WEST UNION, Iowa (July 25, 2024) – Ethan Braaksma said it best Thursday night when he described his 2024 season as incredible.
The Newton speedster led the last 37 laps in winning the Rage Chassis 40 main event at Fayette County Speedway.
The checkers, already Braaksma’s Friesen Performance IMCA Modified 13th of the season, were good for $2,000 and came ahead of Drew Janssen and Skyler Woods. As a big plus, the county fair special victory came in the hometown of Braaksma’s chassis builder.
“It was our first visit to West Union and it was a pretty racy track. I don’t know if I can compare it to anywhere else I’ve raced,” Braaksma said. “The track conditions suited my driving style, especially for the feature. I just raced all over – you could move wherever you wanted to. I was very pleased with the track prep, it was great all night.”
Braaksma had started third and ran side-by-side with Jeff Aikey before making his way to the front.
He caught the back of the 27-car field early, dealing with the combination of lapped traffic and cautions.
“I had to play my cards right and get around lapped cars quickly. I wasn’t sure how big of a lead I had,” said Braaksma, who’d take the checkers nearly a straightaway ahead after a restart with eight laps to go. “I didn’t want to take a chance at slowing myself down and somebody catching up.”
His IMCA wins this season have now come at nine different tracks in three states. His Rage Chassis 40 win was the ninth fast Shafts All-Star Invitational qualifying victory.
“I’m with a good group of people and we have the right resources to have the car ready to go whenever we need to go,” Braaksma said.
“It’s been pretty incredible. To be able to be in contention for a win every night I race is something I’ve always worked for,” he continued. “Starting out this year I knew we’d be pretty good and running up front, but 13 IMCA wins so far is unbelievable. I’m very blessed.”
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