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Junction Motor Speedway adding IMCA Late Models, Stock Cars to Saturday shows

McCOOL JUNCTION, Neb. – IMCA Late Models and IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars will be new to Saturday night programs this season at Junction Motor Speedway. They’ll become the fifth and sixth divisions, respectively, sanctioned by IMCA at McCool Junction.  Promoter Delmar Friesen noted he’d gotten positive input from drivers in both divisions about the possibility of sanctioning. IMCA Late Models last ran weekly in Nebraska in 2004.  “It’s great to have them back. We need to keep this division economical and we need to give driv­ers a place to race,” he said. “There has to be a sanctioning body to make sure the rules are the same at every track and now there is one.”  Opening weekend at the 3/8-mile dirt oval is March 22 and 23 with the Mike Chapin Memorial Spring Thaw. The IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing season championship night for all divisions other than the Late Models is Aug. 31 with the Barb Nunnenkamp Memorial McCool 100 on Sept. 27 and Sept. 28. IMCA Modified points earned at Junction figure toward [Read More]

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IMCA Stock Cars, Southern SportMods return to Longdale

LONGDALE, Okla. – Two IMCA divisions return this season to a familiar venue in the Sooner State. IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars and Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMods headline weekly race programs at Longdale Speedway. Shawn Brassfield, a longtime driver and former regional director for IMCA, takes over the general manager reins at the 3/8-mile clay oval owned by Jessie Hoskins.  “IMCA brings a level of professionalism to all its classes plus resources for the promoter,” ob­served Brassfield. “There are a number of drivers in both the Stock Car and Southern SportMod division in the area. Ultimately, we hope to bring Modified drivers in and sanction that division down the road.”  Opening night for both the Stock Cars and Southern SportMods at Longdale is Saturday, March 30. Nine point race dates are on the schedule for Stock Cars and 11 for the Southern SportMods. The IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing point season concludes on July 27.  “Jessie has built an amazing facility. It’s just beautiful,” Brassfield said. “I think it’s the nicest one in Oklahoma.”  Regular [Read More]

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Kruse nominated for RPM national promoter of the year award

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa – Another nomination for short track racing’s most prestigious award is great.  Toby Kruse appreciates the recognition from his peers just as much. The long-time promoter at Marshalltown Speedway has been named promoter of the year in Racing Promotion Monthly’s Great Plains Region for the second time. As such, he’s one of six nominees for the Auto Racing Promoter of the Year award, to be announced next month during the RPM workshops in Daytona Beach.  “It’s a good feeling to be nominated for this award. It’s a lot of work being a promoter,” said Kruse, also a regional winner for his efforts at Marshalltown in 2008 and twice as part of the promotional team at 141 Speedway in Francis Creek, Wis. “Other promoters know just how much work it is and to be nominated by them for this award is very heart warming.” Kruse will start the 14th year of a 20-year contract at Marshalltown this spring. The Friday night venue has been sanctioned by IMCA since 1984. “What we’ve been able to accomplish here is [Read More]

Results

Fast start key for three-time Deery champion Kay

WHEATLAND, Iowa – His fast start and a typically consistent string of top five finishes the rest of the way took Justin Kay to his career third Deery Brothers Summer Series championship. Kay opened the IMCA Late Model tour with victories at Cedar County Raceway, Maquoketa Speedway and Quad City Speedway. He collected half a dozen top five’s, clinching the title by starting the Sept. 21 finale at Davenport Speedway. “We got off to a really good start and just kept trying to do our best the rest of the way,” said the Wheatland, Iowa, driver, also champion of the 2014 and 2015 series. Also the winner of the last Deery event in 2017, he matched the series record of four straight victories shared by Gary Webb, Rob Toland and Brian Harris with the May 6 checkers at East Moline. “We had to pass a lot of cars that night. It didn’t look good for us at the beginning of the race but we kept at it and won.” said Kay, who had started 24th after [Read More]

Results

Coyne goes all out in successful race for Deery Series rookie of the year honors

ORION, Ill. – A couple good seasons in another class convinced Chad Coyne that 2018 was the right time to make the move to an IMCA Late Model. The Deery Brothers Summer Series rookie of the year award proved that decision to be correct.  The Orion, Ill., driver qualified for 10 of the 11 events he entered and finished 12th overall in point standings for the Late Model Tour. He experienced the highs of winning a heat race at Benton County Speedway to the lows of totaling his car at Fayette County Speedway during a learning 2018 season. “I had raced the ‘B’ modifieds, mod-lites and then outlaw street stocks before the Late Model,” said Coyne. “I had always told myself that someday I would drive a Late Model. We had two good years in a street stock before the right deal came along and I bought one. We decided to go all out this year and try to win Deery Series rookie of the year and we got it done.”  He lost a back-up motor [Read More]

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Second-year driver Duinkerken is first in Western RaceSaver Sprint Series points

RIVERDALE, Calif. – His national rookie of the year campaign in 2017 laid the foundation for Grant Duinkerken’s Western RaceSaver Sprint Series championship this year.  Duinkerken won six times and finished outside the top three in just two of 17 starts, earning Califor­nia State honors along with the IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car tour crown.  “After getting a full year of 305 races in, everything just worked out for me,” said Duinkerken, 18 years old and from Riverdale. “We had the setup right for the different tracks and had a little bit of luck with the draw during the season. I went into the year with more confidence and I think I did a better job driving.” His win in the series opener March 31 was also Duinkerken’s career first victory in the division. He won twice at Thunderbowl Raceway and once each at Bakersfield Speedway and Ocean Speed­way before wrapping up the series championship in the Sept. 22 finale at Santa Maria Race­way.  “That first win was amazing. It was the first race my girlfriend [Read More]

Results

Good program, good competition make Newlin Pennsylvania Sprint Series king

MILLERSTOWN, Pa. – Seven runner-up finishes paved the way for Zach Newlin’s first Pennsylvania Sprint Series championship in 2015.  An IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car career-best seven feature wins did the trick for him this year.  From Millerstown, Pa., Newlin registered 19 top five finishes in 26 PASS starts. He recorded three win at BAPS Motor Speedway and two each at Port Royal Speedway and Path Valley Speedway.  Third in the national point standings, he also collected another Pennsylvania State crown.  “I like all the tracks we run at. You can run a big half mile one night, then run a bullring the next,” Newlin said. “I’ve always been consistent at BAPS. We won twice this season at Port Royal, where I’d never won before, so that was special.”  “We’ve got a real good program going. We’re using both our experience and time in the shop to our advantage,” added the six-year veteran of the division. “We’ve got really good car counts in this series (better than 28 cars a night). We had the most wins [Read More]

Results

Shouse three-peats in Sprint Series of Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – A fast start and consistency throughout the season combined to make Andy Shouse champion of the Sprint Series of Oklahoma for the third consecutive year. Shouse collected top four finishes in the first four IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car tour events before winning at Red Dirt Raceway on April 27. His second series win came July 14 at Southern Oklahoma Speedway. “We’ve been at this a long time and usually have the car right,” said Shouse, from Oklahoma City, Okla., and IMCA’s national champion in 2016. “We have a lot of new drivers coming up – the Okla­homa area is one of the tougher RaceSaver areas – so any win is a good one.”  “The third (series) championship is just as good as the first one,” he added. “Winning a point champion­ship isn’t just being at every race. It’s a reward for consistency and we had a lot of good runs.”  Squaring off with familiar competition that included eventual race winner and 2018 national cham­pion Kevin Ramey, Shouse duked it out with [Read More]

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Spectator-turned-driver Harris is Virginia Sprint Series champion

ROCKINGHAM, Va. – Tony Harris attended his first Sprint Car race as a spectator. Now he’s attending banquets as a champion. Harris topped point standings for the Virginia Sprint Series this season, getting one win and eight top five finishes in 10 IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car starts. “I came close to winning it last year but came up a bit short,” said Harris, from Rockingham and also the Virginia State champion. “It’s a great feeling to have finally won this series. It kind of takes the load off. When you race you always have this concern that you could lose a race or a championship because of something that happens in a split second. It’s a neat feeling to win a series like this.” Harris and his brother Jerald – a three-time Virginia Sprint Series champion – were fans when they ran into French Grimes at a Sprint Car event some 20 years ago.  “We talked to French and decided to give Sprint Cars a try,” said Harris, who earned his sanc­tioned career 10th victory along [Read More]

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Zevenbergen excels during record-setting Dakota Tour IMCA Stock Car championship

OCHEYEDAN, Iowa – Elijah Zevenbergen added another trophy to his collection after his latest racing vacation to North Dakota and Canada. Zevenbergen won the Kupper Chevrolet Dakota Classic Tour for IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars for a record fourth straight time. His fifth career crown was also a record for the division.  “Those tracks just fit my driving style,” said Zevenbergen, from Ocheyedan, Iowa, and the winner this year of tour features at Nodak Speedway and Southwest Speedway. “They’re smooth and perfectly dry from top to bottom. It seems like those are the tracks where we excel.” A record 56 drivers from the U.S. and Canada competed in the Stock Car half of the Dakota Tour. Zevenbergen owns 17 tour victories during his career. He won 10 of 39 starts in all this year, taking the checkers at a number of the division’s top-paying events, among them Hometown Heroes at Kossuth County Speedway, Hancock County Speedway’s Hobo 100 and Arlington Raceway’s Schoknecht Shootout.  “We had a really good year last year,” said Zevenbergen, behind the wheel [Read More]