Ryan Clark

All Star Shootout Stock Car champion Shelby Williams

BONHAM, Texas (May 26, 2024) – Shelby Williams once again performed in championship style in this year’s IMCA All Star Shootout, successfully defending his 2023 IMCA Sunoco Stock Car title. Picking up his first win right out of the gate at Southern Oklahoma Speedway on opening night, Williams set the stage going into the rest of the tour with a lot of momentum behind him. No stranger to Victory Lane at Ardmore, Williams drew well and started on the outside of the front row in the “A”, going on to win. Night two at Kennedale Speedway Park put a damper on his momentum after being squeezed between two cars coming out of turn four in his heat. After qualifying for the main event through his “B,” Williams started 15th, advanced eight spots and finished seventh. Onto night three at Heart ‘O Texas Speedway in Waco. With 10 inches of rain hitting the area over the past month, track officials performed a Herculean feat to prepare the track for the last leg of the tour. Although [Read More]

All Star Shootout Southern SportMod champion Trey Votaw

ELM MOTT, Texas (May 26, 2024) – Trey Votaw had one goal in mind when he signed up for the IMCA All Star Shootout Tour this year. Votaw had a successful run in 2023 but finished runner-up to Smiley’s Racing Products IMCA Southern SportMod champion Jeff Shepperd. The Elm Mott speedster knew he had the car to win if he could just put together the runs it would take to come out on top. On opening night at Southern Oklahoma Speedway, Votaw drew outside front row in his heat and went on to win, securing his place in the “A.” He then drew the seventh place start behind some very fast competitors. Votaw was able to advance three spots to finish fourth, but Shepperd took the win after advancing 11 positions. Shepperd was no doubt going to be tough. However, Josh Landers and Mikel Wingate proved they had the goods to compete with second and third place finishes, respectively, as well. Night number two at Kennedale Speedway Park saw Votaw draw a fourth place start [Read More]

Oh baby, what a race on opening night at Jamestown!

JAMESTOWN, N.D. (May 25, 2024) – Jamestown Speedway is the track where Becca and Jessup Pelkey met, where they got engaged, and where they spend most of their Saturday nights during the race season. So when it came time to hold the gender reveal to announce whether their first child, due in early fall, would be a boy or girl, Jamestown was the obvious location. Close friends Scott Gartner, who drives a red Friesen Performance IMCA Modified, and Chris Ritter, driver of a blue WISSOTA Street Stock, agreed to help with the reveal, held during the May 25 opening night show. The Pelkeys got a card, with the baby’s gender written on it, in a sealed envelope from their obstetrician. They gave that envelope to Gartner and Ritter, who had a day to script out the three-lap race they’d run during intermission Saturday at Jamestown. Becca, a co-announcer and race writer for the Jamestown Speedway, took to the microphone to tell fans about the race before watching from victory lane. Jessup was perched in the [Read More]

Paris towers over Maquoketa foes

By Anthony Ainslie & Jerry Mackey MAQUOKETA, Iowa (May 25, 2024) – With 31 drivers signed in for the night, making the starting field for Saturday’s Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod main event at Maquoketa Speedway was a challenge. Shane Paris proved up to that challenge with another impressive run to the checkers on the fast quarter-mile oval. Paris advanced to the front quickly all the way from his 12th place staring position and went on to record the win ahead of Jarrett Franzen, who advanced nine positions. Josh Starr rounded out the top three. The Friesen Performance IMCA Modified feature saw drivers race every inch of the track as three- and four-wide battles were witnessed throughout the 20-lap main event. Charlie Mohr advanced from a fourth row start to take the win ahead of Brandon Jewell and Tim Current. Andrew Burk scored the feature win in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, holding off Tanner Allen and Jarett Franzen. The no. 27 Z normally driven by Chase Zaruba was driven by Franzen on Saturday night. Allen [Read More]

Points competition underway at Off Road Speedway

By Randy Pospishil sports@norfolkdailynews.com NORFOLK, Neb. (May 24, 2024) – The racing season is still early, but the competition for points and the pursuit of a track championship is already in play for drivers in all divisions at Off Road Speedway after Saturday night’s regular slate of racing. Turning multiple wins into a lead atop the points standings are racers like Anthony Roth and Cameron Wilkinson, both with two wins in three outings in the IMCA Sunoco Late Model and IMCA Sunoco Stock Car divisions, respectively. Roth, who has now won twice and also finished third in three tries this season at Off Road Speedway, made Saturday night’s trip to victory lane an exciting one. The Columbus driver was on the outside of the top three, trailing race leader Chase Osborne, along with Beau Johnson and Cory Dumpert, until the final two of 25 laps when he made his move. Coming out of turn four of the white flag lap, Roth darted past Johnson and Dumpert, then closed in on and passed Osborne for the win. [Read More]

Schmitz scores IMCA Modified first in opener at Jamestown

By Becca Pelkey JAMESTOWN, N.D. (May 25, 2024) – Logan Schmitz raced to the first win of his Friesen Performance IMCA Modified career, on the first night of the new season at Jamestown Speedway. Three-time and defending track champion John Corell started on the pole and led the field to the green flag in the Saturday night finale but outside pole sitter Schmitz, wasted no time grabbing the lead. Kollin Hibdon, who started ninth, quickly climbed his way through the field and challenged Schmitz for the lead. Contact between the front pair brought out the first yellow on lap six and resulted in Hibdon getting charged with the caution. Schmitz was able to continue but cautions then slowed the feature. The ensuing restarts allowed Nord to charge through the field and battle for the win. As the cautions helped him early, the cautions hurt him at the end of the race. On the final restart with six laps to go, Nord was slow to hit the gas and allowed Logan Schmitz to cruise to his [Read More]

Trumbo trumps Thomas County Sport Compact feature

By Sheldon Wickwar COLBY, Kan. (May 24, 2024) – Hard charger Ted Trumbo started the parade to victory lane in the Memorial Weekend show at Thomas County Speedway. Trumbo warmed up for the Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compact main event by winning his heat race. James Bader and Tyson Plumisto drew front row starts for the main event but Kyle Benoit grabbed the race lead and ran up front before a caution. The restart was chaotic, and Madison Reed was able to get to the lead by lap four; lap five saw the sixth starting Trumbo get to second. Reed and Trumbo battled closely for the remainder of the feature with Trumbo gaining the lead on lap 10 and taking the win. Second was Reed and third was Kyle Mortensen. Other IMCA winners on the night were Morgan Olmstead in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks, Blaine Walt in the Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods, Kyle Pfeifer in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars and Brett Berry in the Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds. Olmstead raced his way to [Read More]

Harris brings broom to Natural Bridge

By Jim Haines NATURAL Bridge, Va. (May 25, 2024) – On the first hot humid night of the season, Jerald Harris was on a hot streak sweeping his heat and feature for his second Virginia Sprint Series feature win of the year. Harris and Matthew Leach paced the IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car field at Natural Bridge Speedway to green and Harris was out first with Leach, Chris Humblet and John Scarborough in tow. On lap two, Leach spun in turn two to reload the field and Harris took off again with Humblet and Scarborough racing for second. On lap five, Leach and John Smith got together, ending the night for both. Harris took off with Humblet and Scarborough right with him Dylan Shatzer and Caleb Harris were racing for fourth. Scarborough got by Humblet and was using the low line to close in on Harris that liked the higher line. Shatzer got by Humblet to get to third as the laps were clicking off fast. Traffic came into play as the race was winding down [Read More]

IMCA anniversary wins at Boone go to Berry, Anderson

By Joyce Eisele BOONE, Iowa (May 25, 2024) – It was a great night of racing at the Boone Speedway Saturday. There were 172 cars checked in for the Memorial Day Holiday weekend event that included extra money on the line for the Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds, celebrating their 45th anniversary and the Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods, celebrating 19 years of racing. It was also a Stealth Racing Corn Belt Clash race for the IMCA STARS Mod Lites. It was Tom Berry Jr. taking top honors in the IMCA Modifieds, in an exciting race for the fans that witnessed a “slide fest.” Austin Bouzek got his first win at the track when he took the checkers in the IMCA Sunoco Stock car “A” main. Logan Anderson went home with the trophy in the IMCA Friesen Performance SportMods and once again, it was Mike Smith back in victory lane for the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks. Corn Belt Clash winner for the STARS Mod Lites was Bryan Zehm. Mod Lites were running for a $1,000 payday that would [Read More]

Garrigan does it again while Mass dominates at Black Hills

By Ben Deatherage RAPID CITY, S. D. – The high-horsepower half-mile clay oval of Black Hills Speedway roared to life again on Friday, for the third race of the 2024 campaign. Competitors in the Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Modified Hobby Stocks were in action. At the drop of the green flag in the Modified main, Eric Mass immediately went to work and took the race lead from starting third going into the first corner. The Rapid City driver was looking for redemption from the week before when mechanical woes forced him to retire early. Whether out in the open or dealing with a bit of lapped traffic, Mass dominated the field to the checkers. It was his second victory of the season. Brent Nielsen and Nate Hand were second and third, respectively. Sean Weber seized the lead in turn three from the initial pacesetter Lori Konst, setting the stage for an intense battle later on in the Hobby Stock show. Things intensified on the sixth circuit when John Garrigan Jr., Weber and Brett Konst [Read More]