Newswire

Shawano lidlifters to Whitman, Lamberies, VanStraten

By Scott Owen SHAWANO, Wis. (April 22) – An impressive 159 cars ventured to the Shawano Speedway Saturday to take part in the opening night of the 2017 racing season and Johnny Whitman, Lucas Lamberies and Travis VanStraten each made late race passes for IMCA victories. Eddie Muenster led early on in the IMCA Modified feature before giving way to Josh Lambert. With Lambert leading, Whitman moved to second on the field after starting in eighth. Lambert and Whitman then began to dance for the lead, Lambert working the high line, Whitman running down low. The pair ran side by side for multiple laps with Whitman finally gaining the advantage on lap 18. Whitman held on for the last two laps for the win as Lambert had to settle for second. The IMCA Sunoco Stock Car feature saw Jeremy Christians grab the lead on lap one as Rod Snellenberger and J.J. Heinz applied pressure behind him. As Christians continued to lead, 10th starting VanStraten worked his way through traffic and eventually to second. As the [Read More]

Danley sprints to Eagle feature win

By Greg Soukup EAGLE, Neb. (April 22) – Joey Danley made his move to the front late in the contest to win the season-opener for IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Cars Saturday at Eagle Raceway. Danley slipped into second on the 17th circuit and caught Shayle Bade for the front spot two laps later. A big crowd filled the stands and 178 teams of racers filled the pits. Twenty heats and five “B” features set the line-ups for the main events. Clint Homan led from lap 15 to the finish of the Kaplan University IMCA Modified main event. Fifty-two Hoosier Tire IMCA Northern SportMods were in the pits and Lance Borgman got the best of Josh Pfiefer in a late back-and-forth battle to the checkers. Jeff Ware capped a long run at the front of the Valentino’s IMCA Hobby Stock field with the win. Dillon Richards was in, out and finally back in the lead for good in the Mountain Dew Kick Start Sport Compact feature.

Meyer is first feature winner of season at Off Road Speedway

By Randy Pospishil sports@norfolkdailynews.com NORFOLK, Neb. (April 22) – The green flag ushered in another season of racing with a large crowd in attendance at Off Road Speedway Saturday night. Ramsey Meyer’s victory in the Mach-1 Sport Compact feature kicked off the night. Meyer started in the second row, got to the lead early in the 12-lap event, and led the second- and third-place finishers, Dustin Jackson and Brooke Fluckiger, respectively, to the finish line. Joey Haase led the pack of Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods to the finish line, opening his Off Road season with a win. Pole sitter Tyler Iverson took second ahead of Justin Addison. In the IMCA Hobby Stock feature, Austin Brauner established large leads even after a pair of cautions closed the field behind him. Jay Poessnecker finished second. After starting on the pole, Shawn Primrose dropped back to second behind Doug Adamy two laps into the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car feature before returning to the lead with six laps remaining and holding off repeated challenges by Adamy for the win. [Read More]

Lincoln County checkers fly for Osborn

By Kelly Ninas NORTH PLATE, Neb. (April 22) – Driving fast and furiously and finishing strong on a well manicured dirt track were the challengers seeking a trip to the winners circle at Lincoln County Raceway on Saturday evening. Making that final turn into the winners circle were Colton Osborn, Tony Schultz, Kyle Clough, Luke Wassom and Andrew Baumgardner. Wasting no time at all to get the lead, Osborn drove to the point on the fourth lap and never looked back to power his hot rod to the victory in the IMCA Modified feature. Schultz and his son Dillon swapped the Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod lead multiple times before Schultz gained the spot for good with two laps to go. Grabbing the lead on the seventh lap and working through traffic the best was the Clough in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car feature. For the second straight night, Wassom put on an awesome performance to win the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock feature. Wassom started on the outside of the third row and took the lead [Read More]

Rothzen collects IMCA Modified checkers at 34 Raceway

By Brian Neal WEST BURLINGTON, Iowa (April 22) – Brandon Rothzen returned to the winner’ circle Saturday night at 34 Raceway after holding off Ryan Cook in the IMCA Modified main event. Darrow Lille and Brandon Rothzen led the regular season opening night Victory Lane Suspensions IMCA Modified field to green. Rothzen jumped out front over Cook and Bill Roberts Jr. with the action being slowed for the only time on lap three. On the restart, Rothzen moved back out front with Roberts edging Cook for second. Rothzen started to pull away. Cook closed the gap on Rothzen late in the race, but ran out of laps. Dan Keltner pulled away over the final 10 circuits to win the Casebine Credit Union IMCA SportMod feature. Tom Bowling Jr. raced to his second local Pepsi IMCA Stock Car checkers of the young season.

Kile tops IMCA Modified Extravaganza at West Liberty

By Jerry Mackey WEST LIBERTY, Iowa (April 22) – Saturday night’s racing action at West Liberty Raceway showcased the very popular IMCA Modified division with the running of the Modified Extravaganza. When the checkered flag flew on the 30 lap feature event it was local hotshoe Kurt Kile making his way to victory lane topping a stellar field of drivers, earning $1,200 and a spot on the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot. Thirty Modified drivers signed in on Saturday night looking to earn a starting spot in the 24-car feature field. Following a first-lap caution, the Performance Concepts IMCA Modified feature went flag to flag caution free. Kile took a comfortable win over Todd Shute and Dakota Hayden. The Weikert Iron & Metal IMCA SportMod feature win went to the defending track champion on Saturday night. The “Fairfax Flyer” Dalton Simonsen led flag to flag in taking the checkers first ahead of Corey VanZante. The Kile Motorsports IMCA Stock Cars once again saw a spirited battle between David Brandies and Johnny Spaw. Brandies took his [Read More]

Waterman, Pundt, Dunker, Taft are Lee County winners

By Brian Neal DONNELLSON, Iowa (April 21) – Jeff Waterman was the Friday night Budweiser IMCA Modified winner at Lee County Speedway. Mitch Boles and Kelly Buckallew led the field to the drop of the green flag in the 20-lap feature, with Boles jumping out front to lead lap one over Dennis LaVeine and rookie Dakota Simmons, who moved out of the SportMod class for 2017. Coming off turn two to complete the second lap, LaVeine went low, Waterman was in the middle, with Boles up top to race three wide for the top spot. LaVeine emerged as the new leader, then worked the bottom of the track over the next three laps while Waterman used the top. Waterman grabbed the top spot away from LaVeine on lap six and was pulling away when the only caution of the race appeared on lap 15 and brought the field back to his back bumper. On the restart, Waterman moved back out front, with LaVeine working to hold off Blake Woodruff for second. Waterman then led the final [Read More]

Hughes hustles to Modified feature win on opening night at Marshalltown

By Joyce Eisele MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (April 21) – Marshalltown Speedway held its 2017 season opener on Friday night. The 122 race cars on hand gave the fans some outstanding racing on a chilly, breezy evening. Nate Hughes snagged his first local win in the IMCA Modified division. He battled with Jesse Hoeft and Clint Luellen in the early portion of the race, while they tried to catch then leader Nick Roberts. Hughes swung to the top side and snatched the lead at lap fourteen of the 20-lap event. He held off second place finisher, Hoeft in the closing laps to seal the win. Roberts followed in third place, fourth went to Clint Luellen and Adam Larson took fifth place. The 18-lap Karl Northern SportMod feature found defending track champion Jared VanDeest back in victory lane. VanDeest started fourth, took to the topside as the race went green, and had the lead coming out of turn two. He was pestered early by Sam Wieben and Jake McBirnie, but as the checkers flew, he took the win by a comfortable margin. Wieben held on [Read More]

Pershy, Olson grab Davenport wins

By Mike McGuire DAVENPORT, Iowa (April 21) – Chilly weather conditions couldn’t stop the Koehler Electric season opener at Davenport Speedway Friday night. The Eriksen Chevrolet IMCA Modified feature belonged to Jason Pershy. Pershy led all 20 laps en route to the win. Pershy looked like he was going to be challenged for a while by Stephan Kammerer, who came from eighth starting position using the high side of the track. When the top groove went away, Kammerer slid back to finish third. Rob Toland would take second. Matt Werner and Mitch Morris were fourth and fifth respectively. Tony Olson took up where he left off last season in Hawkeye Auto IMCA SportMod action. The defending track champion dominated his feature. Ben Chapman fought his way to a second place finish, with Andrew Burk taking third. Rick Wages made a late race charge to finish fourth while Jake Morris completed the first five. The IMCA Late Model point season starts Friday, April 28.

18 chassis builders enter IMCA Manufacturer’s Cup contest

VINTON, Iowa – A field of 18 chassis builders vies for national and regional honors in IMCA’s ninth annual IMCA Manufacturer’s Cup contest. Manufacturer’s Cup standings will again be based on makes of chassis driven by top 10 drivers in the five Modified regions. 2017 champions will be named based on points for individual regions while the builder with the highest point total overall will be named IMCA’s national Manufacturer of the Year. That builder receives a $500 prize and trophy during the national awards banquet in November. “This year’s Cup contest is going to be as competitive as we’ve ever seen, based on point standings from previous years,” predicted IMCA Marketing Director Kevin Yoder. “GRT Race Cars is back to defend championships in the Central and South Central regions and Razor Chassis returns to defend in the North Central region.” First-time Manufacturer’s Cup entries are Dirt Hustler Racing Chassis of Waterloo and Precision Chassis Development of Springdale, Ark. “We may still add one or two builders as the season proceeds,” said Yoder. “Sixteen builders [Read More]