IMCA, Author at IMCA - International Motor Contest Association

One word describes it: Nichols has phenomenal 2016 season

HARLAN, Iowa – Mike Nichols described his month of June as phenomenal. The same adjective can be applied to his entire season. Nichols won all 15 of his June starts and 54 times in all en route to his career sixth IMCA Sunoco Stock Car national championship. He joined 2016 Hobby Stock king Shannon Anderson as the first drivers to win six national titles in the same division during the modern era of IMCA. Nichols also matched the single season wins record Nate Coopman established in the Mach-1 Sport Compacts two years ago. “We started the season with 11 straight wins but our June was just phenomenal,” said Nichols, from Harlan, Iowa. “You can plan and prepare as much as you can but a month like that defies the law of averages. Our whole season defied the law of averages.” Listen to “Episode 195 Mike Nichols” on Spreaker. He finished outside the top five in just three of 66 starts at a dozen different tracks in four states. Along with the EQ Cylinder Heads Northern [Read More]

Abbey packs a career’s worth of highlights into championship-filled 2016 season

COMANCHE, Texas – Jeffrey Abbey packed a career’s worth of highlights into his fourth Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center Southern SportMod season. Along with the national championship, the Comanche, Texas, High School Senior won the division’s debut at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s just four days after celebrating his 18th birthday. And while more than doubling his career win total in the class to 47, he paced track point races at Boyd Raceway and Kennedale Speedway Park while reigning again in Allstar Performance Texas State standings. “We had a good year last year and didn’t change much. We freshened the engine and freshened the shocks,” said Abbey, the national runner-up in 2015. “We came into this year hoping to get more wins and run for the national championship.” “I couldn’t pick out a season highlight. Winning Super Nationals and the national championship were both outstanding,” he continued. “And I ended the season winning the Bryan Mize Memorial at 85 Speedway. If you’d told me at the start of the year that I’d do all [Read More]

Shouse sprints to seven feature wins, IMCA RaceSaver national championship

MUSTANG, Okla. – One of the best spokesmen for the IMCA EMI RaceSaver Sprint Cars is the division’s newest national champion. Andy Shouse won seven features, along with the Sprint Series of Oklahoma and Allstar Performance Oklahoma State crowns in his first full season in the 305 class. He bookended those feature victories with strings of top five finishes at the start and the end of the 2016 campaign. “We just wanted to race. We didn’t plan to chase national points but we looked up one night and saw that we were in the thick of it,” said Shouse. “We really enjoyed this season and had a lot of good finishes. The RaceSaver rules really equalize this division. It doesn’t take a lot of money to be competitive.” Six different drivers from Texas occupied the top spot in the national point standings before Shouse moved in to stay in late July. From Mustang, he became the first driver from Oklahoma to win the Sprint Car crown since IMCA resumed sanctioning the division in 1989. Shouse [Read More]

Time gives Toland a new appreciation of IMCA title

DAVENPORT, Iowa – By no means is Rob Toland ready to hang up his racing helmet. But the oldest IMCA driver to win a national championship has definitely learned to better appreciate his on-track accomplishments. Toland won the national Late Model crown for the third time, as well as track titles at his hometown Davenport Speedway and Quad City Speedway, plus the Allstar Performance Illinois State championship. He turned 55 six weeks after the point season ended. Listen to “Episode 191 Rob Toland” on Spreaker. “With age, we always appreciate things better. This national championship was pretty special to me,” said Toland, who also topped 2001 and 2005 point standings for the premier division. “I was second in points at East Moline and Davenport when I got hurt at work and ended up missing the last half of 2014 and all of 2015, so it was good to be able to come back and be competitive.” “It was an amazing year. I would have never fathomed I would win the national championship and two track [Read More]

Lessons learned in first title chase pay off for Grabouski

BEATRICE, Neb. – The lessons he learned winning his first IMCA national championship paid off again this year for Jordan Grabouski. So did his success at a slew of early-season specials in Kansas and Nebraska. The Beatrice, Neb., hotshoe parlayed a division leading and single season career-best 33 feature wins and two local track titles into the 2016 Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modified national title. “When I won my first national championship in 2011, the points really went down to the last weekend and I had to win my last race,” he said. “I had a better understanding that the point season was 50 races and was more patient this year.” “We only finished outside the top five eight times (in 51 starts) this year,” Grabouski noted. “A lot of that was because as you race more, you don’t put yourself in position to wreck or get a DNF.” “We’ve run a crate engine from Friesen Chevrolet for a couple years and that’s been a big boost for us,” he added. “We had another year [Read More]

IMCA national awards banquet honors 2016’s best

LINCOLN, Neb. (Nov. 26) – IMCA honored the best of the best Saturday night, during the national awards banquet in Lincoln, Neb. National champions taking their turns on stage and at the podium were Jordan Grabouski, Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modified; Rob Toland, IMCA Late Model; Andy Shouse, IMCA EMI RaceSaver Sprint Car; Mike Nichols, IMCA Sunoco Stock Car; Shannon Anderson, IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock; Jeffrey Abbey, Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center Southern SportMod; Tony Olson, Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod; and Nate Coopman, Sport Compact. Nichols, who matched Coopman’s single-season record with 54 wins this season, and Anderson became the first drivers in IMCA’s modern era to win career sixth national crowns in the same division. Coopman raced to his career fourth crown, Toland to his third and Grabouski to his second. Shouse, Abbey and Olson all earned career-first national titles. Modified regional champions included Cory Sample, Larry Shaw Race Cars Western; Grabouski, Jet Racing Central; Matt Guillaume, Razor Chassis South Central; Chris Abelson, BMS North Central; and A.J. Ward, Dirt Works Eastern. Nichols reigned in the [Read More]

IMCA Manufacturer’s Cup winner has new name, seventh title in eight years

GREAT BEND, Kan. – While the name engraved on the trophy will be different, BMS by Xtreme continued its IMCA’s Manufacturer’s Cup success in 2016. The chassis builder now located in Great Bend, Kan., had the top point total for the sixth straight year, and for the seventh time in the program’s eight years. Points are awarded based on the make of chassis driven by drivers finishing in the top 10 in each of the five regions for Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modifieds. BMS by Xtreme paced both the Western and Eastern regions and finished with 49 points. Razor Chassis ruled in the North Central region and was second with 37 while GRT Race Cars led the way in the Central and South Central regions and totaled 36 points. Larry Shaw Race Cars was fourth with 20 points. Harris Auto Racing was fifth with 18 points and Victory by Moyer rounded out the top six builders with 13 points. All regional cup winners get plaques and BMS by Xtreme receives a $500 cash prize and [Read More]

Improved geometry helps Gray to 17 wins, spot in national Southern SportMod top 20

VERNAL, Utah – Scott Gray has a greater appreciation for geometry after the end of a career-type season that saw him crack the top 20 national standings for IMCA’s Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center Southern SportMod division. The Vernal, Utah hotshoe won 17 of 20 starts, along with Diamond Mountain Speedway and Millard County Raceway track titles as well as the Allstar Performance State championship. “I got a car that was new to me, a 2006 Elite updated in 2013 by Jeff Emerson, and that helped a lot,” said Gray, 19th nationally despite the modest number of starts. “We put the setup on from the old car, minus the shock package, put it on the scale and moved the weights. The front end geometry was better than the old car’s and that helped a lot.” He won 11 of 12 starts at hometown Diamond Mountain, breaking before taking the green flag for the main event on the second night of the season. Gray was almost as good at Delta, with six wins, a second and a third in [Read More]

Central Arizona hosts Nov. 18-20 IMCA Desert Thunder Nationals

CASA GRANDE, Ariz. – Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modifieds race for $1,000 to win on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 18 and 19, and for $3,000 to win on Sunday, Nov. 20 during Central Arizona Speedway’s San Tan Ford Desert Thunder Nationals. All three features are 2017 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifying events. A minimum of $100 will be paid to start on Friday and Saturday. Sunday’s runner-up earns $1,500 with $1,000 paid for third. Minimum start money is $150 for Sunday’s 30-lap feature. Non-qualifiers get $50. Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods race for $500 to win both Friday and Saturday and for $1,000 to win Sunday’s 25-lap feature. Entry fee for the weekend is $150 for Modifieds or $100 for Northern SportMods. IMCA legal mufflers are required in both divisions. Racing starts at 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday. Adult grandstand admission is $15 for one day or $40 for all three days. Kids ages 11 and under get in the grandstands free. Pit passes are $35 for adults, $15 for kids ages 6-11 and free for five and under. More information is available on Facebook and at the track website, www.centralarizonaspeedway.net.

Payne prevails for fifth IMCA Duel In The Desert crown

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (Nov. 12) – Jeremy Payne extended his Duel In The Desert record to five career championships Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Payne completed his charge from 10th starting to the lead just before midway in the 40-lap main event for Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modifieds on the half-mile Dirt Track, then ran away from a succession of challengers for the $7,777 payday. The new Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifier was chased across the stripe by Tim Ward, Johnny Saathoff, Johnny Scott and Peyton Taylor. Ward had started 12th and Saathoff 13th, while Scott came out of a last-chance race and made the top four all the way from 27th starting. Defending race winner and pole starter Lucas Schott was the early leader, with Ricky Thornton Jr. and Bobby Hogge IV right behind. Thornton used the low line to take the front spot away on lap 11, then got together with Hogge during a three-wide battle to stay in the lead. Hogge exited with a flat tire, Thornton was sent pitside for [Read More]