Dan Engledow

Faith, fast car carry Bielenberg to IMCA Super Nationals Sport Compact crown

BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 7) – A little bit of faith and a fast car made Mitch Bielenberg a first-time IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s champion. Bielenberg led all 25 laps of Tuesday’s main event at Boone Speedway. The victory was his second in three nights at Iowa’s Action Track, coming on the heels of his run to the Prelude checkers on Sunday, and paid $1,000. “I won the Prelude and I finally won Super Nationals,” said Bielenberg, who busted a post-race move on the roof of his ride, much to the delight of fans and photographers. “This car has been around a long time but I had faith in it. I said a prayer before we came out and hoped the thing would hold together.” Nineteenth in the Big Show at Boone in 2017 and 18th in 2019, Bielenberg won his heat and started the main event from the front of the middle row. He was quickly out front, pulling away with Trent Reed running a distant second before Tyler Fiebelkorn came to a [Read More]

Drueke soars to RaceSaver Nationals crown at Eagle

By Greg Soukup EAGLE, Neb. (Sept. 5) – Sunday’s huge crowd filed into Eagle Raceway filled with excitement at the opportunity to see who would be crowned the champion of the ninth annual IMCA RaceSaver Nationals. The old saying “You buy the whole seat but will only need the edge” surely applied as the competitors ran through seven preliminary races hoping they could be one of the nine who would transfer into the final three rows of the Big Dance. Those who did make it out of the “Bs” were Clint Benson, Chase Brewer, Gene Ackland, Toby Chapman, John Ricketts, Brandon Bosma, Zach Blurton, Nate Weiler and Kyle Rasmussen. They headed to the pits to prepare their mounts along with those who had qualified on Friday and Saturday. Thirteen Sprint Cars performed the missing man formation, held to honor the 13 fallen service men and women who gave their lives in Afghanistan, touching each and everyone’s hearts. The traditional driver introduction added even more tension as the 27 top IMCA RaceSaver drivers on the weekend [Read More]

Ballard, Nelson, Gillmore are Monday Super Nationals qualifying winners

BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 6) – The last two drivers to win Hobby Stock championships at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s raced to qualifying feature wins and corresponding front row starts for Saturday’s main event at Boone Speedway. Defending champ Nathan Ballard got the best of Kaden Reynolds in Monday night’s first qualifier, interrupted early on when a power outage left the track in the dark. After an impromptu karaoke session, the lights came back on and Ballard led Reynolds, Mike Smith, Solomon Bennett, 14th starting Malik Sampson, Drew Barglof, James Johnson and Jeremy Purdy to starting spots on the inside row for Saturday’s Big Dance. Nelson, the 2019 champion and 2020 runner-up, raced from 10th to win the second qualifier. Matt Brown, 14th starting Braden Richards, Luke Ramsey, Josh Sidles, 18th starting Dillon Magnussen, Jacob Floyd and Eric Stanton. They’ll advance in that order to the middle row Saturday night. Sidles and Magnussen are first-time qualifiers, Smith, Purdy, Richards, Ramsey and Floyd are each in the main event for the second time and Reynolds, Bennett, [Read More]

Kay captures elusive IMCA Super Nationals crown in fast, furious Late Model main event

BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 6) – What had been an elusive championship became a first-time championship Monday night for Justin Kay. Kay led all but two of 50 laps in winning the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s Late Model main event at Boone Speedway, battling Cory Dumpert in a race that was as fast and furious from the first five circuits as it was to the last five. “A Super Nationals championship has eluded me for years. I don’t know for sure how many years we’ve been coming to Boone but I’ve finished second three times,” Kay said. “It’s so nice to finally get it. This is right up there with the national championships and the Deery Series championships. Super Nationals is the one everybody wants to win. It’s awesome to finally get it.” The checkers were good for $3,000. Kay drew the pole start, chased Dumpert across the stripe on laps two and three, then moved back in front for good the next time around the track. Ninth starting Richie Gustin took [Read More]

50th anniversary season brings Webb to Boone in pursuit of 5th Super Nationals title

BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 6) – Gary Webb celebrates his 50th anniversary racing Late Models this season. Monday night, he hopes to celebrate a career fifth IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s championship at Boone Speedway. “I won Super Nationals four times, which I’m very proud of, and I’m a three-time Deery Brothers championship, so I’ve raced a good bit with IMCA,” said the 72-year-old Webb, from Blue Grass and a 521-time winner over the past half century. “All four of my Super Nationals wins (1990, 1993, 1994 and 1996) were very memorable.” “Super Nationals is kind of a cross between a carnival and a fair. I really enjoy the Late Models being a one day event as part of the program,” he added. “The four I won were all on Friday night and there were wall to wall people here.” Webb has qualified for the Big Dance on 13 occasions. Runner-up in 1998 and 1999, he was 10th at Boone last September. “Winning again would be another dimension. I would enjoy becoming the oldest driver [Read More]

Super Nationals sell Fidler on IMCA Stock Cars

BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 6) – When Andrew Fidler made his first trips to the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s to watch and help crew, he knew he’d be back and that he’d be bringing his own race car. The Elwell, Mich., driver made his sanctioned Stock Car debut at the Saturday Prelude, running second in both his heat and ‘B’ feature with a mid-pack finish in the main event. “We came to Super Nationals last year and after watching the Stock Cars and seeing what they’re capable of, we decided to do it,” said Fidler, the street stock track champion at Ron Flinn’s Crystal Motor Speedway. “The three and four-wide racing is awesome.” He’s talked to Kyle Brown and Damon Murty about what to expect at Boone – Fidler drives a 2017 Harris and bought a motor from former Super Nationals champion Murty – and is pitted next to buddy and Modified driver Tim DeGroft. “It’s 100 percent awesome here,” he said. “We want to be in the Big Dance on Saturday [Read More]

Californian Daffern looks to turn Boone luck around at Super Nationals

BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 6) – Thomas Daffern knows the feeling of running up front at Boone Speedway. He’s hoping to stay up front in Monday Hobby Stock qualifying at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. The Brawley, Calif., driver and Cocopah Speedway regular led the first five laps of his Sunday night Prelude heat race at Boone before his motor let go. He was replacing both the power plant and transmission in the car borrowed from son James, who turns 15 on Tuesday, this morning. “I want to make the show,” stated the first-time Super Nationals competitor. “The car has already proven itself. My driving ability is there. Making the show would make the whole trip worth it.” Daffern is talking up Cocopah’s 2022 Winter Nationals while he’s in town. Older brother Steven ran a Modified at Super Nationals a decade ago while Thomas made the trip last year to help crew. “I love the environment here,” he said before turning his attention back to that new motor. “And I love how [Read More]

Raffurty reigns as first STARS Mod Lite champion at IMCA Super Nationals

BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 5) – Dillon Raffurty already had more than 20 feature wins to his credit this season when he loaded up the trailer for Boone Speedway and the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. On Sunday, the Kansas City, Mo., driver raced to his biggest wins of the season, topping both the first-ever race of champions and inaugural Super Nationals main event for IMCA STARS Mod Lites. “It seems like everything was meant to be,” said Raffurty, who battled Bryan Zehm early and then saw Garrett Stonum pull within half a car length late in the contest. “This means a lot to me. I don’t think it gets bigger than winning Super Nationals … no one else can say they were the first-ever Super Nationals Mod Lite champion.” The checkers were good for $2,000, plus a $250 bonus from Yoshimura. Hometown driver Mike Kennedy had started 10th and slipped past Stonum on the last lap for second. Bryce Vowan of Memphis, Tenn., and Zehm, of Ames, completed the top five. “Mike is [Read More]

Danley sprints to RaceSaver Nationals qualifier win

By Greg Soukup EAGLE, Neb. (Sept. 4) – Sunny skies and low 80 degree temperatures greeted the large crowd for round two of the ninth annual IMCA RaceSaver Nationals at Eagle Raceway Saturday afternoon. Cars that hadn’t qualified Friday ran 12 heats and 6 preliminary features to make their bid for a shot at the “A” main, vying for a top nine finish to earn a place in rows four through six for Sunday’s Big Dance. Trevor Grossenbacher took advantage of his pole position starting spot to grab the lead after the first lap of the feature. Close behind were Claud Estes, Tyler Harris and Danny Wood. Joey Danley advanced from seventh and passed Wood for fourth on lap four. Danley passed Harris for third on a restart. John Carney II cracked the top four with 12 laps to go and Danley and Carney both moved up one spot with nine laps remaining, taking second and third, respectively. Carney got past Danley briefly with four circuits left but Danley got a tremendous run the next [Read More]

Corn Bros bag Sunday cornhole tournament honors

BOONE, Iowa (Sept. 5) – Cousins Damon Arehart and Jayden Arehart make up the Corn Bros duo that won Sunday’s cornhole tournament at Boone Speedway. The first champions crowned during the extended week of the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s earned $1,000 for their bag-tossing efforts, defeating the Game Changers pair of Jason Michalec and Chris Blood in the 105th and final game of the Scorezit-sponsored tourney. “We are way far from professional,” said Damon, a Wayne State University graduate. “We usually play once a week, whenever we have time.” Jayden is a student at Wayne State, said their winnings would come in handy toward tuition and shared a bit of the Areharts’ cornhole success. “You’ve got to have luck on your side,” he said. Fifty-plus teams, each of them associated with a driver competing at Super Nationals, vied. The runners-up earned $600 while the aptly named Young Guns, Waylon Estep and Landen Lang, took third and pocketed $240. Fourth and $120 went to Given the L teammates Lee Gard and Reams Lowen. [Read More]