Weekly Archives

Heartland Park Topeka releases 2016 schedule

TOPEKA, Kan. – It was just a few weeks ago that Heartland Park Topeka officials named John and Larry Lowrey as co-promoters of the dirt track. This week the announcements keep coming for 2016. “We are very excited about getting back to racing at Heartland Park Topeka on the dirt track,” said Larry Lowrey, “Bringing IMCA into the mix is really going to jazz things up another notch.” The core of the 2016 season will revolve around the weekly race program. During the 2016 season the weekly program will consist of Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods and IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks. Sunday night will host each and every points race for the 2016 season. Pit gates will open at 4 p.m., spectator gates will follow at 4:30 p.m., hot laps begin at 5:30 p.m. and the first green flag race of the night will start promptly at 6 p.m. “A lot of people have asked us about what specials we are bringing in and that’s great,” said [Read More]

New promotional era begins at Skyline Raceway Park

CORTLAND, N.Y. – One era has ended and another begun at Skyline Raceway Park. Former track champion Dean Catlin and his wife Donna have purchased the facility from Frank and Audrey Payne, who had operated the 3/8-mile clay oval for 28 years. Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modifieds return to Saturday night programs beginning April 23. The IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing point season at Cortland runs through Turbo Blue championship night on Sept. 17. The former Skyline Raceway has been IMCA sanctioned longer than any other track in New York and will crown a Modified champion for the 20th consecutive season in 2016. “This division is a lot different than most of the other cars around here,” Catlin noted. “They run on those narrow Hoosier tires and there’s a lot of talent needed to hook them up. The guys who can do that are doing a whale of a job.” Catlin raced at Skyline the third week after the Paynes began promoting. He was a weekly regular there for 15 years and won the local pure [Read More]

IMCA veteran Munoz takes promotional reins at Lamar

LAMAR, Colo. – Angel Munoz has had his hands full doing more than getting his own car ready for the new season. He’s got an entire race track to run in 2016. A veteran of four IMCA divisions, Munoz is the new promoter at his hometown Lamar Speedway. It’s a role he never envisioned for himself but one he took on to help ensure the 1/3-mile clay venue stayed viable for a new generation of drivers. “Being a racer, there are times when you get upset at a promoter and think you could do it, too,” he said. “Between running my little trucking business, doing all the paperwork for IMCA and being in charge of the 2015 banquet, it’s been a little overwhelming.” “But I’ve been to tons and tons of tracks around the country. I’ve seen a lot of good and I’ve seen some bad,” Munoz added. “I want to bring the good back to Lamar.” Guardrail sections have already been straightened and support posts replaced. New grandstand seating and light poles will also [Read More]

IMCA Modifieds featured Friday’s at Tri-City Motor Speedway

AUBURN, Mich. – Tri-City Motor Speedway will have fans on the edge of their seat on action-filled Friday nights featuring Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modifieds beginning April 22. Every Friday night of the 2016 season is packed full of entertainment through the season finale in September.  TCMS has lined the upcoming schedule with many of the fan favorites such as Kids and Autograph Night, Figure 8 racing and the third annual Faster Pastor race. The Great Lakes Super Sprints will take to the track as will the new mini-wedge series for 6-14 year olds to gain skills on the Auburn clay. TCMS will host the popular free fireworks demo show sponsored by Wolverine Fireworks Display on Saturday, May 7. The three-part figure eight series will run on May 27, July 8 and the championship on Aug. 12. Kids get to meet their favorite drivers during two autograph sessions on June 17 and Aug. 19, get to test their racing skills on July 22 with the return of the Box Car Races. Season championships wrap up the [Read More]

Nodak Speedway looking to fill coordinator position

MINOT, N.D. – Nodak Race Club is looking for a full-time Marketing/Event Coordinator. Flexible schedule, but must work scheduled race days in the summer. Job Duties: Sell Advertising Packages, Answer the phone, Attend Weekly Board Meetings, Update Facebook, Coordinate NODAK Race Club events, Various weekly and race day duties. Base Salary with great bonus potential. Send resume to NODAK Race Club at P.O. Box 702, Minot, ND 58702 or nodakracing1@gmail.com. Resumes should be received by February 21, 2016.

Jackson Motorplex adds IMCA RaceSaver Sprints, Friday program to weekly plans for 2016 season

JACKSON, Minn. – Another IMCA sanctioned division running on another race night is part of the plans behind making Jackson Motorplex one of the premier facilities of its kind in the nation. IMCA Eagle Motorsports RaceSaver Sprint Cars will be part of a new Friday night program at Jackson in 2016. Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks, Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods and Mach-1 Sport Compacts all return to traditional Saturday shows. “We want this to be one of the premier tracks in the country,” explained General Manager Doug Johnson. “We’ve listened to racers, we’re looking at having different types of events here and we’re confident everyone will get the biggest bang for their buck.” The first regular IMCA sanctioned events were held on the ½-mile dirt oval at the former Jackson Speedway in 1988; traveling IMCA Sprint Cars made five appearances there for Jackpot Junction Tour events, most recently in 2009. “RaceSaver Sprint Cars are an affordable class for up-and-coming kids as well as adults,” said Johnson, a [Read More]

Anderson answers call from IMCA to become Late Model director

MOLINE, Ill. – A phone call from a former national champion got Randy Anderson started as a local track tech inspector four years ago. When IMCA called late this fall, Anderson agreed to become the sanctioning body’s new Late Model director. He’ll travel to tracks that sanction the division weekly beginning in 2016 while continuing to oversee tech inspection at all Deery Brothers Summer Series events. “Late Models are a premier division. I take a lot of pride in teching and enforcing the rules,” said Anderson, from Moline, Ill. “I see this position as an opportunity to be a solid voice for the class. I want to be able to help IMCA add sanctions and build car counts.” “IMCA sets the standard for Late Model rules. We want this division to be one that weekly Late Model drivers can afford,” he added. “Our rules package is very well equipped to allow them to be competitive.” Anderson had a brief racing career – three wrecks in as many starts in 1981 – before he became a [Read More]

Fast finish boosts Baldwin to IMCA Southern SportMod crown

AZTEC, N.M. – Winning the Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center Southern SportMod national championship was the goal Jesse Baldwin set at the start of the season. Halfway through the year, his goal became just figuring out why he wasn’t winning races any more. “We were plagued with all kinds of problems and it always seemed like they happened while we were leading,” said Baldwin, who won 13 of his first 20 starts before seeing a stretch of bad luck that started on July 4 stretch into August. “We put the car up on jack stands and rebuilt it.” Suggestions from a two-time IMCA Modified national champion went into that project. “Zane DeVilbiss gave me some advice on what changes to make,” Baldwin explained. “We practiced at Aztec Speedway, tried some different things and ended up changing our springs, shocks, setup and ride height, and my car got pretty good.” All those changes led to 11 feature wins – including six in a row to end the 2015 campaign – in Baldwin’s final 14 starts. He took the [Read More]

Abelson’s Modified trophy is new to IMCA national championship hardware collection

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Chris Abelson got to celebrate his birthday the way few other IMCA drivers have. The Sioux City, Iowa, driver blew out the 44 candles on his cake on the final day of the point season before getting the call congratulating him for winning the 2015 Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modified national championship. “I could sit back and relax. I was kind of glad the season was over,” admitted Abelson, also the winner of 32 features, three local track titles and a second straight Belleville Motorsports North Central Region crown. “After we got done racing (at September Fest in Beatrice) we came home and waited to hear something official.” That waiting process is something Abelson is already familiar with. He was the Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod national champion eight years ago and joins just a handful of drivers to have earned national crowns in more than one division. “I think the national championship just kind of happened in the Northern SportMod. It wasn’t something we were trying for,” Abelson said. “We were [Read More]

Luinenburg will take national IMCA Hobby Stock crown home to Minnesota

READING, Minn. – With a month to go in the 2015 point season, Justin Luinenburg sat down and penciled out that he still had a pretty good chance at winning the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock national championship. Those calculations proved correct. Luinenburg topped six features in his stretch run and became the first Minnesota driver to capture the title in the 25 years the division has crowned a national champion. “We had decided at the start of the year that we were going to run a lot, but we weren’t going to run for national points,” explained the Reading racer. “Things really didn’t start falling into place until the last seven or eight nights, then we raced much as we could.” “We got to where we needed three or four more wins to do it and fortunately they came for us,” he continued. “Finishing races was important and I can’t say enough about maintenance. Another thing that really helped us this year is that we ran a 2015 Terminator and as the season went [Read More]