancing the 16th starting Huls following a long green flag run. Troy Jerovetz was third and Smith, the 2014 champion and last year’s runner-up, was fourth after Mitch Ross was disqualified for a steering component violation. The top four from each race advance to the outside row of Saturday’s main event grid. Brands will make his career eighth start, [Read More]

Friday qualifiers send drivers from six states to outside row of Modified main event

BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 7) – A parade of states raced its way into the main event in Friday night Modified qualifying features at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. Drew Armstrong, Kyle Brown, Peyton Taylor and Grey Ferrando made up the top four finishers in the first qualifier at Boone Speedway while Jason Wolla, Nick Roberts, Anthony Roth and Tyler Sutton advanced from the nightcap. Those drivers will line up on the outside row and represent Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota and Oregon. Ferrando, from Stayton, becomes the first Oregon driver to make the Saturday show. Taylor, then the eighth starting Armstrong led the opener. Brown took over second following a lap 22 restart while Ferrando secured his place in Super Nationals history by holding off Justin O’Brien in a frenetic final circuit. Wolla ran second the last 21 times around the oval and was promoted to the top spot when Richie Gustin was disqualified in post-race tech for a valve train infraction. Roberts was the Northern SportMod champion at Super [Read More]

Marriott adds Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational to resume of IMCA Modified wins

BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 7) – A driver with an IMCA Modified resume already filled with big wins raced to his biggest Friday night at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. Hunter Marriott topped the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational, leading the last six laps en route to a $1,150 payday. He’d reeled in race-long leader Joel Rust, who saw an otherwise stellar run end with late contact with a lapped car. “We’ve had a lot of big wins but this is the biggest one,” Marriott said from victory lane at Boone Speedway. “It was a slick track and that fits my driving style.” Richie Gustin, Kelly Shryock, Ethan Dotson and Chris Abelson completed the top five. Cayden Carter started last in the field of 30 and finished seventh. Rust set a blazing pace from the onset, leading Dotson by half a straightaway before the first caution of the contest came out on the seventh of 30 laps. Marriott moved into second on the ensuing restart and the front pair pulled away from the [Read More]

Chaz Baca

You’ll be seeing a lot of Chaz Baca this weekend at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. The IMCA Modified driver from Mesa, Ariz., made the trip to Boone Speedway knowing he’d start the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational. On Thursday, he qualified for the Harris Auto Racing Race of Champions, then made the starting grid for Saturday’s main event by running fourth in his qualifying feature. “I never doubted something like this could happen. I just didn’t think it would happen our first time here,” said Baca, 21. “There was probably a little bit of luck involved but everything worked out for us.” After running second to Scott Hogan in the RoC heat, Baca mixed it up with 29 other heavy hitters in Thursday’s second qualifier. He chased Clint Luellen most of the way before finishing fourth behind Luellen, Cayden Carter and 2010 champion Jimmy Gustin. “We’re going to go out there, race the best we can and see what we can get (in these three races),” he said. “It’s going to [Read More]

Vanover, Spaw check out on Stock Car foes

BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 6) – Kyle Vanover and Johnny Spaw both made sure the race was for second Thursday at Boone Speedway. Vanover led all 25 laps in winning the first IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s Stock Car qualifying feature and Spaw more than matched that impressive run in the second. The top four drivers in each feature advance to the middle row of Saturday’s main event. Twelfth starting Jeff Tubbs, 15th starting Jeff Mueller and 16th starting Jason See chased Vanover to the checkers. Luke Lemmens, 2010 champion Jeremy Christians and two-time champion Donavon Smith were scored behind Spaw. Hunter Marriott, Bryan Rigsby and Justin Nehring were disqualified in post-race tech for rev limiter, compression and failed rear suspension, respectively. Tubbs settled in behind Vanover following the first of two cautions just after midway; Mueller and See made their way into the top four with five laps left. Spaw was the master of traffic as the nightcap stayed green the final 20 circuits. Lemmens ran second following the lap five restart [Read More]

Luellen, Marriott motor to Modified qualifying feature wins

BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 6) – Clint Luellen led every lap while Hunter Marriott needed most of his feature in winning IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s Modified qualifiers Thursday night. Luellen, the 2015 Northern SportMod champion, had the field covered from the get-go in the opener at Boone Speedway. Cautions at midway – that yellow took Oregon contender Collen Winebarger, piloting one of the fastest cars on the track, out of contention – and again on lap 20 erased Luellen’s sizable leads but he pulled away after both restarts. Cayden Carter started 25th and passed 2010 champion Jimmy Gustin with four to go and finished second; the 17th starting Gustin and Chaz Baca, who headed the pursuit of Luellen much of the way, completed the top four. Marriott worked his way toward the front from 15th starting in the nightcap. Into the top four by lap nine, he finally caught Tanner Black for the front spot with four laps left. Black beat 11th starting Justin Auringer to the stripe by all of four [Read More]

Ruter, Aikey ace Modified qualifiers at Super Nationals

BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 6) – A Modified veteran and a driver who made a name for himself in another division won rescheduled qualifying features Thursday at Boone Speedway. Ryan Ruter caught Ethan Dotson eight laps in and led to the end of the first IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s qualifier while Jeff Aikey, the winner of a record six Super Nationals championships and a 20-time qualifier for the Late Model main event at Boone, led all but the opening circuit of the 25-lap nightcap. A game of Rochambeau will determine which of the two starts on the pole in Saturday’s Modified big dance. Josh Long, Dotson and 27th starting Cody Laney chased Ruter to the checkers. Riley Simmons, Jay Noteboom and Mitchell Hunt were scored behind Aikey. The top four from each qualifier advance to the inside row Saturday. Ruter was pulling away from the rest of the pack before a lap 16 caution; Long passed Dotson for second following a lap 21 restart. Aikey was also comfortably in front before a [Read More]

What’s already been a pretty good season for Mitchell Hunt got even better early Thursday afternoon.

Hunt ran fourth in the second of two rescheduled Modified qualifying features to earn his career-first start in the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s main event. “This is pretty much what I’ve dreamed about since I was little,” said Hunt, 19 years old, from Greenville, Mich., and grandson of 1998 Super Nationals qualifier Jerry Pace. “Our season has already been phenomenal. This is amazing.” A regular at I-96 Speedway and Crystal Motor Speedway, Hunt made his first trip to Super Nationals four years ago to race in the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational. His morning started with a heat race win and ended with Hunt chasing Jeff Aikey, Riley Simmons and Jay Noteboom across the finish line. “I tried to keep my nose clean and stay close to the bottom. Right around the tires was where I was at,” he said. “If you can keep up with Jay Noteboom, you’re doing good.”