News Archives

Feature wins are a bonus for top Hobby Stock rookie Mielke

NORFOLK, Neb. – IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock national and Big Daddy Race Cars Northern Region rookie of the year awards were the ultimate goals this season for Lance Mielke. The five feature wins he collected during the season in addition to those rookie honors were a bonus. Mielke, from Norfolk, Neb., followed in the tire tracks of older brother TeJay in earning national and regional rookie of the year awards (in 2014) and even did so in the same Big Daddy car. “We first thought about it at the end of last season,” said Mielke, who had totaled 16 feature wins in three Mach-1 Sport Compact campaigns. “It came back to mind at the beginning of this season and we dedicated everything to running for rookie of the year.” He got his first feature win in the class on May 25 at U.S. 30 Speedway, where he went on to finish second in the point race. “Going into the year, I thought I might get one or two wins. I never thought I’d get five, [Read More]

Fast finish keys Dees in Sport Compact rookie quest

WEATHERFORD, Texas – Coming from a drag racing family, Dakota Dees didn’t understand how going fast and turning left could be all that difficult. Now that he’s done it himself, he understands. The Mach-1 Sport Compact national rookie of the year won seven of his 30 starts and six of his last 10 outings, finishing third in points at 281 Speedway and at Boyd Raceway. Girlfriend and Allstar Performance Texas State champion Julia Childs was runner-up in the standings at both tracks. “I watched her do it and thought it was awesome. She got me hooked on it,” said Dees, from Weatherford. “Before I started racing, I couldn’t figure out how it could be so hard. When I started (in Julia’s original car) I couldn’t keep it on the track.” “I’m ecstatic about winning rookie points,” he added. “It’s the last thing I ever thought would happen.” Dees’ first win came on April 29 at 281. After rolling his car at Boyd on May 12 he was consistent but didn’t make his way to victory [Read More]

Goal accomplished: Buchanan is best in Southern SportMod rookie points race

KEMP, Texas – Nathan Buchanan started the 2017 season with the goal of winning Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center Southern SportMod rookie of the year honors. Goal accomplished. In his first full season of racing in any class, the Kemp, Texas, hotshoe followed an ambitious schedule that took him to eight different tracks. Fifteen of his 40 starts came at 85 Speedway, where Buchanan won his career-first feature on July 22. “I couldn’t believe it when they threw the checkers and pointed me to victory lane. Everything was really cool,” said Buchanan, fourth in the standings at 85 and 16th nationally. “I couldn’t believe it then. I still can’t.” Self-funded, Buchanan had raced a street stock a couple times in 2005. His father Ronnie had raced and he came into the year with a learn as you go approach that paid big dividends. “It was always my dream to race and I finally got the chance to do it. I learned a lot as we went. We started from scratch. I think I started with five ratchet [Read More]

Olmstead proves up to challenge in quest for Northern SportMod rookie of the year

OVERTON, Neb. – Jacob Olmstead proved up to the challenge in a second IMCA division this season. Olmstead earned national Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod rookie of the year honors, winning 10 of his 43 starts and the track title at Lexington Raceway. “We started strong, won a feature, wrecked a car and had some bad luck,” the Overton, Neb., driver summarized. “I got to run with guys I grew up watching and kept racing hard locally as many nights as we could.” Third in national point standings for the Hobby Stocks in 2015 – the year his brother Zach was the top rookie in that class – Olmstead ran an abbreviated 2016 season before selling his car and crewing full-time. “I wanted something different. I wanted a new challenge, so I bought the car that Tyler Frye had driven to the national championship and ran that a couple times after the point season,” he explained. “Our goal in 2017 was to run for national rookie. I wanted to get some seat time and experience so [Read More]

Harpole notches North Dakota first with IMCA Stock Car rookie of the year prizes

BISMARCK, N.D. – After putting on some miles during the final weekend of the point season, Eric Harpole could make plans on where to display IMCA Sunoco Stock Car national and EQ Cylinder Heads Northern Region rookie of the year awards. From Bismarck, Harpole became the first North Dakota driver to win either award, by a scant one point margin over Tommy Fose. He ran both nights at Beatrice Speedway’s Septemberfest, then loaded up the next morning to head for Quincy Raceway in Illinois. “I left Beatrice at 10 a.m. on Sunday and pulled into Quincy with just enough time to zip tie the car together,” he said. “We went out, hoped for the best and finished fourth.” Harpole had raced a Wissota street stock, which he said was similar to an IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock, for five years. Buddies Bob Fuegmann and Mike Swallers already raced in the Stock Car division and encouraged him to do so as well. “I wanted something more. The Stock Car is more of a race car. You can’t [Read More]

IMCA announces 2018 Late Model rules

VINTON, Iowa (Dec. 5) – The big news for IMCA Late Model drivers in 2018 is wider tires and wider wheels. IMCA will allow both beginning next season. Rules for the division were announced today (Tuesday). “Moving the maximum tire and wheel width rules to a maximum of 14 inches is a step toward industry standards,” said IMCA President Brett Root. “We feel we have the best engine rules and most stable Late Model division in the United States but narrower tire and wheel rules have somewhat hindered our growth.” Required tire for the division beginning in 2018 will be the WRS2 D55 Hoosier Late Model tire. “It’s a pretty big change for us,” acknowledged Root, “but we think it is better for the long-term direction of the division.” 2018 rules specifically state that air shocks will not be allowed, a move Root noted was consistent with other IMCA divisional rules. “Air shocks have proven to not be in the best interests of any IMCA divisions, dating back to the 1980s,” he stated. And the [Read More]

Duinkerken becomes first California driver to capture national RaceSaver Sprint rookie prize

RIVERDALE, Calif. – When you have a passion for racing, like Grant Duinkerken, even family vacations revolve around being at the dirt track. Loading up the trailer to race for two weeks in Texas this past summer, making many new friends at the track, including eventual national champion Marcus Thomas was just one highlight for Duinkerken, who had a national award of his own when the season was complete. The Riverdale High School senior, an honor student, with a 4.0 GPA, became the first California driver to win national IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car rookie of the year honors. He had 13 top five finishes on the season and was runner-up in Western RaceSaver Sprint Series standings. A veteran of two seasons in both micro sprint and outlaw kart classes, the 17-year-old speedster bought a used 2013 KPC Chassis and motor to begin his career in the class with. He tied George Tristao Jr. in the series points race but Tristao had a feature win to get the tie-breaking edge. “We wanted to get into the Sprint [Read More]

Carey proves time was right for move to Late Model division with top rookie award

NASHUA, Iowa – A veteran of the IMCA Modifed and IMCA Sunoco Stock Car divisions has national rookie of the year honors to show for his first IMCA Late Model campaign. Bryce Carey of Nashua, Iowa, was a regular at Marshalltown Speedway, Independence Motor Speedway and Benton County Speedway, while starting and ending his season with Deery Brothers Summer Series outings. “I had raced three years in a Stock Car and three years in a Modified. We had been competitive and I decided it was time to go to a Late Model,” he explained. “I think the Late Model is a premier division, one of the better classes you can be in in dirt track racing.” Carey bought a 2013 Wallybilt from Curt Martin, benefitting from the expertise of the former national and Deery champion, the chassis builder and house driver Ben Seemann. “When we struggled with setup, those guys helped us make the changes,” he said. “The biggest part of the learning curve was having the spoiler and the wider tires. Late Models seem [Read More]

Luellen lands IMCA Modified national, regional rookie awards

MINBURN, Iowa – Yes, said Clint Luellen, winning IMCA Modified national rookie and Side Biter Chassis North Central Region rookie of the year awards were goals for the 2017 season. But no, he admitted, he didn’t think much beyond that. “We set out trying to have the best season we could and learn from the best. We wanted to win regional and national rookie of the year,” he said. “We had a goal of six feature wins and one track championship. We were astonished by how we exceeded ourselves.” From Minburn, Iowa, Luellen won nine features and finished third in regional points and ninth nationally. He was the only driver in the division to win three track championships, topping standings at Buena Vista Raceway, Stuart Speedway and Shelby County Speedway. “I had raced a Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod weekly at Stuart and Harlan. We added Alta on Wednesdays because that would give us a couple days to work on the car if we needed it,” explained Luellen, also the Allstar Performance Iowa State champion. “We [Read More]

Soppe takes advice, earns IMCA natonal Northern SportMod crown

SHERRILL, Iowa – Advice from a driver who’s been there and won that helped Tyler Soppe in his quest for the IMCA Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod national championship. Soppe parlayed 25 feature wins and track titles at Farley Speedway and Maquoketa Speedway into the 2017 national title. “We knew it would be close because of bonus points but we had a pretty good idea we had the national championship wrapped up,” said Soppe, from Sherrill, Iowa, and a first-time Allstar Performance Iowa State champion as well. “It was nice to be able to call people and tell them we’d won it after we got the official notice from IMCA.” Driving a 14-year-old car purchased for $1,500 as recently as 2015, Soppe was the national runner-up last year. He ascended to the top spot in the standings in mid-July this season and took the crown ahead of defending champion Tony Olson and two-time king Matt Looft. “I had raced an outlaw super bomber, which is similar to an IMCA Stock Car, at Farley, Maquoketa and Dubuque. [Read More]