Newswire

Dominant, consistent Szecsodi races to first IMCA Dirt Works Eastern Region title

CLIO, Mich. – Domination at one track and consistency at another made Matt Szecsodi a regional champion. Szecsodi won nine of 13 starts at Silver Bullet Speedway and complemented one win with six-second place finishes at Tri-City Motor Speedway, earning track championships at both venues. That combination paved the way to the top spot in point standings in the Dirt Works Eastern Region for IMCA Modifieds. “It really feels good. It’s an honor to be crowned champion of the region,” said the Clio, Mich., driver, 13th nationally, “and I hope I can represent it well.” Szecsodi’s first regional title came in his 20th year racing and 10th competing exclusively on dirt. “We had finished second to A.J. Ward in the region last year and thought it would be great to try again,” he said. “We wanted to focus on our local tracks but all the rainouts had us sweating. We had 40-plus starts last year and they were all in Michigan. We had 33 starts this year and that included a couple trips to New York to make [Read More]

James is first from Oregon to win IMCA Shaw Race Cars Western Region crown

ALBANY, Ore. – Top-flight competition early in the season in sunny Arizona showed Bricen James how much he needed to step up his IMCA Modified game. The same caliber of competition closer to home in June helped him with the fine tuning that led to a history-making season. From Albany, James became the first Oregon driver to win an IMCA regional championship, pacing Shaw Race Cars Western point standings. “We didn’t know if it was possible with the number of races we have in Oregon,” said James, who made 35 of his 41 starts this season in his home state. “We looked back at last year when we won the E3 Spark Plugs State championship and finished 10th nationally. We told ourselves we could do this and raced as much as we could.” He totaled a dozen feature wins, repeating as the state champion while earning his career first track title at Willamette Speedway. The 1/3-mile clay oval at Lebanon is James’ home track, located a convenient five minutes from home and just 10 minutes from [Read More]

Season-ending streak sends Gould to 4th Razor Chassis South Central Region prize

CALERA, Okla. – With titles on the line, William Gould was at his best. And his best is very, very good. Gould won his final six, and seven of his last eight IMCA Modified starts of the season in clinching his career fourth Razor Chassis South Central Region crown. “We didn’t do anything different the last month and a half,” said Gould, who had struggled with powerplant issues. “We had a string of bad luck with crate engines but when the car ran, everything was fine.” From Calera, Okla., Gould collected 15 feature wins, five of them coming in a dozen open motor outings, along with another 22 top five finishes in 55 starts. His travels took Gould to 10 different tracks. He already had Southern Oklahoma Speedway and E3 Spark Plus Oklahoma State titles in hand before that late flurry of feature wins, which added the Grayson County Speedway track and ultimately the regional prize to his resume. “Both Southern Oklahoma and Grayson County are about an hour away from home. If you’re going [Read More]

Bad fast Berry is very good in winning Side Biter Chassis North Central Region

NEWBURG, N.D. – Tom Berry Jr. was turning heads in his adopted state of North Dakota before he won the Kupper Chevrolet Dakota Classic Tour. He never slowed down. Berry, an Oregon transplant now from Newburg, motored to his career first Side Biter Chassis North Central Region crown. The Dacotah Speedway and Nodak Speedway track champion racked up a dozen wins and another 18 top five finishes in 37 starts on the way to national IMCA Modified runner-up honors. “It’s been wild. We didn’t target any of this. We got a new Razor Chassis and started getting more wins,” Berry said. “We usually ran twice a week, never missed a weekend and always ran with stout fields. We’ll run hard next season. I hope to click out quick and run three nights a week.” The opening night winner at Jamestown Speedway, Berry had two second-place finishes along with a fifth place showing running with top flight competition in the Dakota Tour. He was also second across the stripe in three straight Speedweek starts, at the [Read More]

After fast start, Dostal satisfies need for speed with IMCA Mach-1 Sport Compact national prize

GLENCOE, Minn. – Alex Dostal has had a thing for speed ever since he crashed a three-wheeler into the front door of the house at the age of five or six. His ability to go fast paid off this season with the Mach-1 Sport Compact national championship. Encouraged by early success, the Glencoe, Minn., pilot targeted the national prize in mid-summer. He scored 25 feature wins in making that goal become reality. “Everything just panned out,” explained Dostal, a first-time national king after finishing fourth each of the two previous years. “I wasn’t planning on racing a Sport Compact but decided to when Princeton Speedway opened. We got three or four wins and I told my dad we were going to see how far we can take it.” “I had high hopes we could get it about 15 wins in,” he continued. “We had the national championship in our sights in late July.” Dostal showed a knack for getting his wins in bunches, carrying streaks of five straight checkers into early August and later to [Read More]

Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMod crown is captured by much-traveled Hanusch

BELTON, Texas – A career that started with an old chassis rescued from a weed patch has seen James Hanusch race to the IMCA’s Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMod national championship. The Belton, Texas, driver followed an ambitious 55-race schedule that took him to eight tracks in three states, collecting five feature wins, another 23 top five finishes and the 281 Speedway crown as well this season. “We were leading at 281 and doing well in national points. Everybody wants feature wins but I also know that top fives will get you a long way,” said the first-time national champ, who has typically made 50-plus starts a season during his career in the class. “We did a lot of traveling. We were on the road a lot. We strategized how to get the most points out of our late season starts and it worked out for us.” The E3 Spark Plugs Texas State champion two years ago, Hanusch logged most of his Lone Star outings at 281 and Heart O’ Texas Speedway, working in visits [Read More]

Soppe scores 100th win en route to second Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod national title

SHERRILL, Iowa – Racing, says Tyler Soppe, is one of those sports where you never know what’s going to happen. A lot happened for the Sherrill, Iowa, speedster in 2019 and almost all of it was good. Soppe motored to a career second Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod national championship, along with 21 feature wins and track titles at Maquoketa Speedway and Dubuque Speedway. “This one (the national championship) was better. When we won it the first time in 2017, all we were doing was chasing points and that took the fun out of it,” he said. “My daughter Tayler was eight years old then and told me I had to win again so she could go to the banquet.” “This year we just went out and raced. We knew if we won races that it would work out,” Soppe added. “We knew going into the last two weekends that it would be super close but we were able to replace some third-place finishes.” Soppe was spot on when he guesstimated the national championship race would [Read More]

Ryan’s proudest moment comes after IMCA Late Model national title is official

DAVENPORT, Iowa – The proudest moment in a lifetime of racing came when Matt Ryan called his father Terry to share the news that he’d won his first IMCA Late Model national championship. A 20-year veteran of the division and runner-up each of the last two and three of the last four seasons, the Davenport, Iowa, driver earned that title share on the strength of nine feature wins and another 18 top five finishes in his 29 IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing starts. “The amount of joy I was overcome with was just crazy. I have gotten so close and come up short so many times. I was elated to finally win it,” Ryan said. “My dad was really nervous. To call him after it was official was probably the proudest moment of my life.” Terry Ryan had crewed for Rollie Frink before starting his own IMCA Late Model career. Matt tagged along, racing go-karts all across the country before wheeling a Late Model almost exclusively at 34 Raceway for most of 10 years. He [Read More]

IMCA Late Model national crown and rookie award go to Dumpert

YORK, Neb. – New IMCA Late Model sanctions close to home meant new opportunities this season for Cory Dumpert. The York, Neb., driver found success on the road as well in 2019, and earned both national championship and rookie of the year honors as a result. Dumpert won nine of 22 starts in becoming the first driver in division history to achieve those feats in the same season. “We had started traveling last year and were successful in Kansas. We talked about racing IMCA this year because it was right in our back yard. It definitely turned out better than we expected and it means a lot to us to have accomplished what we did,” said Dumpert, also the track champion at Boone County Raceway and Junction Motor Speedway, and the top driver in E3 Spark Plugs Nebraska State standings. “We raced to have fun. We weren’t really trying for the national deal until there was about a month to go in the season,” he added. “Then we looked at the points and thought ‘Holy [Read More]

Nebraska’s Ware makes history by winning IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock national crown

COLUMBUS, Neb. – By mid-July, Jeff Ware knew the 2019 IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing season had the potential to be a special one. He just had no way of knowing how special. Boosted by a fast start and armed with an attention to maintenance, Ware won 29 features in becoming the first Nebraska driver to win the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock national championship. The veteran from Columbus collected the Big Daddy Race Cars Northern Region crown, track titles at Boone County Raceway, Dawson County Raceway, Eagle Raceway and U.S. 30 Speedway, and the E3 Spark Plugs Nebraska State prize as well. “We’d won nine in a row at Eagle, three in a row at Albion and our first two starts at Columbus. That’s about when we decided to start digging in and going as hard as we could,” said Ware. “Winning the national championship is huge. It’s one of the things my buddies and I have always talked about. It’s cool now to be included in the conversation of drivers who have done it.” [Read More]