Newswire

Thanksgiving Thunder Set for Nov. 22 at Smoky Mountain Speedway; $1,200 Awaits Mod Lite Winner

By Ben Deatherage MARYVILLE, Tenn. (Nov. 10, 2025) — The Tennessee Mod Lite Racing Association is set to light up the foothills of the Smokies as Thanksgiving Thunder returns to Smoky Mountain Speedway on Saturday, Nov. 22. This can’t-miss event in the scenic Smoky Mountains of eastern Tennessee will showcase the Stealth Racing IMCA STARS Mod Lites, competing for $1,200 to win on one of the South’s premier clay ovals. The weekend opens with a Friday night practice on Nov. 21 from 6:00–9:00 p.m. Pit passes are $20, offering teams valuable track time before race day. Saturday’s main event schedule features pit gates opening at 9:00 a.m., grandstands at 10:00 a.m., a drivers’ meeting at noon, and hot laps at 12:30 p.m., followed by a full program of high-speed Mod Lite competition. Grandstand admission is $20 for adults and $5 for kids 11 and under, while pit passes are $35 on race day. Adding to the prestige of the second annual event, the winning chassis will receive exclusive post-race recognition through a dedicated IMCA media spotlight [Read More]

Hibdon Goes Back-to-Back with The Showdown Modified Triumph at Central Arizona Raceway

By Ben Deatherage CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (Nov. 9, 2025) — Kollin Hibdon capped off The Showdown tripleheader weekend in style, leading every lap of Sunday’s Friesen Performance IMCA Modified main event at Central Arizona Raceway to win the finale for the second consecutive year. The Pahrump, Nev., native—now residing in Waterloo, Iowa—pocketed $3,000 for the 30-lap victory and became the first driver in event history to repeat as champion. The win also earned Hibdon a spot on the eligibility list for the 2026 Fast Shafts All-Star Modified Invitational at Boone Speedway during the Speedway Motors IMCA Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. Hibdon, the 2025 Marshalltown Speedway track champion and winner of the Ernie Mincy Memorial Early Thaw Series at the same track earlier this year, started outside the front row and grabbed the lead immediately. Despite several cautions slowing the pace, he never faltered, mastering each restart and steadily pulling away from his challengers. Wisconsin’s 2024 state champion Cole Czarneski stayed closest in pursuit, coming home second after winning Saturday’s preliminary feature, while Friday night’s victor, Austin [Read More]

Avila Outduels Carter in SportMods at Marshalltown’s Harvest Hustle

By Kaden Krebs MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (Oct. 25, 2025) — The Karl Chevrolet IMCA Northern SportMods produced another exciting showdown at the Fast Shafts Harvest Hustle on a seasonally chilly night at Marshalltown Speedway, highlighted by an early restart that changed everything. Matt Avila used the high side perfectly to surge around National champion Brayton Carter and take command of the race. Despite a late caution tightening the field, Avila stayed smooth and steady to the finish. Carter finished runner-up, followed by Brayden Shepherd, Dylan VanWyk, and Cam Reimers. Rookie Butt Steals Show in Hobby Stocks The Sunoco IMCA Hobby Stocks delivered the most dramatic finish of the night, where a packed grandstand braved the cool air to see a first-time winner steal the spotlight. Veteran Bradley Graham, no stranger to leading laps on the High Banks, paced the early circuits until 14-year-old rookie Carson Butt mounted a stunning late-race charge. Butt slipped past Graham in the closing laps to capture a thrilling, crowd-pleasing victory — a breakout moment to close his rookie campaign. Graham settled for [Read More]

Fulton Nets $3,016 Payday with First IMCA Modified Win at Thunder Mountain

By Michael Benjamin CENTER ISLE, N.Y. (Nov. 1, 2025) — The Close Racing Supply NY-Penn IMCA Modified Series presented by Insinger Performance wrapped up its season Saturday night at Thunder Mountain Speedway, where 27 Friesen Performance IMCA Modified competitors converged for the richest event in the tour’s five-year history. The Ed and Jan Billings Classic headlined the evening, paying $3,016 to the winner and promising a dramatic conclusion to the 2025 campaign. When the green flag flew on the 26-car feature, Charlie Fulton wasted no time jumping out to an early lead. Keith Lamphere, however, quickly found his rhythm and powered past Fulton on lap 10. His time out front was short-lived, as Fulton came charging back just two laps later, finding speed on the high side to reclaim the top spot. From there, Fulton hit his marks perfectly and never looked back, cruising to his first-ever NY-Penn Series victory in commanding fashion. Lamphere crossed the line second, securing the 2025 series championship in the process, while Brad Sites, Tyler Belcher, and Randall Paxton rounded out the [Read More]

Allstar Performance to Reward 2025 IMCA Heat Race Standouts; Submissions Due Nov. 18

VINTON, Iowa (Nov. 4, 2025) — IMCA drivers who piled up heat race wins this season can cash in with Allstar Performance gift cards — but they must submit proof by Nov. 18. Any driver who wins more than 10 heat races in 2025 is eligible for a $100 Allstar Performance gift card. The single driver with the most heat-race wins nationwide will receive a $250 Allstar Performance gift card. Gift cards will be presented during the IMCA National Banquet on Nov. 29. To be eligible, drivers must email a photo of their car showing the official heat-win decal in place, as distributed by tracks, to IMCA Marketing Integration & Sponsorship Director Carson Becker-Gramm at cbgramm@imca.com. Photos must be received no later than Nov. 18.

A First for California as Reuter Sails to IMCA Hobby Stock Rookie Title in Southern Region

By Bill Martin CHULA VISTA, Calif. (Oct. 31, 2025) — An early January suggestion became reality in late September as Kevin Reuter sailed to rookie of the year honors in the B & B Racing Chassis Southern Region for Sunoco IMCA Hobby Stocks. He’d raced the first four nights of the IMCA TV Winter Nationals at Casa Grande’s Central Arizona Raceway, planning “a hit or miss kind of season” and racing when and where he could, all depending on when he’d be at sea as a U.S. Navy aviation ordinance man, loading and arming bombs, missiles, rockets and small caliber weaponry on jets that fly off aircraft carriers homeported in San Diego. Those deployments can last six to eight months and despite the uncertainty, Reuter agreed to make the rookie chase when friend and fellow Hobby Stock driver Scott Tenney suggested it. From Chula Vista and the first California driver to earn the Southern Region rookie title, he collected six top five finishes in 25 starts, racing at one track, Barona Speedway, in his home [Read More]

Lagroon Has All The Right Answers to Modified Questions in IMCA Central Region Rookie Quest

By Bill Martin SALINA, Kan. (Oct. 31, 2025) — There was never a question that Cale Lagroon would race a Friesen Performance IMCA Modified. The 16-year-old from Salina, son of long-time hotshoe Corey Lagroon, needed just a single season to prove his own skills in the sanctioning body’s premier division, motoring to both Rookie of the Year and runner-up honors in the Jet Racing Central Region. The Kansas State champion was second in the points race at hometown track Salina Speedway, where he made half of his 30 2025 starts. Lagroon had one win and another 15 top five finishes to show for those outings. “I always looked up to dad, watching him race while I was growing up,” he said. “Racing a Modified has pretty much been the plan my whole life.” “We didn’t plan to run the Modified that much this year, because I also race a micro sprint and we were going to split it up more,” added Lagroon, who turns most of his laps in that class in Oklahoma, Missouri and [Read More]

Michigan’s Kay Merits Rookie Honors in IMCA’s Eastern Region for Modifieds

By Bill Martin MERRITT, Mich. (Oct. 31, 2025) — Tylor Kay started his first Friesen Performance IMCA Modified season with two goals. First, win rookie of the year in the Devilbiss Racing Eastern Region. Second, run against the big names to do it. The Merritt, Mich., speedster made good on both objectives, edging Fred Dow Jr. by just five points, the smallest margin to decide any regional rookie race in 2025. “Winning rookie of the year was our goal from before the season even started. We wanted to try to go after it,” said Kay, who counted seven top five finishes in 33 starts. “We’re proud that we were able to achieve that, and that we were able to do it running against a lot of really tough guys every week.” Runner-up to Cody Goodwin at Mt. Pleasant Speedway, he was sixth in points at home track Merritt Speedway and in Michigan State standings, and eighth in the regional title chase. An occasional visitor to Crystal Motor Speedway, Kay had all of three partial seasons [Read More]

Plans Made in 2024 Become Reality in 2025 as Gaston Rules Southern SportMod Rookie Race

By Bill Martin WEATHERFORD, Texas (Oct. 31, 2025) — The planning for Christian Gaston’s 2025 rookie of the year run started early the season before. Younger brother Cameron topped point standings for first-year Smiley’s Racing Products IMCA Southern SportMod drivers in 2024. As was their goal, Christian made it two straight rookie crowns for Team Gaston this season, besting fellow Texan Colton Birmingham in a title chase that went all the way into September. “It would have been hard, my brother and I both racing for rookie the same season,” said Gaston, 23 years old and from Weatherford. “We had been just racing and having fun. Our grandfather Langston Layne is from the dirt track racing world and knew how this rookie of the year thing worked. He helped us set it in motion. Camo would run for it in 2024 and I’d run for it this year, it all worked out and we won back-to-back titles.” The Oklahoma State champion and eighth nationally, Gaston was runner-up to his brother at Southern Oklahoma Speedway. He [Read More]

Veloz Masters IMCA Late Models in Near Perfect Run to National Rookie Award

By Bill Martin COLONA, Ill. (Oct. 31, 2025) — Logan Veloz acquired the nickname The Master when he was little because even back then his family joked that when it came to anything racing, he wanted to have everything perfect. The now 21-year-old from Colona, Ill., a third-generation driver, came close to perfection this season in earning Sunoco IMCA Late Model rookie of the year honors. “When I was a kid watching racing on TV, I didn’t watch and cheer for one driver, I cheered for whoever raced the best, like whoever hit their marks, and my mom Carolyn gave me that nickname,” said Veloz. “So, whenever I raced myself, whether it was go karts or big cars, I tried to be the most perfect I could, like I was trying to master something.” Coming off a Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod career best 21-win season in 2024, when he’d finished fourth in the national points chase, Veloz was quick to prove his mastery in the new class. He won his first feature in just his third night [Read More]