dirtknightstour Archives

100th IMCA Speed Shift TV Dirt Knights checkers fly at Benton County for Berry

VINTON, Iowa (Aug. 30) – After taking the checkers, Tom Berry took time to appreciate his latest accomplishment at Benton County Speedway: Winning the Sunday night Speed Shift TV Dirt Knights tour feature. Berry, in the hunt for the IMCA Modified national championship, led all 30 laps in winning the 100th event in tour history. He became the 45th different winner in tour history by taking the 2020 finale checkers at Vinton. “It means a lot to us to win the 100th Dirt Knights event. It’s awesome to get this win tonight and our 20th win of the season.” Berry said following the convincing run to the checkers. “This is a bullring and the lapped traffic made it a little hairy, but this was a win we needed and it feels good to get it.” The $1,000 victory put Berry on the ballot for the 2021 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational. He’d won five times previously this season at The Bullring. Berry had drawn the outside pole start and had Troy Cordes and Jeff Aikey in tow when he caught [Read More]

IMCA Speed Shift TV Dirt Knights Tour makes history with 100th event Sunday at Benton County

VINTON, Iowa – Another chapter in IMCA Modified history will be written on Sunday, when the Speed Shift TV Dirt Knights Tour comes to Benton County Speedway. The 100th event in tour history will be held at Vinton, the track where the IMCA Modified division first raced more than 40 years ago. Winner of three of the first six Dirt Knights events this season, Ethan Braaksma is poised to become the 11th different champion in as many years the tour has been held. The Aug. 30 feature pays $1,000 to win and is a qualifying event for the 2021 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational. Pit gates open at 4 p.m. and racing follows 6 p.m. hot laps. IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks and Karl Kustoms Northern SportMods are also on the card, in $500 to win features. There are no entry fees for the draw/redraw show. Grandstand admission is $15 for adults, $13 for seniors and ages 6-14, and free for five and under. Pit passes are $30 for adults and $15 for ages 14 [Read More]

Pretty spectacular, Meyer motors to first Speed Shift Dirt Knights TV win at Algona

ALGONA, Iowa (Aug. 6) – The race didn’t start the way Nick Meyer hoped it would, but it ended just the way he wanted it to. Meyer won his career-first Speed Shift TV Dirt Knights Tour for IMCA Modifieds feature Thursday at home track Kossuth County Speedway, earning $1,000 and a spot on the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot. “It was pretty spectacular, this being a Dirt Knights race, let alone at my home track,” he said following the big Denny Hovinga Fair Night event. “This was a pretty huge win. Having the Dirt Knights here put the icing on the cake.” “I got to race with some of the best drivers in the country,” he added. “My goal all season has been to get on the Fast Shafts All-Star ballot and we did it on the last possible night.” Meyer started the 30-lapper outside Randy Brown on the front row. He had checked out on the field and was running in another area code long before the first caution on lap 25, and then [Read More]

Braaksma is first at Fairmont for third IMCA Speed Shift TV Dirt Knights win

FAIRMONT, Minn. (Aug. 5) – Ethan Braaksma’s first visit to Fairmont Raceway ended with his third Speed Shift TV Dirt Knights Tour for IMCA Modifieds feature win of the summer. Braaksma started outside the front row and led all 25 laps Wednesday on the fast half-mile oval, earning $1,000 for his efforts. “I had a good car tonight and hit some good, consistent laps,” he said. “We haven’t changed much on the car this year and kind of went with what we’ve been doing. I don’t have a lot of experience on half miles and thought we did a good job making adjustments from our heat to the feature.” After an early caution, the Bob Shryock Memorial headliner ran green another 17 straight laps. Braaksma led by more than four seconds and was catching up with the back of the field when home track heavyweight and 12th starting Brandon Beckendorf passed Todd Stinehart for second, just before midway. Beckendorf made up ground in a hurry as the front pair ran in heavy traffic. Braaksma’s challengers got [Read More]

Speed Shift TV Dirt Knights return to Fairmont for another Minnesota show

FAIRMONT, Minn. – A Minnesota track that made Speed Shift TV Dirt Knights Tour history last summer welcomes traveling IMCA Modifieds back on Wednesday night. Fairmont Raceway became the first speedplant in the North Star State to host the IMCA tour in August of 2019. The Dirt Knights will be back in town on Aug. 5, running for $1,000 to win the Bob Shryock Memorial headliner. Pit gates open at 4 p.m. and the grandstand opens at 5 p.m. Hot laps are at 7 p.m. with racing to follow for the 98th event in the tour’s 10-plus seasons. One thousand dollars is also the top prize when the tour is at Kossuth County Speedway in Algona, Iowa, for the Thursday, Aug. 6 Denny Hovenga Memorial Pit gates and the grandstand open at 5:30 p.m., with 7 p.m. hot laps to precede racing. Six previous Dirt Knights events have been held at Algona since 2011. Modified features at Fairmont and Algona are qualifying events for the 2020 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot. Also running each night are [Read More]

Clay County Speed Shift TV Dirt Knights IMCA Modified checkers fly for Abelson

SPENCER, Iowa (Aug. 3) – The top side of the big Clay County Fair Speedway oval took Chris Abelson to victory lane in Monday’s Speed Shift TV Dirt Knights Tour IMCA Modified main event. Forty entries from nine different states vied in the fourth round of the 2020 tour and after Tanner Black led the first two laps, Abelson took charge on the high groove. Kelly Shryock made a charge of his own from 11th starting but ran out of laps and ended in second. “The cushion kept getting closer and closer to the wall. You had to negotiate it just right,” Abelson said. “He’s (Shryock) a tough competitor and always one to look for.” Abelson had started fourth and quickly drove past Brandon Beckendorf, Nick Meyer and Black to take over the front spot. Cautions on laps six and 10 brought the field back together briefly before Abelson was pulling away. Jesse Rogotzke worked his way to third late in the 25-lapper, Nick Meyer was fourth and tour point leader Ethan Braaksma was fifth. Meyer [Read More]

IMCA Speed Shift TV Dirt Knights start busy week at Clay County

SPENCER, Iowa – Three races over the course of four nights are next for IMCA Modifieds following the Speed Shift TV Dirt Knights Tour, starting Monday at Clay County Fair Speedway. The Aug. 3 show at Spencer boasts a $1,000 to win, 2020 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifying feature. Pit gates and the grandstand open at 5 p.m. Hot laps are at 7 p.m. with racing to follow for the 97th event in the tour’s 10-plus seasons. Fairmont Raceway’s Aug. 5 Bob Shryock Memorial and Kossuth County Speedway’s Aug. 6 Denny Hovenga Memorial are headlined by $1,000 to win, All-Star ballot qualifiers as well. IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks, Karl Kustoms Northern SportMods and Mach-1 Sport Compacts complete Monday, Wednesday and Thursday night cards. Pit gates open at 4 p.m. and racing follows 7 p.m. hot laps at Fairmont. Algona opens the gates at 5:30 p.m. and also hot laps at 7 p.m. All Dirt Knights events are broadcast by Speed Shift TV. Point leader Ethan Braaksma of Newton won the first [Read More]

Rust is sharp in Speed Shift TV Dirt Knights IMCA Modified Tour win at Hancock County

BRITT, Iowa (July 28) – The game plan Joel Rust brought to Hancock County Speedway and the third installment of the Speed Shift TV Dirt Knights Tour for IMCA Modifieds played out to perfection Tuesday night. Rust led all but the opening circuit in the 25-lap contest, outrunning Ethan Braaksma and Jeremy Mills to the $1,000 checkers. “We had a good draw, got to the lead quick and had to keep hitting our marks,” said Rust, who had taken the initial green flag from inside row two. “There were a lot of good cars here tonight and we got it done.” Rust was pulling away from the rest of the field when cautions came out on lap seven and again on lap 16, when his advantage over the second-running David Brown was nearly six seconds. Braaksma, winner of the first two tour events of the summer, started 11th and took over the runner-up spot for good on the ensuing restart. After spinning out of second on lap eight, Mills restarted at the tail and worked his [Read More]

Hancock County Speedway hosts IMCA Speed Shift TV Dirt Knights Tour

BRITT, Iowa – One streak is guaranteed to continue when the Speed Shift TV Dirt Knights Tour for IMCA Modifieds travels to Hancock County Speedway on July 28. Ethan Braaksma hopes to continue a streak of his own next Tuesday at Britt as well. Hancock County Speedway is the only track to have hosted a Dirt Knights event every year since the tour started in 2010, with eight different drivers winning features over the course of the first 10 visits. Braaksma, from Newton, won the first two Dirt Knights features of the season July 20 at South Dakota’s Park Jefferson Speedway and July 22 at Buena Vista Raceway. Should he take the upcoming checkers and top check of $1,000, he’d match the tour consecutive wins record of three in a row established by Ricky Thornton Jr. of Adel in 2018 and equaled by Richie Gustin of Gilman last year. Also on the Tuesday card are IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks running for $1,000 to win their Joel Showalter Memorial, plus IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, Karl Kustoms [Read More]

Braaksma goes back to back with BVR win on Speed Shift TV Dirt Knights Tour night 2

ALTA, Iowa (July 22) – After a convincing win on opening night, Ethan Braaksma dominated on night two of the Speed Shift TV Dirt Knights Tour for IMCA Modifieds Wednesday at Buena Vista Raceway. Braaksma made his charge from seventh starting, taking over the front spot as leader Matt Bonine slowed with mechanical issues and checked out on everybody, taking the checkers half a lap ahead of runner-up Cody Laney. Laney ran second the last nine times around the track but didn’t get the break he needed as the 25-lapper ran caution-free. Chris Abelson, a three-time tour winner at BVR, started 12th and finished third. “We’ve worked pretty hard for this,” said Braaksma, who put his name on the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot with his tour feature win Monday at Park Jefferson Speedway and banked $1,000 by taking the BVR checkers. “It was amazing to come out on top and know you beat the best guys in the Midwest twice.” Kyle Brown and Jesse Rogotzke, who’d started 13th, completed the top five. Braaksma had finished [Read More]