Feature

Elliott up to Challenge at Abilene’s Bard Memorial

ABILENE, Texas (Oct. 17) – After more than a year outside the winner’s circle, Chris Elliott proved more than good enough on night two of Abilene Speedway’s Ryan Bard Memorial South­ern Challenge. Elliott led all 30 laps of the Saturday evening IMCA Modified main event, earning $2,000 and a spot on the 2021 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot.  “It’s been a tough year,” Elliott said after taking the hometown checkers. “We’ve had some good nights but it seems like we had some rotten ones where we either broke or were in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Runner-up in three of the four Red River Tour events, Elliott saw his season really do a 180 when he qualified for the main event at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s and ran from 18th starting to eighth in the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational.  “We were decent at Boone but not as good as I wanted to be ” said Elliott, most recently a feature win­ner at Cardinal Speedway’s Sam Hodges Memorial in [Read More]

Events

Abilene hosts 26th annual IMCA Southern Challenge

ABILENE, Texas – Two thousand dollars is the top prize in IMCA Modified, IMCA Sunoco Stock Car and Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMod features at Abilene Speedway’s Friday and Saturday, Oct. 16 and 17 Ryan Bard Memorial Southern Challenge.     The Modified feature is a qualifier for the 2021 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot and pays a minimum of $300 to start.      Both the Stock Car and SportMod features pay a minimum of $200 to start. Mach-1 Sport Compacts run for $600 to win and $100 to start their main event. The Texas Sprint Series is also on the Saturday card. Pit gates and the grandstand open at 3 p.m. and rac­ing starts at 7 p.m. both days. Adult grandstand admission is $12 on Friday and $15 on Saturday. Kids ages 6-12 get in for $5 and five and under are free both nights. Military with ID are $10. An open practice runs from 6-10 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15.      More information about the 26th annual Southern Challenge is available from promoter [Read More]

Feature

Westin Abbey aces IMCA Lone Star Tour opener at Abilene

ABILENE, Texas (Feb. 15) – Following his opening night Sniper Speed Lone Star Tour win Saturday at Abilene Speedway, Westin Abbey will take aim at a much bigger payday.  The three-time and defending EQ Cylinder Heads Southern Region champion topped the main event for IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, earning $1,000 and a shot at a $10,000 bonus if he can win Texas Motor Speedway’s Wednesday night Dirty 30 show as well. Eighty drivers from 11 states saw tour action at Abilene. Ninth in Friday’s opening night show at the Ice Breaker, Abbey won the first of 10 heat races, started outside the front row and caught Derek Green for the lead midway through the 30-lapper. Green, the Friday winner, ran side-by-side and bumper-to-bumper with Abbey the last half of the race. The front pair caught up to lapped traffic with two laps left but Abbey found the fastest way through and left Green to settle for second.  “We didn’t know what the car was going to do. We changed a lot of stuff after the heat race,” [Read More]

Feature

McGaha, Tucker, Green are gold on opening night at Abilene Ice Breaker

ABILENE, Texas (Feb. 14) – Josh McGaha and Gabe Tucker made return trips to victory lane at Abilene Speedway, while Derek Green won in his first-ever outing at the Texas speedplant on opening night of the Ice Breaker. Multi-time track champion McGaha scored IMCA Modified career win number 92 Friday night while Tucker’s checkers were his Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMod career 113th. Minnesotan Green, meanwhile, led all 32 laps of the Prelude To The Tour feature for IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, contended by nearly 80 drivers. The checkers were his IMCA career 91st.  Most recently the winner of Abilene’s 2019 season-ending Ryan Bard Memorial Southern Challenge, McGaha started from the pole, chased Mark Carrell across the stripe after the first lap and then went to the bottom for the lead on lap two. Jason Wolla settled into second on lap five. Carrell and Jesse Sobbing tussled over third following a lap 12 restart with Sobbing eventually getting the upper hand. Mike Hansen and Carrell completed the top five as McGaha pulled away to win by half [Read More]

Weekly

IMCA Mach-1 Sport Compacts join Saturday shows at Abilene

ABILENE, Texas (Jan. 27) – A fourth IMCA division joins Saturday race programs at Abilene Speedway this season.  Mach-1 Sport Compacts debut at the Texas speedplant on Feb. 15, night two of the season-opening Ice Breaker special.  “I’ve watched the IMCA 4-cylinder class run at Boyd and at Kennedale. It’s a good division for a wide age range of drivers,” promoter Rob Poor said. “Sport Compacts can be a class people get into or back into racing with and only have to spend a couple thousand dollars.”  “There are already three or four of these cars in town,” he added, “so we have a foundation to build on.” Twenty-one point races for Sport Compacts are scheduled at Abilene through Aug. 29.  The division is also on both Southern Challenge programs in October.  Abilene also features the IMCA Modified, IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars and Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMods weekly.

Feature

Compliments keep coming for McGaha on Southern Challenge IMCA Modified victory

ABILENE, Texas (Oct. 19) – Josh McGaha was getting compliments long after the IMCA Modified checkers flew at Abilene Speedway’s Ryan Bard Memorial Southern Challenge. McGaha stayed in front after swapping the lead late with frequent foe Chris Elliott in winning Satur­day’s headliner, earning $2,000 and a 2020 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot berth for the victory.  “It was a barnburner, a heck of a good race,” said McGaha, also winner of 2011 and 2012 South­ern Challenge titles. “It’s one of the most fun races I’ve been in and I’ve gotten a lot of compli­ments on how exciting it was.”  Elliott, Herring, Matt Guillaume and Chase Allen rounded out the top five.  Now the six-time track champion at Abilene, McGaha had started fourth and passed Herring near midway for the lead. He built up a straightaway advantage before getting stuck behind a slower car. Elliott was quick to catch up and challenge. Their back-and-forth battle ended with McGaha ahead by a car length and a half at the finish. “I raced with Chris all year [Read More]

Events

IMCA features pay $2,000 to win at Abilene’s 25th Ryan Bard Memorial Southern Challenge

ABILENE, Texas – Two thousand dollars is the top prize in IMCA Modified, IMCA Sunoco Stock Car and Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMod features at Abilene Speedway’s Ryan Bard Memorial Southern Challenge.  The 25th annual event is Friday and Saturday, Oct. 18 and 19. The Modified feature is a qualifier for the 2020 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot and pays a minimum of $300 to start.  Both the Stock Car and SportMod features pay a minimum of $200 to start. An open practice runs from 6-10 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 17. Pit gates and the grandstand open at 3 p.m. and rac­ing starts at 7 p.m. both days. Adult grandstand admission is $12 on Friday and $15 on Saturday. Kids ages 6-12 get in for $5 and five and under are free both nights. Military with ID are $10.  More information is available from promoter Rob Poor at 325 725-3849 or 325 692-8800, on Facebook and at the www.abilenespeedway.com website. The Southern Challenge will be broadcast by IMCA.TV.

Feature

Sweeps! Abbey, Elliott, Tucker all are double winners at Abilene’s Ice Breaker

ABILENE, Texas (Feb. 15-16) – Three drivers brought the broom to Abilene Speedway’s season-opening Ice Breaker. Jeffrey Abbey won both IMCA Sunoco Stock Car features, earning $750 for his Saturday Sniper Speed Lone Star Tour victory, Chris Elliott swept Friday and Saturday IMCA Modified features and Gabe Tucker topped both Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMod mains.  Eighty Stock Cars from 10 states were in town for tour action. Abbey was racing a Stock Car at Abilene for the first time and left the track 2-for-2. “We put the car together for this tour. I ran it the weekend before at Stephenville (281 Speed­way’s Big Chill Throwdown) and won there,” he said, “so I came here confident and was able to come out with two wins.” Friday’s checkers flew ahead of Elijah Zevenbergen and Dean Cornelius. Abbey had started third, caught Cornelius for the lead near midway of the 20-lapper and was catching up to the back of the field before a caution with three laps left. He won his heat, drew the pole and led [Read More]

Events

Ice Breaker starts season at Abilene Speedway this weekend

ABILENE, Texas – Abilene Speedway hosts its traditional season-opening Ice Breaker on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 15 and 16. IMCA Modifieds run for $700 to win and Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMods for $600 each night. IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars run for $600 to win on Friday and for $750 to win their Lone Star Tour opener on Saturday. IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing National, Razor Chassis South Central and EQ Cylinder Heads Southern Region, Texas State and track points will be awarded for both draw/redraw programs.  The pits open at 4 p.m. and racing begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday. On Saturday, pit gates open at 3 p.m. and racing gets underway at 7 p.m.  More information about the Ice Breaker, presented by Smiley’s Racing Products, Showtime Signs & Designs and NAPA Auto Parts, can be directed to promoter Rob Poor at 325 725-3849 or 325 692-8800.  Overnight accommodations, with racers’ rates, are available by calling the Whitten Inn at 325 672-8462.  Additional information is also posted on Facebook. 

Events

Southern Challenge IMCA features pay $2,000 to win 

ABILENE, Texas – Winners of the IMCA Modified, Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMod and IMCA Sunoco Stock Car divisions at Abilene Speedway’s 24th annual Ryan Bard Memo­rial Southern Challenge on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 19 and 20 all earn $2,000. The Modified main event is a qualifier for the 2019 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot and pays $300 to start. SportMod and Stock Car features pay a minimum of $200 to take the green. Non-qualifiers in all three divisions get $100. An open practice runs from 6-10 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 18. Pit passes are $15 while grandstand admission is free. All three divisions can time trial as part of that even­ing’s Fast Lap Challenge, with the top two cars in each class receiving an optional provisional if they don’t qual­ify. Pit gates and the grandstand open at 3 p.m. and rac­ing starts at 7 p.m. both days. Adult grandstand admission is $12 on Friday and $15 on Saturday. Kids ages 6-12 get in for $5 and five and under are free both nights. Pit passes [Read More]