Ryan Clark

One-man tour takes Thomas to first IMCA Hobby Stock win

CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (June 3, 2023) – John Thomas’ one-man tour took him to victory lane Saturday night. The leader in national and Big Daddy Race Cars Southern Region rookie points won for the first time in his IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock career, hauling from ninth in the checkered flag run at Central Arizona Raceway. The win came in his 22nd start of the season, after three straight second-place finishes and, best of all, on girlfriend Meghan Aden’s birthday. “We’re calling this my You Only Die Once, You Live Every Day Tour,” explained Thomas, who turns 58 at the end of July. “I got back into racing this year following a health scare. I told Meghan this was something I wanted to do, she said ‘Do it,’ so I did.” “I’ve always been a fender guy,” added Thomas, most recently a winner circa 2007 in the pure stock class at West Valley Speedway. “This was something I did way back when and I never got away from it. I’m really glad to be racing again.” The Arizona native [Read More]

Foulger is double winner at Antioch’s Soares Memorial

By Candice Martin ANTIOCH, Calif. (June 3, 2023) – Troy Foulger was a double winner and Jason Ryan Jr. won for the second time this season Saturday during the Soares Memorial program at Antioch Speedway. Foulger won both Friesen Memorial IMCA Modified and IMCA Sunoco Stock Car features while Ryan raced to the Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod checkers. Looking for a second straight win, national rookie point leader Andrew Pearce set the early pace, but a turn four pass on the second lap put Foulger into the lead. Foulger led Pearce through a pair of yellow flags in the first 12 laps as Buddy Kniss ran third. Nick DeCarlo and Anthony Slaney dueled fiercely for fourth before Slaney moved ahead. Slaney got around Kniss for third on lap 15. Foulger had a good lead on Pearce and picked up the impressive win. Slaney ended up third ahead of DeCarlo and Randy Shafer. Later, Foulger came back and won his third Stock Car main event. Rob Gallaher led early with Foulger making an inside pass on [Read More]

Bubak back in victory lane in Eagle

By Greg Soukup EAGLE, Neb. (June 3, 2023) – Jake Bubak was back to teach his IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car foes a thing or two during the Schools Out For Summer show at Eagle Raceway. Winner of both the main event and the race of champions at last September’s RaceSaver Nationals, Bubak sprinted back to victory lane in the finale event of the evening Saturday. Bubak advanced to fourth following an early restart, got past Shayle Bade for third the next time around and advanced to second place on lap nine. He grabbed the lead with 12 laps left and went on to the win ahead of Brandon Horton and Stuart Snyder. “This was just for one night. We’re trying to get Toby Chapman and Jeff Stefonik going a little better,” said Bubak, also the 2020 RaceSaver Nationals king. “They have been struggling all year, so we’re just here to help. We changed a whole bunch this week and still were changing throughout the night and the car ended up pretty dang good by the end of [Read More]

IMCA Stock Cars highlight Super Sunday at Benton County Speedway

VINTON, Iowa (June 6, 2023) – A $1,000 winner’s share will showcase a busy Super Sunday this weekend at Benton County Speedway. IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars presented by Christie Door Company will do battle for a $1,000 top prize in their draw/redraw event Sunday, June 11 at The Bullring. There is no entry fee for the Stock Cars, which will pay $100 to start the Super Sunday main event, and earn the winner qualifying eligibility for the B&B Racing Chassis All-Star Invitational at this year’s Speedway Motors IMCA Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. Track points will be awarded. Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds presented by Beaty Excavating, IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks presented by Vermedahl Trucking, Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods presented by Houdek Auto Center and Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compacts presented by iHeart Radio will also be in competition for weekly points racing at The Bullring. The annual candy dash, which was originally scheduled for the June 4 program that was rained out just prior to race time, has been rescheduled and will be held during [Read More]

Larson, Larsen are Saturday winners at Arlington

ARLINGTON, Minn. (June 3, 2023) – They’re the seventh- and 54th-most common surnames in Minnesota but Larson or Larsen, however you spell it, was the most popular name in victory lane Saturday night at Arlington Raceway. Eric Larson was the Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod winner and Josh Larsen the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car winner. Eric Larson started outside second row and by turn two was leading the SportMod main. Broddy Enter, who had started right behind him was trying to catch him but on lap seven Joey Reimers spun and brought out a yellow flag and a restart. On the restart, both Matt Looft and Zac Davis got around Enter but Larson was holding strong to his front position. Another yellow flag came out when Zach Malchow spun. This time, Looft and Davis exchanged spots and Looft tried to run down Larson but had to settle for second ahead of Davis and Ben Reierson took fourth. A.J. Zimmerman led the first two laps of the Stock Car feature from his front row start. Soon, [Read More]

Points leaders, lists take shape at Off Road

By Randy Pospishil sports@norfolkdailynews.com NORFOLK, Neb. (June 3, 2023) – The racing season may be just one-third of the way toward completion, but the points lists and the respective leaders in each of the various divisions are already taking shape at Off Road Speedway. Even at this early stage of the season, every point earned contributes to a potential track championship. Cory Dumpert, for example, entered Saturday night’s regular night of racing with a narrow three-point advantage over Devin Johnson and Chase Osborne in the IMCA Sunoco Late Model division. Dumpert will be able to add to that margin, albeit slightly, after his feature win, while Johnson was black flagged during the race and Osborne finished third. Dumpert patiently moved from deep in the field, with a starting position five rows back from the leaders then, after gaining momentum exiting turn two, cut sharply down the track entering turn three to secure the lead from Justin Bertschinger just before the race’s second caution and restart with four laps remaining. Dumpert’s win is his second of [Read More]

Mills, Reimers clean up with Dirty 30 wins at Boone

By Joyce Eisele BOONE, Iowa (June 3, 2023) – Both Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Northern SportMods shed their tops on Dirty 30 Topless Night presented by Capital Sign Company and 1-800-BetsOff Saturday at Boone Speedway. Jeremy Mills came away with the $1,200 win for the Modifieds and it was Cam Reimers taking the $1,000 victory in the Northern SportMod division. Jimmy Gustin shot to the lead from his pole starting spot as the Modified main began. Gustin looked to be well on his way to capturing the win, still leading at lap 20 while several other drivers continued making their way through the pack. Mills was one of those racers, as was last week’s winner Todd Shute, along with Jake McBirnie and Cody Laney, who had worked his way into third from starting 26th. Gustin had established his line at the very top of the track and bad luck would jump up and bite him when he dropped off the lip of the track in turn four. He gathered it back in but that slight miscue [Read More]

Young wins first PASS feature, Spahr streak ends at six

By Frank Buhrman PORT ROYAL, Pa. (June 3, 2023) – Drew Young had been getting closer and closer. The third-year driver broke through Saturday night at Port Royal Speedway, winning the 20-lap River Valley Builders Pennsylvania Sprint Series feature and ending Logan Spahr’s 2023 undefeated streak. Young’s third-place finish in the second heat race put him in the feature redraw, where he drew the outside of the front row and then led all the way, masterfully handling traffic in the non-stop race to score a 5.328 second victory over Mike Melair, who registered his second runner-up finish of 2023. It has been an impressive climb for Young, who had never driven a race car before he brought his IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car out for the first in August of 2020. After four races that season, he became a regular in 2021 and earned three top-10 finishes in 20 starts. He added a pair of top-five’s last season and has regularly been more competitive this year, including taking a second at Port Royal on May 6 [Read More]

Muenster, Seegert headline Shawano’s Hall of Fame Night

By Brandon Reichenberger SHAWANO, Wis. (June 3, 2023) – Shawano Speedway has seen numerous legendary drivers make laps around the track throughout its rich history. In 2007, the Shawano Speedway Hall of Fame was founded and since then two deserving legends have been inducted each year. Saturday night during intermission and in front of an enthusiastic crowd, friends and family, Eddie Muenster and Gordie Seegert Jr. were enshrined into the Hall of Fame as the class of 2023. Eighty-nine cars signed in to do battle and Jared Siefert, Tyler Sobiesczyk and Marcus Yarie would be IMCA feature winners. Jerry Muenster, a 2010 Hall of Fame inductee, and Paul Thorpe led the Friesen Performance IMCA Modified field to the green flag for a 20-lap, action-packed feature. Much like the heat race earlier on in the night it was Jerry Muenster and Jerry Wilinski holding down the top 2two spots at the start. Marcus Yarie overtook Nick Holtger for third by lap three and quickly set his sights on the top two. Wilinski used the high line [Read More]

Blume, Bahrs, LeBarge add names to Maquoketa Speedway winners list

By Jerry Mackey MAQUOKETA, Iowa (June 3, 2023) – Maquoketa Speedway hosted the fifth night of the 2023 season Saturday on an a very warm night for early June. The racing action was outstanding with lots of close finishes on a very racy ¼-mile track. The Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds saw a first-time winner for the 2023 season make his way to victory lane. Austin Blume drove a perfect race riding the extreme high groove besting a strong field. Blume took command early from his second row start and led the 20-lap main for 18 laps in the race that went caution-free. Jeff Larson advanced from the fourth row to take second ahead of Ryan Duhme. Jason Bahrs also scored his first win of the season at Maquoketa topping the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars. Bahrs took advantage of a front row start and led the race flag to flag in scoring the win ahead of Jerry Miles and Chase Zaruba. Ben Chapman is having an outstanding year in his new Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod. [Read More]