Newswire

Duke scores Pennsylvania first with IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car crown

SELINSGROVE, Pa. – A Duke was king of the IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car division this season. Ken Duke Jr. of Selinsgrove became the first driver from Pennsylvania to win a national championship in any sanctioned division, topping standings for the winged class in his fifth IMCA season. “It’s kind of unbelievable. It’s an honor for sure, with as much racing as goes on and with how many dirt tracks we have here,” he said. “Winning the national championship hasn’t sunk in yet. Maybe it will when we get out to the banquet. I know what we’ve done and how hard we worked, but it’s still a little hard to believe. It’s pretty amazing.” Duke collected 10 feature victories in all, eight of them in Pennsylvania Sprint Series action. He won that series crown for the second time in four years while earning his career-first E3 Spark Plugs Pennsylvania State title. “A lot of the races we ran have ‘B’ mains and a lot of guys don’t qualify for the feature,” said Duke, noting the series [Read More]

Puzzle pieces fall in place for Grabouski’s dual IMCA national championship quests

BEATRICE, Neb. – Sometime around mid-July, Jordan Grabouski was having lunch with wife Whitney when his better half said something along the lines of ‘Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if you won both the IMCA Modified and Stock Car national championships this season?’ No driver had ever accomplished the two IMCA national championships in the same season feat before and Grabouski, who was already leading point standings in both divisions, had to agree that yes, it’d be awesome. “So many pieces of the puzzle fell together for us this season,” said Grabouski, who totaled a single-season record 69 feature victories in 108 starts, winning his career fourth and second straight IMCA Modified national crown with 33 checkers and his first IMCA Sunoco Stock Car national title with another 36. “It’s crazy to think that something like this is even possible to do and it’s definitely not something that can be done without help from a lot of people.” En route to Jet Racing Central Region and EQ Cylinder Heads Northern Region crowns, the Beatrice, Neb., driver collected [Read More]

2020 IMCA Late Model point season dates announced

VINTON, Iowa – The 2020 IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing point season for Late Models will run from Wednesday, Jan. 1 through Sunday, Sept. 27. Points earned at sanctioned events during that time will apply toward national, track and E3 Spark Plugs State standings. National point standings will be based on drivers’ best 20 of their first 40 sanctioned starts. Plans are for Late Models to be part of the opening night program Monday, Sept. 7 at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s at Boone Speedway. That evening’s purse will be similar to what has been paid at recent Super Nationals.

IMCA stars walk the red carpet at national awards banquet

LINCOLN, Neb. (Nov. 30) – The stars of the IMCA dirt track racing world walked the red carpet Saturday night at the national awards banquet. The more than 600 champions and rookies of the year crowned during the 2019 IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing season were honored during the annual gala, held at the Marriott Cornhusker Hotel in Lincoln. National champions feted included Jordan Grabouski, IMCA Modified and IMCA Sunoco Stock Car; Matt Ryan, IMCA Late Model; Cory Dumpert, IMCA Late Model; Kenneth Duke Jr., IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car; Jeff Ware, IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock; Tyler Soppe, Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod; James Hanusch, Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMod; and Alex Dostal, Mach-1 Sport Compact. Regional Modified champions were Bricen James in the Shaw Race Cars Western; Tom Berry Jr. in the Side Biter Chassis North Central; Grabouski in the Jet Racing Central; William Gould in the Razor Chassis South Central; and Matt Szecsodi in the Dirt Works Eastern. Grabouski also ruled the EQ Cylinder Heads Northern Region for Stock Cars while Westin Abbey paced the [Read More]

MBSLM Series acquires IMCA Summer Series for 2020 and beyond

VINTON, Iowa (Dec. 3) – One era in IMCA Late Model racing ends and another begins in 2020. The IMCA Summer Series becomes part of the Omaha, Neb.-based Malvern Bank Super Late Model Racing Series, owned by Joe and Steve Kosiski, next season. “It has been a great 33-year ride for this series and our traveling Late Model drivers,” IMCA President Brett Root. “The growth in Late Model sanctions, however, in 2019 demonstrated that we needed to commit our time and resources to further developing national and weekly race programs for that division.” “I firmly believe Late Model touring series across the Midwest need unification,” Root added. “The Malvern Bank Super Late Model Racing Series has rules that accommodate IMCA Late Model members and this is a positive step in the right direction for those drivers who want to be part of touring events.” “I can’t adequately thank the many drivers and track promoters who have supported this series for so many years. Summer Series events have been season highlights at a lot of tracks [Read More]

Dream comes true for Lady Eagle winner Florio

COPPERAS COVE, Texas – Taylor Florio grew up watching Robin Batt and dreaming of the day when she, too, would win the IMCA Lady Eagle award. Those dreams became reality as the Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMod driver from Copperas Cove, Texas, raced to the top point total of the 227 female drivers competing in IMCA this season. “I grew up watching Robin race and wanted to be like her. I thought it was the coolest thing ever when she won the Lady Eagle (in 2010) and I wanted to do it, too,” said Florio, who also repeated as the E3 Spark Plugs Texas State champion. “I knew at the beginning of the season we wanted to do it. We set out to achieve our goal and midway through started thinking maybe this was our year. And it was.” She’ll display her Lady Eagle award on the TV stand, right next to the trophy she received in 2015 after becoming the first female driver to win national rookie of the year honors, also in a [Read More]

IMCA Modified, Hobby, Northern SportMod rookies of year earn Friesen crate engines

LINCOLN, Neb. – Friesen Performance made stellar seasons pay off even more for rookies of the year in three IMCA divisions. Modified rookie of the year John Oliver Jr. received a 604 crate engine while Hobby Stock rookie of the year Kaden Reynolds and Northern SportMod rookie of the year Cade Richards both earned 602 crates. Reynolds also paced Big Daddy Race Cars Northern Region rookie standings. He was a 10-time feature winner and was 13th in the national points race. Richards won five features and was 17th nationally. He continued his rookie campaign despite a broken left hand suffered in a crash midway through the season, finishing in the top five in seven of nine starts made with a form-fitting cast. Also the top rookie in the Side Biter Chassis North Central Region, Oliver won half a dozen features and was track champion at Lee County Speedway. “This is a great program that has fresh new faces receiving awards each and every year and made possible by the great relationships we have with Friesen and Chevrolet,” [Read More]

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Taylor tops Desert Thunder Nationals finale, Thompson sweeps Casa Grande SportMods

By Lonnie Wheatley CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (Nov. 24) – Central Arizona Speedway’s sixth annual Desert Thunder Nationals came down to the final lap with Jeff Taylor denying R.C. Whitwell a sweep of the three-race weekend by winning Sunday afternoon’s 30-lap IMCA Modified main event atop the 3/8-mile clay oval in Case Grande. Taylor jumped into the lead at the outset of the $3,000 to win IMCA Modified feature and led throughout, fending off a late challenge from Whitwell. “We got a little more balance in the car today,” Taylor said afterward. “We held on, the car was pretty good so we’re happy with that.” While Taylor set the pace ahead of Alex Stanford, Whitwell was working his forward from 16th in his quest to sweep the weekend. Reaching the fourth position by the time a caution flew after 19 laps, he made quick work of Jason Noll and Stanford on the restart to take command of second and set his sights on Taylor for the lead. A final caution with five laps remaining put Whitwell on Taylor’s rear [Read More]

Consistency is key, changes few for 2020 IMCA rules

VINTON, Iowa – Look for consistency but no earth shaking changes in the IMCA rules for 2020. Notably, Modified, Late Model, Stock Car, Hobby Stock, SportMod and Sport Compact drivers may now compete with a minimum two-inch wide SFI-approved five point safety belt assembly. “As safety improvements evolve in this industry, we will evolve with them,” IMCA President Brett Root explained. “Our rules already allow for the two-inch wide belt for use with the HANS device and allowing an entire two-inch wide harness assembly is an evolution of this rule.” Also along the lines of safety, lithium batteries will not be allowed in any division. “That is primarily due to safety concerns in event of fire,” Root said. “Executive Director of Competition Dave Brenn addresses this issue at more length in his column in the November Inside IMCA newsletter.” And along the line of evolving technology, cell phones will not be allowed in race cars. “Obviously, we all carry cell phones. We just don’t want them in race cars,” stated Root. “They can be used to collect [Read More]