COMBINE, Texas – A casual conversation got Bryce Pritchett into an IMCA Sunoco Stock Car this season. Consistent finishes throughout 2018 made the Combine, Texas driver the rookie of the year in IMCA’s EQ Cylinder Heads Southern Region. “This is a fast class and one that I’ve been around all my life,” said Pritchett, whose uncle Duain was IMCA’s national rookie of the year in 2000 and national champion in 2003. “Modifieds and SportMods race but they don’t get to bump and rub so much. I like all of that.” Now a senior at the University of Texas at Arlington majoring in construction management, Pritch­ett started racing at the age of 12 in a junior mini stock class and moved to street stocks at 16. He took some time off from racing when he started college and got back on the track in a factory stock before making the move to the sanctioned class. “My grandpa Arty owns the car. He and Duain had been talking about me driving it and everything went from there,” [Read More]

PACIFICA, Calif. – An early season trip to Arizona built the foundation for Shane DeVolder’s Larry Shaw Race Cars Western Region Rookie of the Year campaign. The Pacifica, Calif., hotshoe, a graduate of the Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod division, logged eight IMCA Modified February starts in the Grand Canyon State. The seat time proved invaluable as he took that experience home and earned All-Star Modified Tour and California State honors as well as the regional rookie prize. “We started off the year at the Arizona Modified Tour. Racing with all those cars definitely helped a lot,” he said. “The Modified is a whole new class for us and our goal at the start of the season was to improve every time we went out. We spent a lot of time and effort working on our pro­gram.” His career first win came over the Memorial Day Weekend. DeVolder earned $1,200 and a spot on the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot when he took the Santa Maria Raceway Nationals checkers. “Our first win was amazing,” said DeVolder, [Read More]

IMLAY CITY, Mich. – A fourth generation driver looking to make a name for herself in the racing world earned rookie of the year honors this season in IMCA’s Dirt Works Eastern Region for Modi­fieds. Sixteen-year-old Victorya Truemner of Imlay City was a weekly regular at both Tri-City Motor Speed­way and Silver Bullet Speedway and had four outings at a third Michigan speed plant, Crys­tal Motor Speedway, as well. The Imlay City High School junior posted five top five finishes in 30 starts before wrapping up the season with a 10th place showing at Crystal’s Great Lakes Nationals. “This is something I would like to do for a living. I like the division and I like the sportsmanship of everyone I raced with,’ said Truemner, citing late-season help from her competition in getting a motor replaced so she could get back on track. “I was very satisfied with the way I ended the season. My goal was to make Great Lakes Nation­als my first year racing it and I definitely reached that,” she continued. “Taking [Read More]

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Shadren Turner couldn’t have scripted a better start to his IMCA Modified career. He couldn’t have written a better ending for his first season in the open wheeled division, either. Turner, from St. Joseph Mo., earned Jet Racing Central Region rookie of the year honors in 2018, along with Bethany Speedway and Missouri State championship honors. “With the new sanctions at Bethany and US 36 Raceway (where he was runner-up in the point standings), we decided to venture in and see what a Modified was like,” Turner explained. “We had some good results for sure and learned a lot.” Turner had four wins in all, including victories in his first start on April 20 at U.S. 36 and his 31st and final start on Aug. 25 at Bethany. “We went into the first night hoping not to do terrible and won, then came out the next Saturday and won again,” he said. “It was pretty amazing. We were just trying to learn some things and fired off real good.” Turner had [Read More]

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa – Leah Wroten shifted into high gear after switching shifts at work. The IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock driver from Independence, Iowa, won nine times during an ambi­tious 54-start campaign, capping the season with her career first Lady Eagle award. Wroten had the top point total among the 225 female drivers to compete in IMCA in 2018. “It’s definitely an honor to do this. It was a huge accomplish­ment and not something I could have done without a lot of good help,” said Wroten, whose fifth place finish in national standings was also the best-ever by a female driver in the division. “We were very consistent. We didn’t have a lot of bad nights and when we did, we were still able to persevere and get top five’s.” She became the first female driver to win a track title at Independence Motor Speedway as well as the Iowa State Hobby Stock crown, and is the second female driver to win a track champion­ship in any division at Benton County Speedway. All the hardware from [Read More]

FARGO, N.D. – Three successful seasons in a Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod were more than enough to convince Jesse Skalicky it was time to move up to the IMCA Modified division. The Fargo, N.D., driver was rewarded for that decision with rookie of the year honors in the Side Biter Chassis North Central Region. “I knew it would be possible. I knew we could be there but the big thing for us was learning to make different adjustments to the car,” said Skalicky. “I like to push myself and knew I had the best crew and the best sponsors behind me.” Driving the Fury Chassis ride owned by Randall’s Excavating of Glyndon, Minn., Skalicky won three of 50 starts at nine different tracks. He was fourth in final standings at home track Red River Val­ley Speedway and Buffalo River Race Park – where he won his first Modified feature on June 3 – and fifth at Norman County Raceway. He won again at BRRP in late July and then topped Sheyenne Speedway’s battle at the [Read More]