Modified News

OAKLEY, Calif. (Nov. 30, 2023) – Andrew Pearce graduated to a Friesen Performance IMCA Modified in January, months before picking up his diploma from Independence High School. He’d pass all his tests in the new division, winning five features and rookie of the year honors in IMCA’s Shaw Race Cars Western Region. Pearce would travel to 17 different tracks, making 50 of his 52 starts at 15 different speed plants in his home region while earned Merced Speedway and California state crowns. “We didn’t have any goals when we started the season at Cocopah’s IMCA.TV Winter Nationals. We just wanted to learn and be competitive. We had some sponsors step up so we were able to do that,” said Pearce, 18 years old and from Oakley, Calif. “We just felt it was time to move up from a Northern SportMod and it was quite a confidence booster to be able to be consistent and start racing for wins.” Modified career win number one came on May 12 at Ocean Speedway. Pearce collected four checkers at [Read More]

CABOT, Ark. (Nov. 30, 2023) – The Friesen Performance IMCA Modified division proved to be tailor-made for Garrett Taylor. The Cabot, Ark., driver started his racing career in the class this season, racing weekly with the Saturday night stars at Batesville Motor Speedway and earning the Jet Racing Central Region rookie of the year award. “I’ve been going to races since I was learning to walk,” said Taylor, now 20 years old and an apprentice electrician by trade. “My dad Stacy raced a late model. We were looking at getting a race car and decided this class would suit us, so I jumped right into an IMCA Modified.” He got in three races last fall and returned to the track this spring in a 2019 GRT by Cadillac Chassis purchased out of Denver. “I really enjoyed the competition at Batesville. I got to race against some of the best Modified drivers in IMCA on a weekly basis,” Taylor said, “and I got to learn by watching them.” He’d log 16 IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing [Read More]

BOYDEN, Iowa (Nov. 30, 2023) – Dyllan Ricks’ goals at the start of the season were straight forward enough: Get as much experience racing and at as many different tracks as possible. He succeed at both, crisscrossing the Razor Chassis North Central Region for five feature wins and rookie of the year honors, and making 58 weekly starts at 18 different speed plants in all during his first Friesen Performance IMCA Modified campaign. “More seat time makes you a better driver,” reasoned Ricks, who made the move up after two seasons in a Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod. “This was the most nights we’d run in a season and it was a lot, but we got to race at a lot of different tracks and on a lot of different surfaces.” Nineteen years old and from Boyden, Iowa, Ricks traveled to Cocopah Speedway and Central Arizona Raceway, then to Abilene Speedway to start the year. He snuck in a visit to Nebraska’s Beatrice Speedway before getting his career first win in the class April 23 [Read More]

WEST BRANCH, Mich. (Nov. 30, 2023) – Chase Rosebrugh started his first Friesen Performance IMCA Modified season with a Florida vacation. The third generation driver from West Branch, Mich., ended it as rookie of the year in the DeVilbiss Racing Eastern Region. “We had so much fun in this class, and one of the reasons was because we were able to travel and go to different tracks,” said Rosebrugh, son of long-time IMCA Modified driver Todd Rosebrugh and a teammate of Collin Thirlby and Brian Brindley. “We saw the Clash on the Coast series that Taylor (Peyton) was putting on and wanted to get our mid-winter racing fix.” “We didn’t necessarily go to Florida to race for points,” he continued, “but we were able to race four nights in some very tough fields. There were some very good fields there.” That late February, early March competition had Rosebrugh ready when tracks opened closer to home. He was a winner in just his third home state start, on May 20 at Merritt Speedway, and would total [Read More]

VINTON, Iowa (Nov. 29, 2023) – Chevrolet Performance bonuses added up to a record $54,750 for IMCA drivers who won one or more track championships while competing exclusively with crate engines this season. Friesen Performance IMCA Modified, IMCA Sunoco Late Model, IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock, Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod and Smiley’s Racing Products IMCA Southern SportMod drivers who indicated on their 2023 license application they would run a crate engine receive $250 checks for each of a total of 219 track championships. “Those numbers are impressive,” observed IMCA Marketing Integration and Sponsorship Director Carson Becker-Gramm,” but what really stands out is that since the introduction of the original track championship bonus program in 2005, Chevrolet Performance has now paid over half a million dollars to IMCA drivers competing with crate engines and winning track titles.” “This program is a great way that Chevrolet Performance is able to support drivers across the country.” Modified drivers receiving bonuses for winning one or more track championships, with multiple track titles indicated in parenthesis, while competing with a crate [Read More]

VINTON, Iowa (Nov. 28, 2023) – IMCA drivers won’t have to wait ‘til Christmas morning to open envelopes containing IMCA.TV bonus checks. A total of 705 drivers in the nine divisions sanctioned by IMCA earned shares $97,645 generated by replays of weekly and special events at 57 tracks broadcast by IMCA.TV or its affiliates. Modified, Late Model, RaceSaver Sprint Car and Stock Car drivers finishing in the top three in point standings at those tracks receive checks for $240, $160 and $135; Northern SportMod and Southern SportMod checks are distributed in the amounts of $140, $115 and $100, and Hobby Stock, STARS Mod Lite and Sport Compact checks are in the amounts of $115, $85 and $70. Those checks are being mailed this week from the IMCA home office. “This bonus program is the first of its kind and was developed by our streaming platform provider Riivet in 2021,” explained IMCA President Brett Root. “A percentage of subscription fees paid by replay viewers is paid to tracks and to top three drivers in sanctioned divisions.” “Almost $28,000 was paid to nearly [Read More]

WEATHERFORD, Texas (Nov. 15, 2023) – In the fall of 2021, Kaleb Emerson credited the quality of competition he ran against weekly in helping win Smiley’s Racing Products IMCA Southern SportMod national rookie of the year honors. It was more of that good competition, plus fatherly advice and patience that took the Weatherford, Texas, teen to national and GRT Race Cars South Central Region rookie awards for Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds this season. “Unloading the car and racing against guys like Matthew Day and William Gould so many nights definitely made us better. Everything I accomplished this year I had to earn,” Emerson said. “And it helped a lot to have my dad (Jeff, also his crew chief and fellow driver) racing with me. I can ask him almost anything because he’s been to so many different tracks and definitely knew how to help me with setup.” The patience part, however, had to be learned. Emerson needed 20 starts over the first three months of the season before getting his first win, on June 2 [Read More]

MAIZE, Kan. (Nov. 15, 2023) – A DNF on opening night of Salina Speedway’s Mid-America Clash had Jake Nightingale thinking seriously about loading up the trailer and ending his season early. He changed his mind and stuck around, winning the night two show and ultimately the Jet Racing Central Region championship. Those Sept. 23 Friesen Performance checkers were Nightingale’s fifth of 2023 and gave him the edge in the race with Anthony Roth for his career first regional crown. “It’s pretty incredible, to say the least,” said Nightingale, who’d previously gone 1,351 days between wins while moving up in classes and before starting his IMCA career four years ago. “Racing was a dream of mine since I was little. Now It’s almost hard to believe, to go from not winning for so long to winning one of five regions.” “I can’t wait to chase the national title. I’m a little bit excited if you can’t tell.” The Dodge City Raceway Park track and Kansas State champion was an RC racer in junior high and started [Read More]

STANTON, Mich. (Nov. 14, 2023) – A winner every season he’s raced a Friesen Performance IMCA Modified, Myron DeYoung continued one streak and started another in 2023. DeYoung won 14 features this season, his record-tying 29th straight with at least one weekly sanctioned victory. Those checkers and consistent top-five finishes helped the Stanton, Mich., driver earn his career-first DeVilbiss Racing Eastern Region championship. “It feels really good. We tried really hard for the region in 1996 or 1997, wrecked a couple cars, didn’t finish the season and really haven’t run for it since,” said DeYoung, at 51 the oldest Modified driver to win their first regional title. “I’m glad we stuck with it and glad we won it.” “A regional championship is something, for sure, You don’t realize how special it is until you’ve done it,” he continued. “And now that we’ve won the region once, maybe we can do it again next year.” Now 27th on the all-time divisional list with 143 wins, DeYoung won both the Crystal Motor Speedway track and Michigan State titles for [Read More]

FREEPORT, Ill. (Nov. 13, 2023) – A season that started out with the goal of focusing on special events turned out special in a couple different ways for Jeff Larson. Larson counted his career 100th Friesen Performance IMCA Modified feature win among 15 checkered flag runs while racing to another Razor Chassis North Central Region championship. “At the beginning of the year, we really didn’t have any plans to do a lot of weekly racing. We were just going to race specials,” explained Larson, from Freeport, Ill., and wheelman for the Tim Current Rage Chassis-equipped team. “There were a lot of rainouts early and after about a month we saw that we could still race for the region and maybe a top three finish nationally.” Both belated goals became reality as Larson earned regional honors, along with Maquoketa Speedway and East Moline Speedway track and Illinois state titles. He was third in final national standings, behind Chaz Baca and Matthew Day. “Chaz had a good year and won a lot of races, so hats off to [Read More]

FARMERSVILLE, Texas (Nov. 10, 2023) – The question at the end of each of the last three seasons has been what will Matthew Day do for an encore? The answer to that question this year was win the GRT Race Cars South Central Region title. Day, just 20 years old and from Farmersville, Texas, motored to 19 feature wins and a runner-up finish in national standings for Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds in addition to that career-first regional prize. His 2023 accolades also included Boyd Raceway and Southern Oklahoma Speedway track, All Star Shootout series and Oklahoma State crowns. “We didn’t plan to run for points at all. Everything just came together for us,” said Day, now a second-year structural engineering student at the University of Texas at Arlington. “We just ran where we wanted from the get-go and saw we were doing good running two nights a week before deciding to focus on points.” In a new-to-him 2022 Longhorn Chassis by Loenbro, Day recorded six wins in his first 26 starts and 13 checkers in [Read More]

VAN BUREN, Ark. (Nov. 8, 2023) – Schoenfeld Headers puts the wraps on its 25th sponsorship season with new awards for even more IMCA drivers. The Van Buren, Ark., manufacturer, a long-time sponsor of IMCA special events, gives more than $5,000 in product certificates, redeemable for a new set of headers, to top 10 finishers in national standings for the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks and to national champions in seven other IMCA divisions. Top 10 Hobby Stock recipients of $260 certificates are national champion Zach Olmstead, Mike Smith, Tristan Grape, Nicholas Ronnebaum, Cory Probst, Cody Williams, Kyler Satran, Randy Lamar, Thomas Daffern and Brandon Nielsen Also receiving certificates will be national champions Chaz Baca, Modified, and Dillon Raffurty, STARS Mod Lite, both $410; Cory Dumpert, Late Model, $390; Tyler Drueke, RaceSaver Sprint Car, $350; Mike Nichols, Stock Car, $330; and Matthew Looft, Northern SportMod, and David Phillips, Southern SportMod, both $290. Schoenfeld certificates will be presented Nov. 25 during the IMCA national banquet. “Special series and Super Nationals competitors have benefitted from Schoenfeld Header support for many [Read More]

VINTON, Iowa (Nov. 8, 2023) – Hobby Stock drivers have an exhaust header option and minimum and maximum ride height is specified in four divisions, in the 2024 rules announced today by IMCA. Changes from 2023 and other previous seasons were few, noted IMCA President Brett Root, so drivers who were legal this year won’t be spending extra money to be legal next year. Beginning next season, Hobby Stock drivers competing with a crate engine can use Schoenfeld header part no. 1485-CM2-22 or an OEM exhaust manifold with a 2-1/4 inch diameter exhaust pipe while those competing with a claim engine can use a Schoenfeld header part no. 1485-20 or OEM exhaust manifold with a two inch diameter exhaust pipe. “This is a step we believe will keep the field level for more drivers in the division,” explained Root. “Schoenfeld has already added header awards to their 2023 contingency program which drivers will be receiving at our upcoming national banquet.” Minimum and maximum ride heights for Modifieds and Northern SportMods are four inches and 7-1/2 inches, and [Read More]

By Jerry Mackey CJ Speedway set to host 2023 awards banquet  By Jerry Mackey COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa (Nov. 14, 2023) – The annual CJ Speedway awards banquet will be held Saturday, Nov. 18 on the Louisa County Fairgrounds in the Youth Center Building located in the center of the fairgrounds in Columbus Junction. Drivers earning top ten in points who are eligible for awards will be honored and recognized for their outstanding achievements. The evening will kick off with a social hour getting underway at 5 p.m. followed by the meal being served at 6 p.m. The awards presentation will get underway at 7 p.m. Following the awards portion of the evening, banquet attendees will be treated to a show presented by hypnotist/comedian Cheryl Shagen.  Tickets for the CJ Speedway Banquet can be obtained by contacting the CJ Speedway through the Facebook page.  

By Jerry Mackey COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa (Nov. 3, 2023) ­­– CJ Speedway provided great racing throughout the 2023 season and the primary reason that the racing was so good was because of the caliber of the competition each and every Friday night.  Columbus Junction regular Tucker Richardson won national and Northern Region Rookie of the Year in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby division. Richardson recently turned 17 and is a junior at Winfield Mount Union High School. He raced a Hobby Stock after running two seasons in the mini hauler division (small trucks). Richardson comes from a racing family as he competes weekly with his uncle Shane Richardson and great uncles John and Chuck, who have both raced many laps at CJ Speedway.  The Hobby Stock that Richardson raced was a proven car as the Dominator Chassis was raced to a national championship by Kaden Reynolds in 2021 and later raced by Ryan Havel to multiple wins before the Richardsons purchased the car and the young Richardson drove the car to a third place in points [Read More]