thunderbowlraceway Archives

Stone Cashes $3,500 Stock Car Triumph at Tulare’s Kris Mancebo Memorial

By Koen Shaw TULARE, Calif. (May 15, 2026) — The Sunoco IMCA Stock Cars closed out the Kris Mancebo Memorial with a thrilling 25-lap, $3,500-to-win feature at Thunderbowl Raceway on Friday night. Troy Foulger jumped out to the early lead and established a strong pace while 10th-starting Paul Stone and 12th-starting Nicholas Johnson quickly carved their way into the top five by lap five. Johnson momentarily got loose in turn one but managed to save the car and maintain his position. Shortly after, Terry DeCarlo and Fred Ryland were involved in an incident that ended Ryland’s night. A lengthy green-flag run allowed Foulger, Stone, and Johnson to separate themselves from the field before late-race cautions reset the action. Austin Pugh brought out one of the late yellows after pounding the turn three wall, while Jeff Olschowka also fell victim to multiple stoppages. On the restart with five laps remaining, the Winton driver, Stone, made the winning move around Foulger and quickly stretched his advantage to capture the $3,500 payday and his first Kris Mancebo Memorial victory. [Read More]

Danell Rallies Back for Thunderbowl Triumph with California 305 Sprint Series

By Brad Kennedy TULARE, Calif. (Mar. 28, 2026) — Conner Danell turned adversity into victory Saturday night at Thunderbowl Raceway, charging to his first California 305 Sprint Series win after rebounding from a violent crash just 24 hours earlier. The Visalia driver and his team thrashed overnight to repair his car following a nasty tumble during Friday heat race action. Starting third in Saturday’s 25-lap feature, Danell wasted no time getting to work, ripping the middle groove in the early laps to take control. Davey Pombo set the early pace, but a slip in turns one and two opened the door for Danell, who capitalized to take over the top spot. The two front-runners kept each other honest throughout the race. At one point, Danell stretched his advantage to a straightaway lead, but as the race reached the midway point, that margin began to shrink as Pombo mounted a furious charge. Pombo erased a 2.5-second deficit in just a handful of laps and made multiple bids for the lead, including a strong move to the inside [Read More]

Green flag flies Wednesday for IMCA Central California Clash

ANTIOCH, Calif. (May 1, 2023) – Wednesday night is opening night for the fourth annual IMCA Central California Clash. Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds run for $1,000 to win and Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational qualifying eligibility, IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars for $750 to win and B & B Racing Chassis All-Star qualifying eligibility, and Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods for $750 to win each night of the May 3-7 tour. Following the opening night show at Antioch Speedway are dates Thursday, May 4 at Merced Speedway; Friday, May 5 at Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford; Saturday, May 6 at Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway; and Sunday, May 7 at Bakersfield Speedway. IMCA.TV broadcasts each night of the tour and the top drivers in point standings for each division also become eligible to qualify for their respective race of champions event during the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s in September. IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing National, Shaw Race Cars Western Region and EQ Cylinder Heads Southern Region and California State points will be awarded all five [Read More]

Central California Clash set for May 3-7, IMCA.TV broadcasts each night of tour

ANTIOCH, Calif. (March 21, 2023) – Three champions will be crowned in the upcoming IMCA Central California Clash May 3-7. IMCA.TV broadcasts each night of the fourth annual tour, which features Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars and Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods. Opening night is Wednesday, May 3 at Antioch Speedway. The Central California Clash travels to Merced Speedway on Thursday, May 4, to Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford on Friday, May 5 and to Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway on Saturday, May 6 before concluding Sunday, May 7 at Bakersfield Speedway. Modifieds run for $1,000 to win and Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational qualifying eligibility, Stock Cars for $750 to win and B & B Racing Chassis All-Star qualifying eligibility, and Northern SportMods for $750 to win each night. Top drivers in point standings for each division also become eligible to qualify for their respective race of champions event during the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s in September. IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing National, Shaw Race Cars Western Region and EQ [Read More]

Laney stars in Central California Clash IMCA Modified main at Tulare

TULARE, Calif. (May 4, 2022) – He’s not a fan of the film franchise but the force was with Cody Laney in the Central California Clash feature for Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds on Star Wars Night Wednesday evening. Laney started outside row one and led every lap in topping the May the Fourth main event at Thunderbowl Raceway, following his Tuesday victory at Keller Auto Speedway with another $1,000 checkers. Monday night winner Bobby Hogge was second, with Jerry Flippo, Nick DeCarlo and Troy Foulger completing the top five. “We had a long green flag run and passed a couple cars before Jake Pike showed his nose in (turns) one and two,” Laney said. “I was able to clear him before the caution came out – we had a bunch of cautions late – and Bobby took over second.” “I didn’t like seeing them. Every time there’s a caution when Bobby Hogge is behind you, you have to stay perfect,” he continued. “It took a couple laps after the restarts before I was able to [Read More]

Kings, Thunderbowl, Merced all prepped for May 2-7 IMCA Central California Clash dates

HANFORD, Calif. (April 26, 2022) – Three IMCA divisions fill the card each of six nights in the May 2-7 Central California Clash. Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds run for $1,000 to win and Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational qualifying eligibility each night, Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods vie for $750 to win and IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars for $600 to win. The Clash is at Keller Auto Speedway at Kings Fairgrounds in Hanford on Monday and Tuesday, May 2 and 3; at Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway Wednesday and Thursday, May 4 and 5; and at Merced Speedway Friday and Saturday, May 6 and 7. Kings opens the pits at 2 p.m. and grandstand at 4 p.m. with the drivers’ meeting at 5:15 p.m. and racing at 6 p.m. Grandstand admission is $20 for adults and $15 for seniors, military and students. Tulare opens at pits at 2 p.m. and grandstand at 4 p.m. The drivers’ meeting is at 4:45 p.m. and racing is at 6 p.m. Adult ticket prices are $20 for the grandstands and $15 for [Read More]

Tristao, DeArmond collect Tulare triumphs

By Ben Deatherage TULARE, Calif. (April 8, 2022) – Racing returned to Thunderbowl Raceway Friday night as the Tulare County Fairgrounds 1/3-mile clay oval hosted the Van De Pol IMCA Western RaceSaver Sprint Series and the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars. The main event of the Vande Pol Western RaceSaver Sprint Series began with hometown driver George Tristao Jr. getting the lead on the opening lap. He had a brief battle with Kyle Rasmussen. Rasmussen kept Tristao company but the leader kept him in check on every occasion. Tristao developed a fantastic run as the race went incident-free and allowed him to construct a significant lead. Tristao went on to win the race to collect his first victory of the season with Rasmussen second and third going to Brandon Emmett. Loren DeArmond had the car to beat in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car main event. He seized control of the front place position and remained there the entire distance. It is the first time DeArmond has won in 2022. Michael Shearer was the runner-up, while Steven Johnson [Read More]

Reichenbach, Nation, Dotson strike twice on IMCA Speedweek in Tulare

By Stephanie Deatherage TULARE, Calif. (May 1) – The faces in victory lane were familiar when Thunderbowl Raceway hosted Saturday’s second installment of the 2021 California IMCA Speedweek presented by Hoppes Motorsports. Clint Reichenbach, Jason Nation and Ethan Dotson, all Friday winners at Bakersfield Speedway, also topped main events as the series made its first visit to the Tulare facility for a complete IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing program with 44 IMCA Modifieds, 37 Karl Kustoms Northern SportMods and a dozen IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars. Reichenbach outdueled Robby Sawyer for the early lead, then pulled away from the rest of the Modified pack following a lap four restart. Dotson challenged after the next caution and the front pair battled door-to-door on a couple occasions before a lap 10 incident. Dotson again tried to slip underneath but Reichenbach prevailed in the struggle. The race stayed green and he led the rest distance for a second $1,000 feature win in as many nights. The first Modified driver to win multiple Speedweek features, Reichenbach crossed the stripe ahead of Dotson, the [Read More]

Tulare checkers are Pombo’s Western RaceSaver first

TULARE, Calif. (May 4) – Michael Pombo didn’t lead the most laps, just the one that mattered the most Saturday at Thunderbowl Raceway. Pombo passed older brother Albert on the final circuit of a caution-free 25-lap contest to win his career-first Western RaceSaver Sprint Series feature. He’d run third most of the way, catching Mauro Simone for second on the 18th lap; Pombo made his move to the front coming out of turn two on the white flag lap and took the checkers by a margin of just over three tenth’s of a second. “It was like a dream come true. Ever since I was a kid, it’s always been one of my dreams to win a Sprint Car race,” said Pombo, promptly congratulated by his brother. “The first thing I thought when the race was over was ‘Holy cow, did this really happen?’ Especially at Tulare. That made it even better. Simone, Kyle Rasmussen and Brooklyn Holland completed the IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car top five. Pombo had been runner-up to Holland when she raced to [Read More]