Late Model Archives

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]

IMCA Late Model honors are Richards’ IMCA rookie record third

LINCOLN, Neb. (Nov. 14, 2023) – A season that started with admittedly low expectations instead resulted in Cade Richards racing into the IMCA record book. Richards became the first IMCA driver to win national rookie of the year honors in three different divisions, following first-year honors for Friesen Performance Northern SportMods (2019) and IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars (2021) with the IMCA Sunoco Late Model rookie prize. “We weren’t expecting much but it turned out to be a pretty good year,” said Richards, who turned 19 just before the end of the season and is in his first year studying toward a mechanical engineering degree at the University of Nebraska in his hometown of Lincoln. “I was racing for Al Humphrey in a 10-year-old Victory Circle Late Model we pulled out of a barn.” “We put in a lot of work right before the start of the season to get it ready,” he continued. “I’ve raced a Stock Car and made maybe 15 Modified starts the last two years so the big transition was learning the [Read More]

Schoenfeld Headers adds awards for IMCA top 10 Hobby Stocks, national champions

VAN BUREN, Ark. (Nov. 8, 2023) – Schoenfeld Headers puts the wraps on its 25th sponsorship season with new awards for even more IMCA drivers. The Van Buren, Ark., manufacturer, a long-time sponsor of IMCA special events, gives more than $5,000 in product certificates, redeemable for a new set of headers, to top 10 finishers in national standings for the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks and to national champions in seven other IMCA divisions. Top 10 Hobby Stock recipients of $260 certificates are national champion Zach Olmstead, Mike Smith, Tristan Grape, Nicholas Ronnebaum, Cory Probst, Cody Williams, Kyler Satran, Randy Lamar, Thomas Daffern and Brandon Nielsen Also receiving certificates will be national champions Chaz Baca, Modified, and Dillon Raffurty, STARS Mod Lite, both $410; Cory Dumpert, Late Model, $390; Tyler Drueke, RaceSaver Sprint Car, $350; Mike Nichols, Stock Car, $330; and Matthew Looft, Northern SportMod, and David Phillips, Southern SportMod, both $290. Schoenfeld certificates will be presented Nov. 25 during the IMCA national banquet. “Special series and Super Nationals competitors have benefitted from Schoenfeld Header support for many [Read More]

Headers, ride height highlight few changes to 2024 IMCA rules

VINTON, Iowa (Nov. 8, 2023) – Hobby Stock drivers have an exhaust header option and minimum and maximum ride height is specified in four divisions, in the 2024 rules announced today by IMCA. Changes from 2023 and other previous seasons were few, noted IMCA President Brett Root, so drivers who were legal this year won’t be spending extra money to be legal next year. Beginning next season, Hobby Stock drivers competing with a crate engine can use Schoenfeld header part no. 1485-CM2-22 or an OEM exhaust manifold with a 2-1/4 inch diameter exhaust pipe while those competing with a claim engine can use a Schoenfeld header part no. 1485-20 or OEM exhaust manifold with a two inch diameter exhaust pipe. “This is a step we believe will keep the field level for more drivers in the division,” explained Root. “Schoenfeld has already added header awards to their 2023 contingency program which drivers will be receiving at our upcoming national banquet.” Minimum and maximum ride heights for Modifieds and Northern SportMods are four inches and 7-1/2 inches, and [Read More]

Car photos needed for Allstar Performance heat winner awards

VINTON, Iowa (Nov. 1, 2023) – The 2023 point season may be over and the champions announced, but Allstar Performance will still make winners of drivers in all nine IMCA divisions. Drivers who won 10 or more heat races during the season receive $100 gift cards from the Watervliet, Mich., high performance parts manufacturer and heat race winner decal program sponsor. The driver with the most heat race wins gets a $250 gift card. What drivers MUST do to make themselves eligible for gift card awards is email a photo of their car showing proof of heat win decal placement, as distributed by tracks, to IMCA Marketing Integration and Sponsorship Director Carson Becker-Gramm at cbgramm@imca.com by Nov. 7. No pictures will be accepted after that date. “This is easy money,” said Becker-Gramm, “and I encourage all eligible drivers who have not done so already to get a picture of their car showing proof of heat winner decal placement taken and emailed to me by next Tuesday.” Allstar Performance gift cards will be presented during the IMCA national [Read More]

Dumpert does everything right in racing to fifth straight IMCA Late Model national title

NEWMAN GROVE, Neb. (2023) – Cory Dumpert vowed last fall that he’d “hit the ground running” when the 2023 IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing point season rolled around. He made good on that promise, racing to 15 feature wins, three track titles and a record-extending fifth straight IMCA Sunoco Late Model national championship. “Last year was more for fun. This year we just kept our head down and kept racing. It was more of something I wanted to do,” said Dumpert, from Newman Grove, Neb., now the third driver in IMCA’s modern era to win national championships in five consecutive seasons. “And now that I have won five straight, the feeling is hard to describe.” “We’re in uncharted waters.” Dumpert was quick to find victory lane after switching to a Longhorn Chassis, topping the opening night show at U.S. 30 Speedway and collecting another 10 checkers by mid-June. While he did most of his racing in Nebraska, a visit to Crawford County Speedway in Denison, Iowa, on June 16 provided the second of three feature wins that [Read More]

Unofficial 2023 IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing National Point Standings

Ties broken by 40-point feature win totals, then 39 point finishes, then 38, etc. Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds – 1. Chaz Baca, Mesa, Ariz., 1,029; 2. Matthew Day, Farmersville, Texas, 1,016; 3. Jeff Larson, Freeport, Ill., 1,006; 4. Travis Hagen, McGregor, N.D., 1,005; 5. Todd Shute, Norwalk, Iowa, 1,002; 6. Clint Hatlestad, Glencoe, Minn., 999; 7. Myron DeYoung, Stanton, Mich., 999; 8. Joel Rust, Grundy Center, Iowa, 991; 9. Jed Freiburger, Dubuque, Iowa, 988; 10. Jeremy Mills, Clear Lake, Iowa, 987; 11. Tim Ward, Harcourt, Iowa, 985; 12. William Gould, Calera, Okla., 983; 13. Jarrett Brown, Ainsworth, Iowa, 982; 14. Travis Denning, Sterling, Ill., 977; 15. Collin Thirlby, Grawn, Mich., 966; 16. Troy Morris III, Bakersfield, Calif., 962; 17. Chris Zogg, New Liberty, Iowa, 960; 18. Jake Nightingale, Maize, Kan., 959; 19. Anthony Roth, Platte Center, Neb., 959; 20. Ty Clemens, Belgrade, Mont., 954. IMCA Sunoco Late Models – 1. Cory Dumpert, Newman Grove, Neb., 810; 2. Andy Nezworski, Blue Grass, Iowa, 799; 3. Alex Banks, Newman Grove, Neb., 776; 4. Cade Richards, Lincoln, Neb., 775; 5. [Read More]

A first for Arizona as Baca wins Modified crown, IMCA names top champions, rookies of 2023

VINTON, Iowa (Oct. 3, 2023) – After winning his career 100th feature in the division over the Memorial Weekend, Chaz Baca announced that his next goal for the 2023 season would be winning the Friesen Performance IMCA Modified national championship. Goal accomplished. The Mesa driver became the first Arizona driver to earn an IMCA national crown in any division, ending his drive to the title with six straight checkers and a career single-season best 25 feature wins in all. “I’m excited, relieved, everything you can be at once. This is a ‘Wow !’ thing,” said Baca. “We switched to a (2021) Harris car and thought we had a shot at it at the beginning of the season. My whole team, family, friends and sponsors, was really the key. The whole thing wouldn’t have happened without them.” Along with the national title, Baca raced to a career third Shaw Race Cars Western Region crown, track championships at Central Arizona Raceway, Cocopah Speedway and Deuce of Clubs Thunder Raceway and Arizona State title. While 23 of his weekly [Read More]

IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing National Point Standings through Sept. 21, 2023

Final points races of the 2023 season will be Sunday, Sept. 24 Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds – 1. Chaz Baca, Mesa, Ariz., 999; 2. Matthew Day, Farmersville, Texas, 988; 3. Clint Hatlestad, Glencoe, Minn., 987; 4. Tim Ward, Harcourt, Iowa, and Jeff Larson, Freeport, Ill., both 985; 6. Myron DeYoung, Stanton, Mich., 984; 7. William Gould, Calera, Okla., 983; 8. Joel Rust, Grundy Center, Iowa, 980; 9. Travis Hagen, McGregor, N.D., 977; 10. Todd Shute, Norwalk, Iowa, 973; 11. Jed Freiburger, Dubuque, Iowa, and Travis Denning, Sterling, Ill., both 962; 13. Jeremy Mills, Clear Lake, Iowa, 960; 14. Anthony Roth, Platte Center, Neb., 958; 15. Troy Morris III, Bakersfield, Calif., 957; 16. Chris Zogg, New Liberty, Iowa, 955; 17. Ty Clemens, Belgrade, Mont., 954; 18. Kaleb Emerson, Weatherford, Texas, 952; 19. Collin Thirlby, Grawn, Mich., 951; 20. Jarrett Brown, Ainsworth, Iowa, 943. IMCA Sunoco Late Models – 1. Cory Dumpert, Newman Grove, Neb., 795; 2. Andy Nezworski, Blue Grass, Iowa, 784; 3. Cade Richards, Lincoln, Neb., 775; 4. Alex Banks, Newman Grove, Neb., 774; 5. Kale Kosiski, [Read More]