Newswire

Improved geometry helps Gray to 17 wins, spot in national Southern SportMod top 20

VERNAL, Utah – Scott Gray has a greater appreciation for geometry after the end of a career-type season that saw him crack the top 20 national standings for IMCA’s Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center Southern SportMod division. The Vernal, Utah hotshoe won 17 of 20 starts, along with Diamond Mountain Speedway and Millard County Raceway track titles as well as the Allstar Performance State championship. “I got a car that was new to me, a 2006 Elite updated in 2013 by Jeff Emerson, and that helped a lot,” said Gray, 19th nationally despite the modest number of starts. “We put the setup on from the old car, minus the shock package, put it on the scale and moved the weights. The front end geometry was better than the old car’s and that helped a lot.” He won 11 of 12 starts at hometown Diamond Mountain, breaking before taking the green flag for the main event on the second night of the season. Gray was almost as good at Delta, with six wins, a second and a third in [Read More]

Central Arizona hosts Nov. 18-20 IMCA Desert Thunder Nationals

CASA GRANDE, Ariz. – Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modifieds race for $1,000 to win on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 18 and 19, and for $3,000 to win on Sunday, Nov. 20 during Central Arizona Speedway’s San Tan Ford Desert Thunder Nationals. All three features are 2017 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifying events. A minimum of $100 will be paid to start on Friday and Saturday. Sunday’s runner-up earns $1,500 with $1,000 paid for third. Minimum start money is $150 for Sunday’s 30-lap feature. Non-qualifiers get $50. Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods race for $500 to win both Friday and Saturday and for $1,000 to win Sunday’s 25-lap feature. Entry fee for the weekend is $150 for Modifieds or $100 for Northern SportMods. IMCA legal mufflers are required in both divisions. Racing starts at 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday. Adult grandstand admission is $15 for one day or $40 for all three days. Kids ages 11 and under get in the grandstands free. Pit passes are $35 for adults, $15 for kids ages 6-11 and free for five and under. More information is available on Facebook and at the track website, www.centralarizonaspeedway.net.

Payne prevails for fifth IMCA Duel In The Desert crown

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (Nov. 12) – Jeremy Payne extended his Duel In The Desert record to five career championships Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Payne completed his charge from 10th starting to the lead just before midway in the 40-lap main event for Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modifieds on the half-mile Dirt Track, then ran away from a succession of challengers for the $7,777 payday. The new Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifier was chased across the stripe by Tim Ward, Johnny Saathoff, Johnny Scott and Peyton Taylor. Ward had started 12th and Saathoff 13th, while Scott came out of a last-chance race and made the top four all the way from 27th starting. Defending race winner and pole starter Lucas Schott was the early leader, with Ricky Thornton Jr. and Bobby Hogge IV right behind. Thornton used the low line to take the front spot away on lap 11, then got together with Hogge during a three-wide battle to stay in the lead. Hogge exited with a flat tire, Thornton was sent pitside for [Read More]

Friday IMCA Modified Duel In The Desert qualifiers go to Most, Taylor

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (Nov. 11) – Josh Most and Peyton Taylor started third and finished first in their respective Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modified qualifying features on night two of Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s Duel in The Desert. Most led Jordan Grabouski, four-time Duel king Jeremy Payne and Rob Sanders across the stripe in Friday’s first 25-lapper while Taylor won ahead of Jason Noll, Tim Ward and Stormy Scott in the nightcap. Most and Taylor each earned $777; the top four from each qualifier advance to Saturday’s $7,777 to win Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifying main event. Most ran the low side off turn four to take the lead from Sanders the second time around the half-mile Dirt Track. Following a lap seven caution, Most, Sanders and Grabouski pulled away while Todd Shute had his hands full holding off Payne and Benji LaCrosse for the final transfer position. Payne took over fourth with 10 laps left. Grabouski closed on the leader as the front pair neared traffic but Most held on to win [Read More]

Schott, Sobbing ace opening night IMCA Duel In The Desert qualifiers

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (Nov. 10) – Two drivers who already knew the way to victory lane at Las Vegas Motor Speedway returned there on opening night of the IMCA Duel In The Desert. Defending Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modified race winner Lucas Schott topped Thursday’s first qualifying feature, ahead of Bobby Hogge IV, three-time Duel winner Terry Phillips and two-time winner Johnny Saathoff. Sobbing, winner of the 2011 Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod headliner at the half-mile Dirt Track, topped the second qualifier with Ricky Thornton Jr., Lance Mari and Chris Abelson next across the stripe. Each Modified qualifier paid $777 to win and sent the top four to Saturday’s $7,777 to win main event. Total car count for opening night was 256. Drivers from 22 states and three Canadian provinces competed at LVMS and 17 states and two provinces were represented in Thursday’s Modified qualifiers. Schott drew the pole start for the first qualifier and held off Benji LaCrosse before Hogge moved into the fray halfway through the 25-lapper. Coming up to traffic, Hogge [Read More]

45 consecutive years of sanction awards to be given at IMCA banquet

LINCOLN, Neb. – Marshalltown Speedway will be recognized for sanctioning its Modified division with IMCA for 35 consecutive seasons, during the national awards banquet Saturday, Nov. 26 in Lincoln, Neb. In all, 45 sanction awards will be given to 37 different tracks for five, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 or 35 consecutive years of running an IMCA-sanctioned division during weekly race programs. Receiving 30-year awards will be Luxemburg Speedway for Modifieds and Independence Motor Speedway for Late Models. Twenty-five year plaques go to Lincoln County Raceway and Ventura Raceway for Modifieds and Stuart Speedway for Stock Cars. Nodak Speedway and Skyline Raceway Park receive 20-year plaques for Modifieds. Boone Speedway, the Iowa State Fairgrounds, Marshalltown, Shelby County Speedway and Stuart Speedway have all sanctioned Hobby Stocks with IMCA for 20 years. Fifteen-year awards will be presented to Barona Speedway and Battle Mountain Raceway for Modifieds, Lexington Raceway for Stock Cars and 281 Speedway and Benton County Speedway for Hobby Stocks. Awards for a decade of sanctioning go to Diamond Mountain Speedway in Utah and Southwest [Read More]

220-plus entries practice today for IMCA Duel In The Desert

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (Nov. 9) – Practice begins later this afternoon at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Dirt Track, for the biggest event of 2016 in IMCA’s Larry Shaw Race Cars Western Region. More than 220 Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modifieds and Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods are now entered for the 19th annual Duel In The Desert. Qualifying features are Thursday, Nov. 10 and Friday, Nov. 11 with last-chance races and main events for both divisions set for Saturday, Nov. 12. The Modifieds race for $7,777 to win and a minimum of $777 to start their Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifier. Northern SportMods vie for a $1,777 top check on Saturday. Twenty-two states and three Canadian provinces are represented at the Duel. Racing starts at 4 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday; Young Guns and Legends races precede 25-lap Northern SportMod and 40-lap Modified main events. The Modified runner-up earns $3,250, with $2,250 for third, $1,750 for fourth, $1,500 for fifth, $1,250 for sixth, $1,150 for seventh, $1,100 for eighth, $1,050 for ninth and $1,000 for 10th. Winners of [Read More]

October Fest treat for Traugott is $2,000 feature win

MUSKOGEE, Okla. (Oct. 29) – The treat Cole Traugott took home from Outlaw Motor Speedway’s pre-Halloween October Fest special was a check for $2,000. Traugott led all 30 laps of Saturday’s main event for Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modifieds, pulling away from Dalton Clay as the race ended green, white, checkered. “The whole track was good from top to bottom,” said Traugott, new to the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot, “but the dominant line was the top.” He had started outside pole but used the lower groove to take the lead on the opening circuit. Traugott followed the middle line early on and gradually moved up on the oval, catching lapped traffic before midway. “It’s a 4-1/2 hour trip for us from home to Outlaw and we won here twice this season,” said Traugott, who also topped the opening night IMCA Weekend Blowout in June. Tate Cole, Brett Hansen and Fausten Willhite rounded out the top five. Dale Richardson was the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car winner and Travis Johnson was first to the checkers in [Read More]

IMCA crowns record 103 Allstar Performance State champions in 2016

VINTON, Iowa – Sixty-four of the record 103 IMCA Allstar Performance State crowns awarded this season went to first-time champions in their respective divisions. Each Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modified, IMCA Late Model and IMCA Sunoco Stock Car state champion receives a $100 gift card from Allstar Performance. The Watervliet, Mich., high performance parts manufacturer gives $50 gift cards to each IMCA EMI RaceSaver Sprint Car, IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock, Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod, Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center Southern SportMod and Mach-1 Sport Compact state champion. Myron DeYoung paced the point race for Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modified drivers in Michigan for the sixth time in his career. Ricky Stephan’s title in South Dakota was his third straight; he’d also won state honors for Iowa three times. Drew Armstrong’s Arkansas state championship was his career fifth. Tim Ward adds the Iowa prize to a collection that already includes two plaques from his home state of Arizona and another from Nebraska. Three-time Modified champs were Greg Durbin, Jeremy Meirhofer, Dean Deming and Cory Sample in Illinois, Montana, [Read More]

IMCA is PRI-bound Dec. 8-10

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – IMCA will be well represented at the biggest event of the 2016 trade show circuit. The 29th annual Performance Racing Industry trade show will be held Thursday through Saturday, Dec. 8-10 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. “PRI is the racing industry’s version of the Super Bowl,” explained IMCA President Brett Root. “It’s an excellent opportunity for us to meet with current and prospective promoters and marketing partners as well as drivers from across the country.” Copies of 2017 rules will be available at the IMCA booth (no. 3709), adjacent to the Speedway Motors booths. In addition to Root, IMCA representatives in attendance will include Vice President of Operations Jim Stannard, Competition Director Tom Gutowski, Marketing Director Kevin Yoder and French Grimes on behalf of RaceSaver.