Rosebrugh primed by Florida racing vacation for run to IMCA Eastern Region rookie award

WEST BRANCH, Mich. (Nov. 30, 2023) – Chase Rosebrugh started his first Friesen Performance IMCA Modified season with a Florida vacation.

The third generation driver from West Branch, Mich., ended it as rookie of the year in the DeVilbiss Racing Eastern Region.

“We had so much fun in this class, and one of the reasons was because we were able to travel and go to different tracks,” said Rosebrugh, son of long-time IMCA Modified driver Todd Rosebrugh and a teammate of Collin Thirlby and Brian Brindley. “We saw the Clash on the Coast series that Taylor (Peyton) was putting on and wanted to get our mid-winter racing fix.”

“We didn’t necessarily go to Florida to race for points,” he continued, “but we were able to race four nights in some very tough fields. There were some very good fields there.”

That late February, early March competition had Rosebrugh ready when tracks opened closer to home.

He was a winner in just his third home state start, on May 20 at Merritt Speedway, and would total four wins and 18 top five finishes in his 35 starts.

“We live 45 minutes from Merritt. It’s our home track and has been since my grandfather Tom raced there,” Rosebrugh said. “When Merritt announced that they’d be IMCA and with Tri-City Motor Speedway already sanctioned, we figured this was the year to run for rookie. We raced two nights a week and we raced hard.”

He’d started racing in go karts, making the big move up to an asphalt late model class at Whittemore Speedway before back-to-back track championship winning seasons in a super late model at Onaway speedway, another asphalt oval.

While he’s had success on pavement, Rosebrugh’s heart was still on dirt.

“A friend has asked me to drive his car and I won my first-ever start on dirt at Merritt two years ago in a B-mod,” said Rosebrugh, in a 2021 Diamond Chassis by CT Racing for his freshman Modified season. “We knew our equipment was good, we learned a lot in Florida and it was exciting that we were able to put it all together in just our third start at home and get our first win.”

Wins                             4

Top Five Finishes          18

Starts                           35

HIS CREW: Matt Mairose.

HIS SPONSORS: Todd Rosebrugh Trucking, Hodgins Asphalt Paving, Diamond Grind Finish Concrete, Brian Brindley Trucking, Schmitt Tire and Glass, Rosebrugh Farms, Countryside Appliance and TR Timber Company, all of West Branch; Alta Equipment of Saginaw; Kirk Cameron Forest Products of Gladwin; Diamond Race Cars by CTR of Traverse City; and Jerry Bazvin of McBain.