sweetwaterspeedway Archives

Rudy Yeager Memorial starts season at Sweetwater Speedway

ROCK SPRINGS, Wy. – Sweetwater Speedway’s Rudy Yeager Memorial brings three IMCA divisions to opening night at Rock Springs Friday and Saturday, May 28 and 29. IMCA Modifieds run for $1,000 to win their Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifying features while IMCA Sunoco Stock Car and Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod features pay $500 to win both nights. Kenny Wallace will drive a Mike Petersilie-owned Modified. IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing National, Shaw Race Cars Western and EQ Cylinder Heads Northern regional, KMJ Performance state and track points will be awarded. Both race night programs will be broadcast by IMCA.TV. Pit gates open at 2 p.m. and the grandstand opens at 5:30 p.m. both days with hot laps at approximately 6:45 p.m. and racing to follow. Spectator admission is $15 for adults and $10 for kids. Pit passes are $25. More information about the Rudy Yeager Memorial is available at sweetwaterspeedway.com.

Gaylord, Hansen get IMCA Modified wins in first, 109th career Wild West Tour starts

ROCK SPRINGS, Wy. (June 19-20) – A driver making his first-ever tour start and a driver who’s never missed a tour event were weekend IMCA Modified winners at Sweetwater Speedway. Tripp Gaylord topped the Friday night 1st Class Chassis Wild West Tour feature, returning to Rock Springs to redress a runner-up finish on night two of May’s Rudy Yeager Memorial. Chase Hansen was the Saturday winner, collecting his career third checkers, and first since 2014, in his 109th tour start. Both drivers earned $1,200 and saw their names added to the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot. After starting fifth, Gaylord found the middle line to his liking on Friday. He passed Ricky Alvarado and Braxton Yeager for the lead following a restart and stayed in front to the end of the 30-lapper. “It feels like it’s been years trying to get that big out-of-state win,” said Gaylord, who’d run second to Alvarado in the Yeager Memorial finale. “We knew there would be a lot of good cars there and it turned out to be a very good [Read More]

Modified

Schnitzer Scores First Win of 2026 at Grays Harbor Raceway

By Shaun Hulbert ELMA, Wash. (July 3, 2026) — A large crowd kicked off the Independence Day weekend as Q-Mart presented the Mid-Season Championship at Grays Harbor Raceway. Fans enjoyed Fan Appreciation activities before the evening concluded with a spectacular fireworks display. The Karl Kustoms IMCA Modified feature delivered plenty of drama as Brenton Schnitzer capitalized on misfortune for the frontrunners to earn his first DeVilbiss Racing Chassis Western Region victory of the 2026 season. John Gaynor appeared to have the race under control until a flat tire and subsequent mechanical issues ended his bid for the win, opening the door for Schnitzer. The Shelton driver took over the lead and held off a determined charge from Austin Rognlin over the closing laps to secure the victory after starting ninth. Rognlin, who started eighth, finished second, followed by Craig Moore, who advanced from 10th to third. Tyson Blood charged from 11th to fourth, while Brian Harding rounded out the top five after starting on the pole. Trevor Labarge also turned in an impressive drive, advancing from [Read More]

Hobby Stock

Glasser Outduels Herrera in Williston SportMod Thriller

By Ben Deatherage WILLISTON, N.D. (July 3, 2026) — A pair of teenage stars put on a show Friday night at Williston Basin Speedway as 18-year-old Keenan Glasser and 17-year-old Payce Herrera traded sliders and crossed the stripe separated by mere hundredths of a second before Glasser emerged victorious in the Karl Kustoms IMCA Northern SportMod feature. Fifteen-year-old Sladen Pfeifer won a thrilling side-by-side battle with Tanner Conlin to lead the opening lap. Conlin briefly took the top spot exiting turn two on the next circuit before Pfeifer crossed back underneath entering turn three to reclaim the lead. A caution on lap four bunched the field and allowed 2024 Williston track champion and North Dakota state champion Glasser to move into second on the restart. Pfeifer maintained command while Glasser and 2026 Tougher Than Dirt Tour champ, Herrera, battled for the runner-up spot before another caution slowed the pace on lap nine. Herrera charged around the cushion and nipped Pfeifer at the line to lead lap 10 before Glasser reclaimed second three circuits later. Another caution [Read More]

Feature

Jake Walters: Carrying the Family Name to Victory Lane

By Ben Deatherage BANKS, Ore. (July 1, 2026) — The first one always seems to take the longest. Jake Walters had come close before. Second-place finishes. Nights when he found himself racing door-to-door with his father, Greg. Opportunities that slipped away by only a few car lengths. Each one brought another lesson, but none brought the one thing every racer spends countless hours chasing. That first trip to Victory Lane. “It seemed like we were always right there,” Walters said. “I’d had a couple second-place finishes and raced my dad for a win a few times, but I just couldn’t seem to get the monkey off my back.” As the laps wound down on June 27 at Sunset Speedway Park, everything that had seemed just out of reach finally came together. When the checkered flag waved, Walters had earned his first career Karl Kustoms IMCA Modified feature victory. “It’s super special to get the first one out of the way, and to do it at Sunset, it means a lot,” he said. For most drivers, a [Read More]