Newswire

Kay joins rare company with repeat IMCA national, Deery Series titles

WHEATLAND, Iowa – Justin Kay won 24 feature events, his third straight IMCA Late Model national championship and his second straight Deery Brothers Summer Series crown this season. And none of those accomplishments even got a mention as his highlight of 2015. Kay and his wife Megan became parents to daughter Kayleigh, born on April 30 … just three days after the start of the weekly point season. “Being a parent is fun,” said Kay, enjoying more nights at home with now six-month-old Kayleigh. “She’s figured out how to get up on all fours and is ready to start crawling.” After some small steps – and his only DNF of the season – early on, the Wheatland, Iowa, driver hit the track running. He won 17 of just 29 weekly starts and seven of 17 Deery Series features “We were going to go to the first few races and see how things played out,” said Kay, who didn’t have defending any of his 2014 titles in mind at the time. “We kept winning so we [Read More]

Official 2015 IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing National Point Standings

Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modifieds – 1. Chris Abelson, Sioux City, Iowa, 1,236; 2. Zane DeVilbiss, Farmington, N.M., 1,224; 3. Ricky Thornton Jr., Chandler, Ariz., 1,220; 4. Keith White, Little River Academy, Texas, 1,201; 5. Justin Jones, Bemidji, Minn., 1,191; 6. J.D. Auringer, Waterloo, Iowa, 1,188; 7. Jimmy Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa, 1,187; 8. Nick Roberts, Des Moines, Iowa, 1,186 (12 40-point feature wins); 9. Clint Hatlestad, Glencoe, Minn., 1,186 (9 40-point feature wins); 10. Jeremiah Hurst, Dubuque, Iowa, 1,184; 11. Keith Jack Lamphere, Monroeton, Pa., 1,180; 12. Brandon Beckendorf, Danube, Minn., 1,179; 13. Dylan Sherfick, WaKeeney, Kan., 1,166; 14. Troy Cordes, Dunkerton, Iowa, 1,163; 15. Regan Tafoya, Farmington, N.M., 1,162; 16. Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa, 1,160; 17. Josh McGaha, Abilene, Texas, 1,158; 18. Michael Densberger, Lincoln, Neb., 1,152; 19. Rob VanMil, Barnesville, Minn., 1,149; 20. Eddie Belec, Lakewood, Colo., 1,145. IMCA Eagle Motorsports RaceSaver Sprint Cars – 1. Chad Wilson, North Richland Hills, Texas, 805; 2. Michael Haggenbottom, Levittown, Pa., 771; 3. Brandon Allen, St. Peter, Minn., 765; 4. Zach Newlin, Millerstown, Pa., 764; 5. Marcus Thomas, [Read More]

Las Vegas rolls out red carpet for Duel In The Desert

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The biggest IMCA event of the season west of the Mississippi is on the schedule Nov. 11-14 when Las Vegas Motor Speedway hosts the 18th annual Duel In The Desert. Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modifieds run for $7,777 to win and a minimum of $777 to start their Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifying main event Saturday night on the half-mile Dirt Track. Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods chase a $1,777 top check that evening. Modified qualifying features pay $777 to win and SportMod qualifiers pay $500 to win on Thursday and Friday. “A Duel record 330 drivers competed at Las Vegas last year and it appears we’ll be at or above that number in 2015,” said IMCA President Brett Root. “The locale, the venue, the racing and the purse all combine to make the Duel In The Desert the largest IMCA event on the West Coast.” In addition to Nevada, Modified pre-entries have already been received from drivers who will travel from Alberta, Arizona, Arkansas, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, [Read More]

602 crate seal deadline extended to Jan. 1, 2019

VINTON, Iowa – The deadline requiring GM 602 crate engines used in sanctioned competition to have mandatory IMCA seals has been extended to Jan. 1, 2019. IMCA rules for 2013-2015 had stated all GM 602s must have IMCA seals after Jan. 1, 2016. The rule will be amended with the release of the 2016 IMCA divisional rules on November. The amended rule will require that any GM 602 crate engine with a GM production date after Jan. 1, 2016 must have the IMCA cable seals. “We will allow GM 602 crate engines with a production date prior to Jan.1, 2016 to not have IMCA cable seals,” said IMCA President Brett Root. “The GM production tag on the side of the engine block is key. When we made the original announcement we thought a three-year period was appropriate. These engines are lasting longer than that, which is a good problem for IMCA racers to have.” “The prior IMCA rule and wording failed in two ways,” added Root. “We failed to attach the GM production tag to [Read More]

Abbey ends on high note with Southern Challenge checkers

ABILENE, Texas (Oct. 18) – After putting his Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modified in victory lane, Dean Abbey put $3,000 in the bank. Abbey took the lead from Josh McGaha after midway at Abilene Speedway’s Ryan Bard Memorial Southern Challenge and led to the end of the Sunday headliner. He’d started the 30-lapper from inside row two. “We knew we had a good car. I just tried to stay close to him (McGaha),” Abbey said. “He was good but he finally slid up just high enough and left me enough room to get by.” After a complete restart, the race saw just one caution. Abbey had one lapped car behind him and was coming up on another coming to the checkers. McGaha, a former race winner and now four-time track champion at Abilene, was the runner-up. Charles Brewer, Chris Elliott and Fred Wojtek completed the top five. “We wanted to end our Modified season on a high note,” said Abbey, who’d won the Southern SportMod feature at Abilene in 2011 and is already on the [Read More]

Outlaw’s OctoberFest special boasts $5,000 IMCA Modified payday

MUSKOGEE, Okla. – Outlaw Motor Speedway’s Oct. 22-24 OctoberFest brings Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modified drivers to Muskogee in pursuit of a $5,000 payday. The Saturday, Oct. 24 feature is 60 laps and a Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifier, with a minimum of $400 paid to start and a $150 entry fee. An open practice is from 6-9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22. Qualifying starts on Friday, Oct. 23 with last-chance qualifying and the main event on Saturday. Grandstand admission is free for the practice night and $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and military, $5 for kids ages 6-12 and free for five and under both race nights. Pit passes all three nights are $30 or $50 for Friday and Saturday. Transponders can be rented for $5. More information is available from promoter Chris Smith at 918 625-6200 and at the www.outlawmotorspeedway.net website.

Spooker gives Cole IMCA Modified bookend win at Tri-State

POCOLA, Okla. (Oct. 17) – The bookend win to Tate Cole’s 2015 campaign came Saturday night in the Tri-State Speedway Spooker finale. Cole started outside the front row, led all 30 laps and went home with $2,000 for taking the Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modified checkers. He’d also led the distance in topping the season-opening Cecil Harlan Memorial Kegger and had another seven feature wins in 2015 at Pocola. “It was exciting to be able to win another big race. It was just a fun all-around deal,” the new 2016 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifier said. “We knew we had a good car but never thought we’d win that many times and both big races.” Running a lane off the bottom, Cole was into heavy lapped traffic just after midway. A handful of cautions interrupted the main event, the last time with five laps left. Cole pulled away again to win by nearly a straightaway over Shannon Reheard. Johnny Bone Jr., 10th starting Nick Lawrence and 14th starting Zane Hunter rounded out the top five. Michael [Read More]

Iron Man Challenge checkers yield gold for Gemmill, Elliott

LONGDALE, Okla. (Oct. 10) – Troy Gemmill and Robert Elliott both proved their mettle in winning IMCA main events at Longdale Speedway’s Iron Man Challenge. Gemmill scored Saturday’s $6,000 Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modified checkers, along with a berth on the ballot for the 2016 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational. Elliott took home the $3,000 top prize for IMCA SportMods. The mandatory pit stop halfway through the 60-lap main event came at the best possible time for Gemmill, who had led the first 28 circuits from the pole before getting together with a lapped car and spinning into the infield. Still rolling, he fired the engine back up and got back on the track having lost just two positions. More importantly, the stop at midway gave him the opportunity to change a tire that was slowly going flat as a result of the incident two laps earlier. “I was amazed that I was in third,” admitted Gemmill. “We changed the tire, I drank a lot of water and conferred with my son Brendon (who would go [Read More]

Cancer can’t keep DiMeo from returning to Dacotah Speedway for Drive to Survive night

MANDAN, N.D. – Every night at the track is special for a race car driver. Dacotah Speedway’s seventh annual cancer awareness and fundraising Drive to Survive Night was especially so for Mach-1 Sport Compact driver Nylee DiMeo. The Aug. 21 show at Mandan marked the first time this season the diminutive Dimeo has raced this season. Diagnosed with breast cancer in November of 2014, she returned to the track and won her heat race just three and a half weeks after undergoing a double mastectomy. Fellow drivers Jason Berg and Stan Thompson built the car, painted white and decorated with pink handprints, she raced that night. “My car is still on a trailer. I cried because they had a car done for me,” she said. “I told them I just needed a doctor to clear me and I was going to be out there. It meant a lot to be back with the fans, drivers and track officials.” Younger sister to veteran wheelman Joren Boyce, DiMeo has raced in the thunder-4 and later Sport Compact [Read More]

Burch, Gaylord rumble to top IMCA Modified paydays at Thunder on the Hill

By Larry Lowrey Jr. MAYETTA, Kan. (Oct. 9-10) – Corey Burch and Ryan Gaylord rumbled to $2,000 Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modified feature wins at Thunder Hill Speedway’s season-ending Thunder on the Hill special. Burch captured opening night honors, overcoming lapped traffic and late cautions to take his first win this season at Mayetta. Gaylord outran track champion Steven Bowers Jr. in a tightly contested Saturday feature. Once in front of the Friday night field, Burch put a stranglehold on the top spot and refused to let go. Bowers mounted an assault at Burch on a late race restart but it was deemed that both he and Johnny Saathoff jumped the start and were penalized and put to the rear of the field. That left Jet Racing Central Region champion Dylan Sherfick and Jordy Nelson to try and unseat Burch at the top. It was all Burch down the stretch while Sherfick, Nelson, Eddie Ingram and Jay Noteboom rounded out the top five. The Saturday finale went down to the final lap. The eighth starting [Read More]