JOSHUA, Texas (Nov. 21, 2022) – Blake Clark didn’t just emerge as one of the top young guns in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car division this season. He’s also become a first-rate spokesman for The Class Too Tough To Tame.  The 19-year-old from Joshua, Texas, enjoyed a breakout 2022 campaign, winning 19 features and repeated as Boyd Raceway track champion on the way to capturing the EQ Cylinder Heads Southern Region crown. “I love the Stock Car division,” said Clark, who doubled his career win total in his first season behind the wheel of the 2019 Terminator purchased from Leslie Gill that Steffan Carey had won the Southern Region with two years ago. “I love the competition, the setup and the suspension. You can make an IMCA Stock Car work and race door-to-door anywhere on the track.” His father Thomas was the Stock Car champion at Boyd in 2001. Junior mini graduate Clark followed him into the class in 2017, running a homebuilt car and winning what had been a previous season-best 14 times last year. [Read More]

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (Nov. 21, 2022) – They’re going to have to make room in the “little corner” of the race shop where Kaden Reynolds puts his trophies on display. Reynolds took his considerable on-track talent to the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car division in 2022, earning national and EQ Cylinder Heads Northern Region rookie of the year awards. He won 14 features and clinched the track title at Benton County Speedway before returning to Boone and impressing at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. “We were real good this year. I was probably most happy with my consistency,” said Reynolds, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. “We raced weekly with some of the best drivers in the division, then went to Super Nationals and made a statement.” “It was pretty cool.”  He came to The Class Too Tough To Tame after three seasons in an IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock, winning rookie of the year in 2019, the Junior National Champion crown in 2020 and the national championship last year. “The biggest thing we had to do [Read More]

HARLAN, Iowa (Nov. 21, 2022) – The most unique of Mike Nichols’ 25-plus racing seasons had a familiar conclusion. Nichols earned the 11th national and EQ Cylinder Heads Regional championships of his IMCA Sunoco Stock Car career in 2022.  Those achievements, as well as Shelby County Speedway and US 36 Raceway track and Missouri State titles and 600th feature win in The Class Too Tough To Tame, all came despite a June 26 riding lawn mower accident that left Nichols with severe nerve damage in his left shoulder.  “It was dumb luck that I was still able to compete,” said Nichols, who ended up underneath the 1,300 pound mower following a hydraulics failure and a wild ride over a nine foot embankment. “My shoulder was essentially paralyzed and there was a learning curve for me from that point.”  “I know there are drivers out there who race with one hand. I am not one of those racers. If it had been my right arm, I wouldn’t have been able to shift,” he continued. “I had to pick up [Read More]

FARMINGTON, N.M. (Nov. 20, 2022) – A young driver who made it a point to race with and learn from veteran competition proved to be good as gold is achieving her goal of winning the Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compact rookie of the year award. Miley JoAnn Goldwich-Rhames became the first female driver, and the first from New Mexico to earn national rookie honors in the 4-cylinder division. She totaled 13 feature wins, making 50 starts at 11 different tracks in nine states. “I never thought we’d win that many. We really had to stay focused. We ran with a lot of good drivers everywhere we raced and I got a lot of help,” said Goldwich-Rhames, 14 years old and now a freshman at Farmington High School. “We learned a lot by watching videos and other drivers at the track.”  “Every track we went to, drivers gave me pointers and told me I was doing a good job,” she added. “There were drivers who loaned us parts and helped worked on the car when we needed [Read More]

MANKATO, Minn. (Nov. 20, 2022) – Nate Coopman was the up-and-coming young gun when he won his first Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compact national championship. Now he’s the wise old veteran, the division leader in both career wins and track titles, and five-time national champion in the 4-cylinder class.  The Mankato, Minn., driver, all of 30 years old, earned his latest national title, along with Arlington Raceway and Murray County Speedway track and the Minnesota State crown, on the strength on 17 feature wins. “We weren’t sure what the season was going to be like after a DNF on opening night at Arlington,” said Coopman. “We were pretty bummed about it, but we stayed at it and kept getting the wins and top five’s.” “Probably about mid-season we looked at points and figured we still had a pretty good shot at the national championship.”  Coopman was quick to right the ship after that early miscue, winning seven of his next eight and eight of his next 10 outings. Racing with his father Jerry, wife Stephanie when [Read More]

ROBINSON, Texas (Nov. 18, 2022) – After racing to his career first IMCA Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMod feature win, Trevor Cogburn celebrated the Texas way, ordering a Number One at Whataburger. After winning national rookie of the year honors, he’ll celebrate at the IMCA awards banquet in Lincoln, Neb.  The 17-year-old Robinson High School senior, a graduate of the local junior limited class, got Southern SportMod win number one midway through the season at home track Heart O’ Texas Speedway, then collected another three checkers on the way to earning top rookie honors.  “I wanted to get at least three wins this season. I wanted to be competitive and I wanted my family to be proud of me,” said Cogburn, who followed his father Chris into the division. “We were able to get four wins and numerous top fives.”  “Watching my dad is how I got started racing and how I’ve learned,” he added. “He’s helped me out a lot, especially this year. This is the first season he hasn’t raced in 30 years.”  [Read More]