wildwestspeedweek Archives

James, Berkeley, Bloom win IMCA Wild West Speedweek finales

By Ben Deatherage BANKS, Ore. (June 22, 2024) – The sun set Saturday on the IMCA Wild West Speedweek, with final night feature wins at Sunset Speedway Park going to Bricen James, Chase Berkeley and Aaron Bloom. Tour champions in those divisions would be Collen Winebarger, Berkeley and Matt Sanders. The Modified finale had Carter Patterson in control on the initial start but Devon Reed had plans and was in the lead by lap five. Another exciting race unfolded for third as Grey Ferrando battled Tyler Smith. What proved to be the only caution of the contest came on lap seven. The event stayed green for the remaining 28 circuits around the quarter-mile clay oval. Patterson tried to retrieve the lead from Reed and Craig Cassell entered the picture after securing third from Ferrando on lap 10. Reed kept Patterson at bay but in a sudden turn of events, three-time defending and six-time Banks Bullring track champion Cassell, pulled alongside, then edged out Reed for the top spot on lap 12 and began to pull [Read More]

Berkeley dominates at Willamette, James & Killingsworth win, too.

By Ben Deatherage LEBANON, Ore. (June 21, 2024) – Night six of the 2024 IMCA Wild West Speedweek had to rate a 10 with Chase Berkeley. The Colville, Wash., warrior raced to his fourth consecutive and career 10th IMCA Sunoco Stock Car tour win Friday night at Willamette Speedway, a victory good for $2,500 and qualifying eligibility for the B & B Racing Chassis All-Star Invitational. The two-time defending Speedweek champion took control of the first of 40 laps with brother-in-law B.J. Wild trying to run him down, Kersey Ferrando in third and David Schmidt and Jeff Lovell fighting for fourth. Lovell secured fourth on lap eight and the top five running order remained the same until a lap 19 caution for second-running Wild. Kevin Roberts moved around Lovell to get third on lap 22. Another long green flag run followed with Roberts continuing his charge forward to second. The final caution occurred with 12 laps to go. Berkeley was just too good out in the open in scoring his fourth straight Speedweek win. Roberts was a [Read More]

IMCA Wild West Speedweek sees repeat winners at Cottage Grove

COTTAGE GROVE, Ore. (June 20, 2024) – After taking a night off, the Wild West Speedweek returned to action and Collen Winebarger, Ethan Killingsworth and Chase Berkeley all returned to victory lane following their Thursday IMCA feature wins at Cottage Grove Speedway. Winebarger won his second Friesen Performance IMCA Modified feature of the week, Killingsworth collected a second straight Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod checkered while Berkeley topped a third consecutive IMCA Sunoco Stock Car main event. The night three winner at Coos Bay, Winebarger pocketed his second $1,000 of the week after winding his way to the front following a lap three restart. He hit lapped traffic the 25th time around the track but that did not slow down his quick pace. Winebarger dominated what became a 33-lap green run to win by more than four seconds. The victory was the 13th of his Wild West Speedweek career and came ahead of Geoff Morris, Paul Rea, Kevin Williamson and Tyler Smith. Berkeley drew the fourth starting spot in the Stock Car feature, taking over up [Read More]

James repeats Wild West Speedweek heroics with win at Douglas County

By Ben Deatherage ROSEBURG, Ore. (June 18, 2024) – Bricen James and Chase Berkeley both raced back to victory lane while Ethan Killingsworth captured his first checkered flag of the 2024 IMCA Wild West Speedweek Tuesday at Douglas County Dirtrack. James, who’d topped the opening night show at Yreka, banked $1,000 for his Friesen Performance IMCA Modified victory while Berkeley followed his Monday Coos Bay win with an impressive run from 11th starting. Killingsworth paced the Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods. A pair of former Speedweek champions made up the front row in the Modified tilt, with Troy Morris III and Kellen Chadwick fighting for the initial lead. Morris used the top of the track and beat Chadwick to the line to pace the field. Chadwick settled into second with Jacob Mallet Jr. and James in pursuit. Lapped traffic became a factor with eight circuits negotiated. Mallet got the second spot on lap nine but James and Chadwick quickly came to challenge. The 2022 Speedweek champ, James took over second on lap 12 but was well [Read More]

Winebarger, Sanders, Berkeley top Wild West features at Coos Bay

By Ben Deatherage COOS BAY, Ore. (June 17, 2024) – Tour career win number 12 for Collen Winebarger came on night three of IMCA Wild West Speedweek at Coos Bay Speedway. Winebarger completed his drive from fifth staring to the front on the 25th circuit, then outran Bricen James for the $1,000 Friesen Performance IMCA Modified checkers and qualifying eligibility for the upcoming Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational. Timothy Allerdings was a strong third. Lawrence O’Conner and Tyler Blankenship completed the top five. Perfect coastal weather greeted Speedweek competitors for the Monday night show. The Modified main began with 2022 tour champion James motoring ahead of Chance Hyser for the lead at the line. The two battled for a few more laps before James secured the position. Winebarger passed Hyser for second following a lap six restart. A twist to the plot was thrown in the mix after a caution with 20 laps to go in the form of a melee for fifth between Kellen Chadwick, Tim Balding and Tyler Blankenship. Blankenship kept the other two [Read More]

Morris hustles to IMCA Wild West Speedweek win at Southern Oregon

By Ben Deatherage WHITE CITY, Ore. (June 16, 2024) – The driver nicknamed TM3 was the Friesen Performance IMCA Modified winner on night two of Wild West Speedweek. Bakersfield, Calif., ace Troy Morris III motored all the way from 14th in winning Sunday’s main event and $1,000 at Southern Oregon Speedway. Already eligible to qualify for the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational, his dominating victory came over Mark Wauge, Katelynn Robertson, Ian Whisler and Kevin Williamson. The race was a thriller from the start, with Whisler and Wauge fighting up front and Robertson and Tim Balding slugging it out for third behind them. Morris made the most of the top line following a lap restart to crack the top five. He made it around Balding on lap seven for fourth and dispatched Robertson on the ninth circuit for third. Wauge came under fire from Morris before a lap 10 caution erased Whisler’s big lead. Morris kept his faith on the high side on the twelve times around the 3/8-mile clay oval to pick up the runner-up spot [Read More]

James, Ryland start IMCA Wild West Speedweek with wins at Yreka

By Ben Deatherage YREKA, Calif. (June 15, 2024) – Prospectors came to Yreka to strike in rich in the Gold Rush of the 1850s. Bricen James and Fred Ryland both struck gold of their own Saturday night at Yreka Speedway with feature wins on opening night of the IMCA Wild West Speedweek. James’ won the Friesen Performance IMCA Modified feature and $1,000 while two-car star Ryland ruled both IMCA Sunoco Stock Car and Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod main events. When the green flag came out for the Modifieds, Collen Winebarger beat the field to the line for the opening lap. The Corbett, Ore., chauffeur and 2021 Speedweek champion tried to get a big lead, but Tyler Blankenship kept it close for the first few laps. Winebarger got into a good rhythm and began to pull away from the rest of the pack, but before he could get too far ahead, the yellow flag came out with six laps down. Winebarger was masterclass on the restart as Blankenship and James, the 2022 Speedweek champion, battled [Read More]