HARCOURT, Iowa (July 19, 2024) – When Grandma Cindee Broemmer updates the notes she keeps on Tim Ward’s racing results, she’ll have to highlight his July 19 finish at Marshalltown Speedway.
Ward won for the 100th time in his Friesen Performance IMCA Modified career Friday night at Marshalltown, adding to an already impressive resume that already includes IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s, Harris Clash, Clash at the Creek and Dakota Classic Tour titles.
“This is big. It was cool to finally be able to celebrate it,” said Ward, an Arizona transplant now living in Harcourt, Iowa. “I was excited as much as I was relieved to finally get it. We’ve had that (congratulatory) banner in the pickup for when and if it happened, and sometimes it was almost like a curse.”
“To have 100 wins and be considered one of the top IMCA Modified drivers in the country, it’s just crazy. As a kid, you never think you’re going to win a hundred races in anything, let alone a premier class like the Modified,” he added. “That’s what I grew up watching my dad Rick race. He had 98 IMCA wins and that’s always been a real big deal in our family.”
The 70th driver in division history to reach 100 wins and the first to do so this season, Ward acknowledged there was never any doubt he’d follow his father, IMCA’s Western Region champion in 1998, into the sport.
“All of us kids were at the race track the very next week after we were born. It was just a way of life – we didn’t do anything else, other than an occasional hockey game or football, and we’re all Packer fans,” said Ward. “Other than that, what we did was race. We just couldn’t wait for the weekend to come and watch dad race.”
Ward ran go karts, with mixed success, and then mini sprints before getting into a Modified, winning four features and rookie of the year honors in IMCA’s Shaw Race Cars Western Region in 2009 at the age of 15.
He raced out of Dylan Smith’s shop in Nebraska, then out of Iowa for two years before moving to Harcourt, an hour and 20 minutes from Marshalltown, in 2016.
Along with the opportunity to race more often against Midwest competition, the change in locale has helped Ward race to a couple rare IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly accomplishments, winning titles in three different states and single championships at eight different tracks.
“We had such a good year last year with 21 wins but I guess I just never thought we’d get to it, just because the Modifieds are such a tough class and everybody is so good. It wasn’t until the end of last year that 100 wins was something I could get done,” he said. “This has almost been the same season I had last year, except with seconds instead of wins.”
“Everything went our way last year, it’s like we couldn’t do anything wrong. This year it’s been a struggle but we’re looking at it as a good thing, because it’s really making us better,” Ward continued. “It’s not like we’re having a bad year, it’s just that the competition has gotten better.”
He’ll next look to add to his win total, in a Performer Chassis by Precision Performance ride, during Salute to Veterans shows at Spencer, Algona and Boone, as the 2024 season rolls on.
“The changes of the seasons is always crazy. You can’t wait for Frostbusters to come, then you can’t wait for June for Clash at the Creek, then the Dakota Tour, the Harris Clash is coming up and we’re excited about that, and then Super Nationals,” said Ward, who lists Late Models as his number one interest down the road. “We’re still going to race IMCA stuff as much as we can as long as we can. It’s what we can afford, it’s in our backyard and we enjoy it.”
Dave Farren Sr. had become IMCA’s first driver, also in a Modified, to win 100 career features, on Sept. 23, 1988 at Marshalltown.
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