Results

HASLET, Texas – Winning his first-ever IMCA Modified start at 281 Speedway? Unexpected. Winning at Abilene Speedway ahead of Josh McGaha in the defending regional champion’s old car? Even more so. Mark Adams made the quick transition from an IMCA Sunoco Stock Car to earn Razor Chassis South Central Region rookie of the year honors, traveling to six different tracks over the course of 35 starts. “I wanted to do something different this season and Josh said he wanted to sell his old car,” said Adams, who’d raced to E3 Spark Plugs Texas State honors and 11th place in national Stock Car standings last year. “Everything is quicker in a Modified but I’ve enjoyed it and I’ll run the same car (a 2016 CAM Chassis) next year.” From Haslet, Texas, Adams won his first Modified start at 281 on Feb. 8, returned to victory lane at Stephenville in June and ended the season as track champion. “281 is close to home and a good place to get seat time,” Adams said. “I knew the car would [Read More]

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Dec. 16) – Bill Simpson, a pioneer and innovator in auto racing safety, died Monday in Indianapolis at the age of 79. The founder of both Simpson Racing Products and Impact Racing, the California native was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2003 in recognition of his many contributions to the sport.  A former driver himself, Simpson is credited with designing next generation helmets and other safety equipment, as well as the use of Nomex in the manufacture of fireproof racing suits.  “It’s difficult to overstate the impact Bill Simpson had on motorsports,” said IMCA President Brett Root. “He was truly a visionary who made racing safer for thousands of competitors, from Saturday night dirt tracks to the super speedways.” 

DAVID CITY, Neb. – Wanting to be the best, Austin Svoboda raced against the best much of the season and was rewarded for his efforts with rookie of the year honors in IMCA’s Jet Racing Central Region for Modifieds. The David City, Neb., driver enjoyed a successful Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod career before making 44 starts in his freshman Modified campaign. He ran with national champion Jordan Grabouski on 27 of those nights and with regional runner-up Anthony Roth on 30 occasions. “I felt like I had accomplished everything I wanted to in a SportMod and that I was good enough to race a Modified. To race side-by-side with guys like Grabouski and Roth was awesome,” he said. “I want to be the best so I wanted to race the best. It’s harder to win but it makes you better. It’s what makes a fourth or fifth place finish feel like a win.” The son of Modified and Late Model veteran Tom Svoboda, he’d won seven Northern SportMod features each of the last two years, [Read More]

BOONE, Iowa – Jake McBirnie traveled to the sunny Southwest in February, looking forward to warm weather, having fun and doing a little racing. He did all that and then some, kicking off a successful 2019 Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod campaign with the Arizona Tour title. “Having success down there was great,” said McBirnie, who won three of the seven tour features. “The car was super fast.” Those checkers came at Arizona Speedway, Central Arizona Speedway and in the finale at USA Raceway. McBirnie tied with Brady Bjella in the points race and got the title nod on the basis of those three victories. “Our first win was on the second night of the tour. We changed stuff around and got better, and made a last-lap pass for the win,” he said. “The win at Casa Grande was big, then the next night we got caught up in a wreck at Canyon and still ended up sixth. We won the last race at Tucson and won the tour.” He’d return home to win hometown Boone [Read More]

SALADO, Texas – Trevor Egbert was every bit as fast on the road as he was at his home track. The Salado, Texas driver picked up a pair of victories on his way to winning the Red River Tour for Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMods and traveled to Cardinal Speedway in July to top the main event at the Kelly Sheen Memorial. And six of his 10 feature wins this season came at Cotton Bowl Speedway, where he earned a career-first track title. “We had a good year racing,” summarized Egbert. “The tour was just the right number of races. And we had some luck early on. It was fun and I look forward to following it again next year.” He’d raced previously at all five tracks on the tour and won features at 281 Speedway and Southern Oklahoma Speedway. Familiarity was not an asset, however, when he traveled to Cardinal. “I’d never been to that track before,” said Egbert, who quickly became a fan of the Eunice oval. “It was a tight little oval [Read More]

BLOOMFIELD, N.M. – Rex Higgins first saw Karl Kustoms Northern SportMods in action at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. Impressed, the long-time and highly successful IMCA Sunoco Stock Car driver promised himself he’d give the division a try if it ever migrated to his home state of New Mexico. Fast forward to 2019: The now fifth-year Northern SportMod driver from Bloomfield won once and finished in the top five in another seven events in earning the championship of the division’s inaugural Wild West Tour. “We decided to follow the series shortly after the schedule was announced in January. We decided we wanted to do something different,” Higgins explained. “Following the tour was exciting. We got to travel and race at a lot of different tracks.” The tour’s nine events saw as many different winners. Higgins topped the second show in early May at home track Aztec Speedway before traveling to Diamond Mountain Speedway in Utah, Winnemucca Re­gional Raceway and Battle Mountain Raceway in Nevada, Sweetwater Speedway in Wyoming and Idaho Falls [Read More]