Ryan Clark

Rosebrugh primed by Florida racing vacation for run to IMCA Eastern Region rookie award

WEST BRANCH, Mich. (Nov. 30, 2023) – Chase Rosebrugh started his first Friesen Performance IMCA Modified season with a Florida vacation. The third generation driver from West Branch, Mich., ended it as rookie of the year in the DeVilbiss Racing Eastern Region. “We had so much fun in this class, and one of the reasons was because we were able to travel and go to different tracks,” said Rosebrugh, son of long-time IMCA Modified driver Todd Rosebrugh and a teammate of Collin Thirlby and Brian Brindley. “We saw the Clash on the Coast series that Taylor (Peyton) was putting on and wanted to get our mid-winter racing fix.” “We didn’t necessarily go to Florida to race for points,” he continued, “but we were able to race four nights in some very tough fields. There were some very good fields there.” That late February, early March competition had Rosebrugh ready when tracks opened closer to home. He was a winner in just his third home state start, on May 20 at Merritt Speedway, and would total [Read More]

Chevrolet Performance bonuses are record $54,750 for IMCA crate engine track champions

VINTON, Iowa (Nov. 29, 2023) – Chevrolet Performance bonuses added up to a record $54,750 for IMCA drivers who won one or more track championships while competing exclusively with crate engines this season. Friesen Performance IMCA Modified, IMCA Sunoco Late Model, IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock, Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod and Smiley’s Racing Products IMCA Southern SportMod drivers who indicated on their 2023 license application they would run a crate engine receive $250 checks for each of a total of 219 track championships. “Those numbers are impressive,” observed IMCA Marketing Integration and Sponsorship Director Carson Becker-Gramm,” but what really stands out is that since the introduction of the original track championship bonus program in 2005, Chevrolet Performance has now paid over half a million dollars to IMCA drivers competing with crate engines and winning track titles.” “This program is a great way that Chevrolet Performance is able to support drivers across the country.” Modified drivers receiving bonuses for winning one or more track championships, with multiple track titles indicated in parenthesis, while competing with a crate [Read More]

Drivers at 57 tracks earn IMCA.TV replay bonuses adding up to $97,645

VINTON, Iowa (Nov. 28, 2023) – IMCA drivers won’t have to wait ‘til Christmas morning to open envelopes containing IMCA.TV bonus checks. A total of 705 drivers in the nine divisions sanctioned by IMCA earned shares $97,645 generated by replays of weekly and special events at 57 tracks broadcast by IMCA.TV or its affiliates. Modified, Late Model, RaceSaver Sprint Car and Stock Car drivers finishing in the top three in point standings at those tracks receive checks for $240, $160 and $135; Northern SportMod and Southern SportMod checks are distributed in the amounts of $140, $115 and $100, and Hobby Stock, STARS Mod Lite and Sport Compact checks are in the amounts of $115, $85 and $70. Those checks are being mailed this week from the IMCA home office. “This bonus program is the first of its kind and was developed by our streaming platform provider Riivet in 2021,” explained IMCA President Brett Root. “A percentage of subscription fees paid by replay viewers is paid to tracks and to top three drivers in sanctioned divisions.” “Almost $28,000 was paid to nearly [Read More]

McCurdy gets back on track, races to rookie award in Southern Region for IMCA Stock Cars

TEMPE, Ariz. (Nov. 21, 2023) – After a nine year break, Chris McCurdy Sr. decided the time was right to get back on the race track. After his first IMCA Sunoco Stock Car season, he was wishing he’d made that decision sooner. McCurdy followed an ambitious schedule, making 47 starts at seven different tracks. While it took 44 of those starts to get his one and only win, the Tempe, Ariz., driver became a consistent runner on the way to earning EQ Cylinder Heads Southern Region rookie of the year honors and the Arizona State championship. “We hadn’t raced since 2014 but when we started again this year we did it running with the big dogs at the IMCA.TV Winter Nationals,” said McCurdy, who piloted the same 2022 IROC Southwest by Rip Performance car son Chris Jr. won the state title in last year. “I’d never raced a car with this much suspension or with Hoosier tires before.” The top 10 finishes, 17 in all, would start coming in bunches by April. McCurdy would be [Read More]

Season-long tour ends with Thomas taking IMCA Hobby Stock Southern Region award

STRASBURG, Colo. (Nov. 21, 2023) – What started as the You Only Die Once, You Live Every Day Tour ended with John Thomas earning rookie of the year in the Southern Region for IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks. Thomas made 23 of his 38 starts in his native state of Arizona, ending up with four feature wins and 20 top five finishes. “What I liked best about being in a Hobby Stock was the competitors,” said Thomas, 58, who also raced in New Mexico, Utah and his adopted state of Colorado. “We’d race hard and we might fight hard, but we’d hug when we were done. And at the end of the season, everyone in the division was faster.” Guesstimating his last feature win came in a pure stock in 2007, Thomas got back into racing following a health scare and with the full support of girlfriend Meghan Aden. His first sanctioned victory, fittingly, came on June 3, her birthday, at Central Arizona Raceway. “That was my highlight of the season and not because it was my first [Read More]

Sachau follows Super Nationals success with IMCA Stock Car national, regional rookie awards

MANNING, Iowa (Nov. 20, 2023) – Jake Sachau needed a single season to race to a collection of IMCA accomplishments it would take most drivers an entire career to accumulate. The IMCA Sunoco Stock Car national and EQ Cylinder Heads Northern Region rookie of the year, Sachau was track champion at Crawford County Speedway and a 10-time feature winner in 2023, wrapping up the season with the checkers at Shelby County Speedway’s Tiny Lund Memorial. But wait, as the old late-night TV infomercials urged. There’s more! A two-car star, Sachau won both the BSB Race of Champions and Northern SportMod main event, and qualified for both the B & B Racing Chassis All-Star Invitational and Stock Car Big Dance at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. “Super Nationals is a race I’ve wanted to win my whole life. When I started racing, I told myself I wouldn’t stop until I did,” he said. “I had high expectations last year and went home disappointed. I knew I had the best car this year [Read More]

Stiteler lassoes rookie of the year award for IMCA Sport Compacts

DECATUR, Texas (Nov. 20, 2023) – His interest in a different kind of horsepower explained Stephen Stiteler’s decision to move to Texas. After retiring from rodeo last fall, the racing bug bit and that’s what got Stiteler on the dirt and in an IMCA Mach-1 Sport Compact. “I wish I would have done this sooner,” said Stiteler, national rookie of the year in the 4-cylinder division by virtue of a tiebreaker after finishing the 2023 season tied in points with teammate Callee Gaston. “I’ve never had so much fun.” The Michigan native turned Decatur resident made 50 starts during the season, winning three times and finishing third in the points race at Southern Oklahoma Speedway. He got his first win in the division at Ardmore and the other two at Kossuth County Speedway in Iowa during one of his quick racing vacations. “I had run go karts on dirt before I started rodeoing. I found a niche of people who did that in Michigan but figured I could do better in Texas and moved here [Read More]

Top IMCA Hobby Stock rookie Richardson ends super season with Saturday night start at Boone

MORNING SUN, Iowa (Nov. 20, 2023) – Tucker Richardson began his first IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock season not quite sure what he or his car were capable of. A lot, as it turned out. Richardson wrapped up national and IMCA Northern Region rookie of the year honors along with East Moline Speedway track and Illinois State championships while winning four features and qualifying for the main event at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s … all before celebrating his 17th birthday. “If you’d asked me at the beginning of the season if we’d be racing for rookie of the year, I’d have told you no way. If you’d asked in the middle of the season, I’d have told you maybe,” Richardson said. “Later, when I’d seen that I could compete, I was thinking we needed to go to more races. That’s when we started traveling and getting out more.” He’d turn laps at eight different tracks in all, racing to a flurry of top five finishes in the second half of the season [Read More]

Smith proves up to challenge in race to IMCA Northern SportMod rookie award

FORT MORGAN, Colo. (Nov. 17, 2023) – After much success in his two IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock seasons, Hunter Smith thought the time was right to look for new challenges in a new division. After his first Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod start, he knew that decision was the correct one. Smith, 16 years old and a junior at Brush High School, became the first Colorado driver to earn national rookie of the year honors in his new class. He’d also topped standings for Hobby Stock rookies in 2021. “We bought a 2019 Rage turnkey from Brett Berry on a Saturday. He helped us with setup and we raced it the next day,” Smith said. “The handling is different, but in a way I ended up driving it kind of like my Hobby Stock. “I’d just throw it into the corner, even on a dry slick track.” With Grandfather ‘Papa’ Rich Smith traveling with Hunter every night, his first of 10 wins on the season came in just his second start, at El Paso County [Read More]

Florida star Throop is top IMCA Mod Lite rookie

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (Nov. 16, 2023) – A streak of 12 consecutive feature wins keyed Stevie Throop’s race to the Stealth Racing IMCA STARS Mod Lite national rookie of the year award. But Throop, from West Palm Beach, said his biggest win came during a racing vacation outside his home state of Florida. “We had three top four finishes with the Tennessee Mod Lite Racing Association before winning the Memorial Weekend show at Diamond Park Speedway (in Arkansas),” said Throop, 24. “That was definitely our highlight of the season. To roll out of the box at a track you’ve never seen before and beat people who race there regularly speaks volumes about the program we’ve built in a short time.” Throop was quick to serve notice on his Mod Lite competition that he’d be a contender to be be reckoned with, winning a Sugar Bowl Nationals feature in just his second night out before launching that streak of 12 straight checkers from mid-February and into May at East Bay Raceway Park and Hendry County [Read More]