Ryan Clark

Four IMCA divisions primed for 24th annual Duel In The Desert

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Four IMCA divisions are on the week-long card as 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 and IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars and Karl Kustoms Northern SportMods both for $5,000. IMCA STARS Mod Lites make their Duel debut in a $1,500 to win event. The Modified winner becomes eligible to qualify for the 2022 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational; the Stock Car winner earns a starting spot on the B & B Racing Chassis All-Star Invitational grid. Practice is from 4-9 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 8. All four IMCA divisions will run heats and qualifying features Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 9-11, with feature winners locking into the main event but having the option to race all week to continue accumulating points for starting position. Qualifying features will be paid out each night and available at the pit shack after the races. Duel In The Desert lineups [Read More]

IMCA honors record number of champions at national banquet

LINCOLN, Neb. – IMCA returns to Lincoln to honor a record number of champions and rookies of the year at the national banquet on Saturday, Nov. 27. Drivers winning nearly 700 national, regional, track, special series and state championships, as well as national and regional rookie of the year honors during the 2021 race season will be recognized during the banquet, to be held at the Marriott Cornhusker Hotel in downtown Lincoln. Banquet attendees can go to the IMCA website and purchase tickets for $35 each and make room reservations at the Cornhusker by using www.imca.com/banquet. Dinner will be served at 6 p.m. and the awards ceremony starts at 8 p.m. Marketing sponsors recognized during the evening will include 25-year award recipients Aero Race Wheels, Brodix, Gillund Enterprises/Justice Brothers and KSE Racing Products. Kirkey, Mitchell Machine and Performance Distributors receive 15-year awards. Carolina Racing Supply, MD3, Performance Engineering & Manufacturing, Precise Racing Products, Velocita and Wehrs Machine & Racing Products will be recognized for 10 years as IMCA sponsors. Five-year sponsors are FAST, Side Biter Chassis and Swift [Read More]

Storybook night at Beatrice sees Frye win Octoberfest IMCA SportMod, Stock features

BEATRICE, Neb. (Oct. 15-16) – After making his first trip to victory lane at Beatrice Speedway, Tyler Frye described the Saturday Octoberfest show as a pretty remarkable night. After his second main event win, it became a storybook night. Frye borrowed a ride from Cody Williams and won the Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod feature, then wheeled his own IMCA Sunoco Stock Car to the checkers. He started fourth in the Northern SportMod main, worked the top side from the get-go and was in the lead for good when the second of 20 laps was scored. That victory, ahead of Kaylin Lopez and Adam Armstrong, was his first at Beatrice’s fall special since his 2015 national championship season. The Stock Car win came from the pole and in just his sixth start in that ride. “The car felt awesome. I knew from lap one that I had a good car,” Frye said. “I ran my line and hoped no one stuck their nose under or around me. It’s awesome to win in a car we bought [Read More]

Three IMCA divisions run at Oct. 22-23 Heart O’ Texas Fall Classic

WACO, Texas – Heart O’ Texas Speedway will host its 24th annual Fall Classic Oct. 22-23, with IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars and Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMods all running for $2,000 to win. A minimum of $150 will be paid to start each of those “A” mains. The Modified winner becomes eligible to qualify for the 2022 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational, the Stock Car winner for the 2022 B & B Racing Chassis All-Star Invitational. Friday is qualifying night and pit passes are $30. Gates open at 5 p.m. and racing starts at 8 p.m. A minimum of eight cars will qualify in each division for Saturday main events. Saturday Night is Championship Night with $35 pit passes. Gates open at 4 p.m. and racing starts at 7 p.m. Last chance qualifiers complete the starting fields for all divisions. Drivers competing Saturday only have to start at the back of a last-chance qualifier and pay an additional $30. Entry fee and non-qualifier pay in all three IMCA divisions is $100. Drivers must race [Read More]

Jason Smith, Family Owner of Speedway Motors, Passes Away at Age 60

By Speedway Motors PR Team (Lincoln, Neb. Oct. 16) Speedway Motors, a manufacturer, retailer and distributor of high-quality automotive parts and racing products, is deeply saddened to announce the passing of Jason Smith, second-generation family owner, after a long battle with cancer at the age of 60. “We are devastated by the loss of Jason. He was a leader and innovator in the after-market industry,” said Clay Smith, President & CEO of Speedway Motors. “Jason was truly passionate about the hobby, our customers and our business.” He spent the early years at Speedway Motors stuffing envelopes on evenings and weekends, sweeping the floors, putting away mufflers and taking packages to the Greyhound station on the back of a truck. In a video interview about the company’s rebrand in 2019, he said, “I worked for my dad basically my whole life. The earliest memory is [when I was] about six or seven years old. My pay in those days was a new grape soda. So if I’d help sweep the floor or pick up something, by [Read More]

Ogle, Poor, Fain, Leasure score IMCA Southern Challenge wins at Abilene

ABILENE, Texas (Oct. 16) – Vince Ogle figured he’d finished every position but first in all the years he’s been running Abilene Speedway’s Ryan Bard Memorial Southern Challenge. He led all 30 laps of the IMCA Modified feature at the 27th annual event to get that first win and $2,500 Saturday night. “I’ve been trying to win this race for 25 years and I’m pretty sure I’ve finished everywhere except first,” he said. “It’s a really awesome feeling to finally win it. I was beginning to think it wouldn’t happen. This was the best shot I had at winning it and I didn’t want to let it go.” “I gave it everything I had every lap.” Ogle had drawn the outside pole start, then made last-minute setup changes after main event hot laps. Into lapped traffic early, he was challenged by track champion Fred Wojtek on the lower line, then saw William Gould’s pass for the lead waved off by a caution. Ogle held the pack at bay to the checkers, winning ahead of Wojtek, Gould, [Read More]

Fireworks follow rich World IMCA Stock Car Championship feature win by LaCrosse

BATESVILLE, Ark. (Oct. 16) – An IMCA Sunoco Stock Car marathon ended with a two-lap sprint and Benji LaCrosse took home $50,000 from Batesville Motor Speedway’s World IMCA Stock Car Championship presented by IMCA.TV Saturday night. LaCrosse took his first lead seven circuits into the 71-lapper, passed Peyton Taylor on the 21st and 43rd circuits to regain the front spot, then held off Taylor in a two-lap shootout following a late caution. “I’m just speechless,” LaCrosse said following the top payday in division history and then getting a chance to catch his breath mid-interview while waiting for a spectacular post-race fireworks display to end. “We had a good car all week and I thought if a guy could get through quick enough he had a good chance of holding the spot. It was better than I thought to start off and it worked out pretty well.” LaCrosse had started seventh, runner-up Taylor 15th. Pole starter Dylan Thornton, Derrick Agee and hard charger Westin Abbey rounded out the top five. Dallon Murty led the first six laps, with [Read More]

Mach-1 Racing Solutions on board through 2026 as IMCA Sport Compact title sponsor

ABBOTT, Texas – Mach-1 Racing Solutions continues its support of the IMCA Sport Compact division through the 2026 race season. The five-year title sponsorship extension is the first for the Abbott, Texas, company owned by Gary Mach and takes Mach-1 through its 18th season as title sponsor for the 4-cylinder class. Mach-1 will provide a portion of the $1,000 point fund paid to top 10 drivers in Sport Compact national standings each of the next five years. Drivers in the division must display two Mach-1 logos on their race car to be eligible for point fund shares. Continued growth in the division saw the division sanctioned for the first time in Montana and a record 15 Sport Compact state champions crowned in 2021. Caine Mahlberg of Dunlap, Iowa, reigned as national champion and national rookie of the year was Greg Kohl Jr. of Fort Ripley, Minn. Kaytee DeVries of Spencer, Iowa, earned her career fourth Lady Eagle award. Information about Mach-1 support and consulting services is available by calling Mach at 254 537-3040. “To extend this [Read More]

16 states represented at Batesville’s World IMCA Stock Car Championship

BATESVILLE, Ark. – Qualifying for the World IMCA Stock Car Championship presented by IMCA.TV gets under Wednesday night, with drivers from 16 states already registered for the $50,000 to win special at Batesville Motor Speedway. The top-paying event for The Class Too Tough To Tame brings the 50th anniversary season at Batesville to a close Oct. 13-16. Thirty cars start Saturday’s main event, running for shares of a $125,000 purse with $15,000 paid to the runner-up, $10,000 for third, $5,000 for fourth, $3,000 for fifth and a minimum of $1,500 to start. Top two drivers from each of 15 heat races transfer to nightly ‘A’ features Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with the top nine from those races advancing to Saturday’s big show. Third and fourth place drivers, fifth and sixth place drivers and seventh and eighth place drivers transfer to nightly “B,” “C” and “D” features to race for points. Tonight’s (Tuesday) practice session runs from 6:30-9:30 p.m. Pit passes are $20. Pit gates opens at 2 p.m. Wednesday and at 4:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. The grandstand [Read More]

Bowers’ third straight Missouri Nationals IMCA Modified win mirrors 2020 checkers

OSBORN, Mo. – Steven Bowers Jr.’s third straight victory at US 36 Raceway’s Missouri Nationals played out a lot like last year’s run to the checkers. A DNQ due to fuel pump-related issues again on Friday, Bowers won his last-chance IMCA Modified qualifier on Saturday, started 13th and took the lead 20 laps into the main event, leading the last 10 circuits to earn $2,000 and Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational qualifying eligibility. “It was déjà vu,” said Bowers, who’d won every weekly feature at Osborn except opening night. “This has been a good track for me, that’s for sure. “It’s a fast track and you’ve got to be up on the wheel. “It’s definitely not a finesse track. It’s a driver’s track.” Bowers went to the top to catch the leaders, then moved down a line. He pulled away following a late caution, winning by two-plus seconds ahead of Drew Janssen. Jeff James, Terry Hurt and Brandon Conkwright completed the top five. Stuart Snyder was the $2,000 IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car winner, Mike Nichols repeated his [Read More]