Ryan Clark

Pirkle paces IMCA Modifieds at Showdown, feature win is sixth straight at Kennedale

KENNEDALE, Texas (Nov. 6) – Jacob Pirkle has to be sorry his season is over. Pirkle won his sixth straight IMCA Modified feature at Kennedale Speedway Park, topping the Saturday night Summit Racing Equipment Showdown main event. The checkers were good for $1,500. “The car was just hooked up,” said Pirkle, who had started fourth and took over in front following a restart midway through the 25-lapper. “We had a lot of lapped traffic but navigated through those guys.” Track champion Glen Hibbard was runner-up and Razor Chassis South Central Region champion William Gould ran third. Paul White and Buddy Ables completed the top five. Pirkle had won has last five starts at KSP during the IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing point season. He was already Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational qualifying eligible, having won the Fall Finale at Boyd Raceway in October. “I’ve raced Kennedale on and off for probably 15 years,” he said. ”It’s a bullring and that fits my driving style.” Car owner Brandon McElroy pinch hit with regular driver and brother-in-law P.J. [Read More]

Prauner tops all expectations, earns IMCA Sunoco Late Model rookie award

NORFOLK, Neb. – A top five finish here and there would have convinced Kyle Prauner that his first IMCA Sunoco Late Model season was a success. Prauner far exceeded those aspirations, winning five features along with the track championship at hometown Off Road Speedway and the national rookie of the year award. “Any expectations we had were blown out of the water,” Prauner said following his 19th season on the track. “We were hoping for a handful of top five’s but the season went way better than we thought it would.” A long-time IMCA Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod driver – he is still fourth on the career wins list for that division with 141 – Prauner had both a growing family and a new job to consider when making his 2021 race plans. “There was some discussion of retirement. I had always wanted to race a Late Model but never felt I would be able to afford it,” he said. “Then IMCA came to town with Late Models and the crate motor. I started perusing ads [Read More]

Dumpert joins exclusive club with third straight IMCA Sunoco Late Model title

EXETER, Neb. – A season that saw its shares of highs and lows ended with a new high for Cory Dumpert. Dumpert clinched his third consecutive IMCA Sunoco Late Model national championship with his 17th feature win on the final night of the 2021 campaign. That matches the divisional modern era streaks of three straight by Ray Guss Jr. from 2010-2012 and Justin Kay from 2013-2105. “It’s cool to be one of only three drivers to do that,” said Dumpert. “Winning another national championship wasn’t something we thought we’d be able to do at the start of the season this year. There was a point when we didn’t even know if we’d be racing at all.” Dumpert was traveling home from an early-spring event when the trailer hitch came off and while his race car was not damaged, the trailer and many of its other contents had to be replaced. “We limped along early but some new sponsors stepped up and really made the season happen for us,” he explained. “Things really started to turn around [Read More]

Rosencrance sprints to top IMCA RaceSaver rookie honors

BUTLER, Pa. – Jarrett Rosencrance made a couple late-season starts last fall to get a feel for his IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car. Late-season starts this year saw him win his career first feature and national rookie of the year honors in the division. “I hadn’t raced anything before the Sprint Car,” said Rosencrance, from Butler, Pa. “Ever since I was little, I always loved Sprint Cars and my dad told me it that if it was something I wanted to do, I should. Two weeks later we bought a car.” David Rosencrance had raced street stocks, hanging up his helmet after his son was born on Christmas Day in 1997. Twenty-four years later, he was part of the crew that helped Jarrett become the first Pennsylvania driver in any division to earn IMCA national rookie honors. Rosencrance made 23 starts in a 2006 Maxim in his freshman campaign, following the Allegheny Sprint Tour and hitting seven Ohio Thunder Sprint Car Series or Laurel Highlands Sprint Series events, four of which were co-sanctioned with the Allegheny [Read More]

Feature wins in five states lift Ohio’s Clark to national IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car crown

HAMERSVILLE, Ohio – Justin Clark knew he’d have to travel to have a shot at winning the IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car national championship. After winning 16 times in five states and with as many different series, he accomplished just that. From Hamersville, the fourth-year RaceSaver competitor became the first driver from Ohio in more than half a century to win the national IMCA Sprint Car crown. “With the number of races here (in Ohio), we knew we’d have to work hard and travel if we wanted to win it. I feel like I raced 80 times with all the traveling we did,” said Clark, who collected nine checkers in his home state, along with feature victories in North Carolina, Indiana, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. “We have really enjoyed this division. There were challenges this year but when we got knocked down, we got back up.” Clark won 10 times in topping Ohio Thunder Sprint Series points – he won the July 10 feature at Wayne County Speedway after restarting 18th – and once en route to the [Read More]

Early engine woes don’t slow Ward in drive to fourth Dirt Works Eastern Region crown

IONIA, Mich. – The start of his season had A.J. Ward wondering if he’d even be racing for points in 2021. The end saw him winning a career fourth Dirt Works Eastern Region championship and finishing as runner-up in the national IMCA Modified standings for the second time in four years. From Ionia, Mich., Ward battled early April engine issues before righting the ship and winning three straight and seven of his next nine outings before the Memorial Weekend. “This was our first full season in a Razor Chassis and the April 3 race (at Winston Speedway) was our earliest ever in Michigan,” said Ward, who also ventured to Pennsylvania for the first time and won the inaugural NY-Penn Series event, the Sean Lias Memorial at Penn Can Speedway. “We blew two new engines early and had to decide whether or not to chase points.” The decision to get back on the track paid off with 20 feature wins, track championships at I-96 Speedway and Thunderbird Raceway, along with a career fifth KMJ Performance Michigan [Read More]

Early entry deadline nears for IMCA Duel In The Desert

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Drivers in four IMCA divisions have until 11:59 p.m. tonight (Wednesday) to pre-enter for the biggest event of the 2021 season in the Shaw Race Cars Western Region. The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway hosts the 24th annual Duel In The Desert Nov. 8-13. IMCA Modifieds race for $10,000 to win their Saturday night main event on the half-mile oval while IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars and Karl Kustoms Northern SportMods both run for $5,000 top checks. IMCA STARS Mod Lites make their Duel debut in a $1,500 to win main event. Entry fees paid online at racexr.com or through the lvms.com website before midnight are $150 for Modifieds, $75 for both Stock Cars and Northern SportMods, and $50 for STARS Mod Lites. Entry fees paid at the track are $200 for Modifieds, $150 for Stock Cars and for Northern SportMods, and $100 for Mod Lites. Early arrivals in Las Vegas can park beginning at noon on Monday. Nov. 8. Grandstands open at 2 p.m. that afternoon and an open practice runs from 6-10 p.m. [Read More]

Gould gets back in old ride, races to fifth Razor Chassis South Central Region prize

CALERA, Okla. – After getting back behind the wheel of an IMCA Modified he’d last driven five years ago, William Gould raced to a career fifth championship in the Razor Chassis South Central Region. Gould added 15 feature win stickers to the collection that came already on the roof of that old ride while earning Grayson County Speedway track and KMJ Performance Texas State titles. “Starting in late February, I drove an older chassis I had built owned by Dino Rendon,” said Gould, from Calera, Okla. “I’d sold it to him in 2016 after getting back from Super Nationals. It still had the old roof with the stickers on it and the same body. I just put my number on it.” “It was like getting reacquainted with an old friend,” he said. “Other than the engine and shocks, I don’t believe technology has changed as much as some other people do. We’d won the national championship in 2013 in a car we had bought back. Things get more expensive but otherwise I don’t see where [Read More]

After detour to Midwest, Baca repeats in IMCA’s Shaw Race Cars Western Region

MESA, Ariz. – A detour to the Midwest helped Chaz Baca defend his Shaw Race Cars Western Region championship. The Mesa, Ariz., driver won a single season career-best 22 IMCA Modified features, all but one of them in his home region. His 2021 title haul also included another Cocopah Speedway crown plus his first Pitt Stop Motorsports Wild West Tour and fourth KMJ Performance Arizona State championships. Baca’s 10 wins at Cocopah started with an IMCA.TV Winter Nationals show in January and ended with a sweep of Mike Corning Memorial features on the final weekend of the point season. “I think the regional championship was harder to win last year. We were going pretty good at the beginning of this year and in the second half of the season we were able to kick it up a notch and win the regional championship again,” he said. “This was our first year in a Lethal Chassis and we struggled a bit with what it liked,” explained Baca. “We took a detour to the Midwest. I threw [Read More]

Sillman scores rare double with IMCA Jet Racing Central Region title and ROY

ALVO, Neb. – Third generation Modified driver Dylan Sillman raced his way into one of IMCA’s most exclusive clubs in 2021. The 18-year-old from Alvo, Neb., became just the fourth driver in division history to win both regional championship and regional rookie of the year honors the same season, and the first to do so in the Jet Racing Central Region. An 11-time feature winner, Sillman earned track championships at US 30 Speedway and Junction Motor Speedway as well. “We had gotten a win late in the season last year but going into this season we never thought this success would happen. We never expected the track championships, regional championship or regional rookie award at all,” said Sillman, a May graduate of Murdock High School. “Everyone kept their head on straight, stayed focused and took the good with the bad, and we ended up having a good season.” Both his father Jeremiah and grandfather Jeff had raced and won in the sanctioned division during their own careers. “They told me how much they’d loved it [Read More]