Newswire

22 candidates added to ballot for Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational

VINTON, Iowa – A regional champion and 20 of the 25 newly-named IMCA Modified state champions are new to the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot. Josh McGaha’s title in the Razor Chassis South Central Region made him vote eligible for the 2019 event. Recently crowned state champions joining him will be Jeffrey Abbey in Oklahoma, Drew Armstrong in Arkansas, Chaz Baca in Arizona, Jerry Bailey in Idaho, Eric Barnes in Illinois, Brandon Conkwright in Kansas, Brian Cross in Colorado, Colin Deming in New Mexico, Shane DeVolder in California, Zach Dockter in North Dakota, Bricen James in Oregon, Brekken Kleinschmidt in Wisconsin, Rodney Morgan in New York, Joey Price in Montana, James Roete in Florida, Kelly Shryock in Iowa, Rob Slott in Texas, Kelly Smith in Utah, Andy Strait in Nevada and Shadren Turner in Missouri. Already on the ballot were Side Biter Chassis North Central Region and Minnesota State champion Brandon Beckendorf; Larry Shaw Race Cars Western Region and Wyoming State champion Zane DeVilbiss; Jet Racing Central Region and Nebraska State champion Jordan Grabouski; Dirt [Read More]

Canyon hosts IMCA Harvest Hustle over Thanksgiving Weekend

PEORIA, Ariz. – IMCA Modifieds and Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods are on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 23 and 24 Harvest Hustle cards at Canyon Speedway Park. Modifieds race for $750 to win on Friday and for $1,500 to win in their Saturday Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifying main event. SportMods chase top checks of $500 on Friday and $1,000 on Saturday. Entry fees for both divisions are $25 each night. Pit passes are $35 for adults, $20 for kids ages 7-11 and free for six and under. All minors must have a signed and notarized release form on file to get into the pit area. Spectator admission is $20 for adults, $15 for seniors 60 and over and military, and free for kids 11 and under. Pits will be cleared at 4 p.m. and the grandstands open at 5 p.m. both days. Drivers’ meetings are at 5:30 p.m. Friday and at 6 p.m. Saturday with wheel packing and hot laps to follow. Racing starts at 7:30 p.m. Friday and at 7 p.m. Saturday. More [Read More]

IMCA room rate available until Nov. 15

LINCOLN, Neb. – The IMCA room rate for those attending the Nov. 24 national awards banquet at the Marriott Cornhusker Hotel in Lincoln, Neb., will be available until Thursday, Nov. 15. Banquet goers who want to stay overnight at the Cornhusker can reserve a room with king or double queen beds for $84. That rate will not be available as of Nov. 16. Reservations can be made through the www.imca.com/banquet site or by calling 866 706-7706.

Entries top 300 for 21st annual Duel as Hughes, Sachau get LVMS Dirt Track wins

By Mike Spieker LAS VEGAS, Nev. (Nov. 10) – Entries numbered more than 300 and Jason Hughes backed up his opening night qualifying feature victory by winning Saturday’s IMCA Modified Duel in the Desert main event and taking home a $7,777 check. More than 20 states were represented at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Dirt Track and drivers from 13 of them qualified for the Modified main event while a record 97 Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods took the green. Hughes had earned the Modified pole by virtue of his Thursday victory and started the 40-lap main event with Friday’s qualifying feature winner, Ricky Thornton Jr. to his outside. At the drop of the green, Hughes powered to the lead and brought third-place starter Ricky Alvarado with him. Hughes quickly opened up a 10 car length lead in the first lap as all the drivers inside the top five rode around the low side of the speedway. Thornton challenged Alvarado for the runner-up position on a restart with 23 circuits remaining. That allowed Hughes to pull away [Read More]

Thornton, Frenier collect wins on night two of IMCA Duel in the Desert

By Mike Spieker LAS VEGAS, Nev. (Nov. 9) – The 21st annual IMCA Duel in the Desert continued Friday evening at the Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. By night’s end, Ricky Thornton Jr. and Jeremy Frenier visited victory lane with qualifying feature wins in the IMCA Modifieds, while Jake Sachau claimed the Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod qualifying feature. Zane DeVilbiss applied heavy pressure to Frenier in the closing laps of the first IMCA Modified qualifying feature. Frenier and DeVilbiss distanced themselves by a straightaway over the rest of the field as they both jockeyed for position on the low side of the speedway. DeVilbiss pulled to within a car length of Frenier on the final lap, but could not get any closer as Frenier held on to take the win. “It seemed like I could hear him on me,” said Frenier of the pressure from DeVilbiss behind him. “I didn’t want to have to push it any harder than I needed to. Until I felt a bumper, I was going to keep my same [Read More]

Hughes, Alvarado visit victory lane at Duel in the Desert opener

By Mike Spieker LAS VEGAS, Nev. (Nov. 8) – The 21st annual IMCA Duel in the Desert kicked off Thursday evening at the Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. With the largest number of pre-entries in five years, the IMCA Modifieds boasted a field of 206 drivers, while the Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods came in at a record 97 entries. Jason Hughes and Ricky Alvarado picked up $777 wins in their respective IMCA Modified features. The first main event began with Hughes taking the lead from the pole position, but the race was quickly slowed on lap one for a multi-car pile up in turn one. On the ensuing restart, Hughes led over Tom Berry Jr. and Peyton Taylor as Cody Laney slipped from second to fourth. R.C. Whitwell took advantage of the lap five restart, moving by Laney for the fourth and final transfer position to Saturday night’s $7,777 to win main event. Whitwell applied heavy pressure on Taylor but couldn’t complete the pass. Hughes and Berry broke away from the rest of the [Read More]

Larry Shaw Race Cars repeats as IMCA Manufacturers’ Cup winner

BATESVILLE, Ark. – Larry Shaw Race Cars has repeated as the winner of IMCA’s Manufacturer’s Cup. The Batesville, Ark., chassis builder had the top point total of the 18 builders enrolled in the 10th annual contest; points were awarded based on the make of chassis driven by drivers finishing in the top 10 in each of the five regions for IMCA Modifieds. Shaw led the way with 40 points. Completing the top five were Rage Chassis with 33, Razor Chassis with 30, GRT Race Cars with 27 and CAM Chassis with 24. Harris Auto Racing and Skyrocket Chassis both had 16 points, DeVilbiss Racing Chassis and BMS Race Cars both 10, Longhorn Chassis nine, Side Biter Chassis and Victory by Moyer both seven, and Dirt Works Race Cars one. “It’s a huge honor for us to win this award again. There are so many good chassis builders all across the country,” owner Larry Shaw said. “We have to share credit with the drivers, sponsors and with IMCA.” “IMCA has done a lot for us and [Read More]

IMCA Duel In The Desert entries at 260

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Pre-entries for the Nov. 7-10 Duel In The Desert at Las Vegas Motor Speedway have already reached 260. One hundred and seventy-two IMCA Modified drivers and 88 Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod drivers are entered in the 21st annual event. That’s 31 more Modified and 25 more SportMod entries than for the same time a year ago. At stake at the biggest event of the season in the Larry Shaw Race Cars Western Region is a top prize of $7,777 as well as a 2019 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot berth for the Modifieds while SportMods vie for $1,777 to win. The Duel will be contested on the half-mile Dirt Track. In addition to Nevada, entries now in hand are from Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming, as well as the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan. Modified drivers pre-entered are: Chris Abelson, Sioux City, Iowa; Chase Allen, Midlothian, Texas; Ricky Alvarado, [Read More]

Gutowski calls it a career after 12 years as IMCA competition director

VINTON, Iowa – The next time Tom Gutowski goes to the track, he’ll actually get to watch the races. After a dozen years of crisscrossing the country, Gutowski has retired as IMCA’s competition director. His last day on the job was spent helping write rules for the 2019 season. “There are not a lot of people who get to make a living doing something they enjoy,” said Gutowski, who’d been the first licensed IMCA Modified driver in Nebraska and was a 2016 inductee into the Nebraska Auto Racing Hall of Fame. “What I’ve enjoyed most has been the people. Ninety-nine percent of IMCA racers are excellent people.” After ending his own on-track career, Gutowski promoted at Crawford County Speedway, Shelby County Speedway, Buena Vista Raceway and Nebraska Raceway Park before joining the full-time staff at IMCA. His travels to supervise pre- and post-tech inspection, and share his years of experience with local track officials took Gutowski from coast to coast and border to border. “I kept track for a while. I’ve been to close to [Read More]

43 tracks to receive sanction awards at IMCA national banquet

LINCOLN, Neb. – Forty-three tracks, representing 22 states and Canada, will be honored with sanction awards during the Nov. 24 IMCA national banquet. In all, 55 track awards will be given in recognition of a cumulative 790 years of sanctioning one or more divisions with IMCA. A 35-year Stock Car award goes to Marshalltown Speedway while Arlington Raceway is recognized for 30 years of sanctioning its Modified, Sprint Car and Stock Car divisions. Thirty-year plaques also go to Shawano Speedway for Modifieds and Luxemburg Speedway for Stock Cars. Receiving 25-year awards are Abilene Motor Speedway, Dawson County Raceway, Montezuma County Fairgrounds Speedway and U.S. 30 Speedway for Modifieds and Independence Motor Speedway for Stock Cars. Twenty-year plaques will be presented to Hancock County Speedway for Modifieds and Stock Cars; Lee County Speedway, Merced Speedway and Rattlesnake Raceway for Modifieds; Quad City Speedway for Late Models; 281 Speedway, Boyd Raceway and Kossuth County Speedway for Stock Cars; and Beatrice Speedway for Hobby Stocks. Tracks to be honored with 15-year awards include Atomic Motor Raceway and Dodge [Read More]