Divisions Archives

Aiming high, Arizona’s DeRagon returns to rule IMCA’s Southern Hobby Stock region

PEORIA, Ariz. (Nov. 6, 2024) – Nathan DeRagon aimed high when setting goals for his first full-time IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock season in five years. As a result, the Peoria pilot and pretty keen statistician became the first Arizona driver to earn the B & B Racing Chassis Southern Region championship. “My initial goal was to race as much as I could, go to new tracks and get at least one track championship and the state championship,” said DeRagon, who had become the first Arizona driver to win Hobby Stock regional rookie of the year honors in 2019, before a two-year stint in the Air Force. “If all went well and I had a shot at the regional championship, that was going to be an over achievement.” He led the national points race much of the season, finishing fourth in those standings. DeRagon counted 20 feature wins and 36 top-five finishes in his 48 starts, that on-track success translating into Central Arizona Raceway, Cocopah Speedway and Deuce of Clubs Thunder Raceway track titles, plus the [Read More]

Determined Mallet hammers down in drive to national, regional IMCA Modified honors

OAKLEY, Calif. (Nov. 5, 2024) – If they gave an award for determination, Jacob Mallet Jr. would have won that, too. The Oakley speedster made the step up from a Northern SportMod to a Friesen Performance IMCA Modified in 2024, traveling to 15 different tracks, 10 of them in his home state, and finished with five wins and another 20 top five finishes in his 47 starts. Those numbers were good for national and Shaw Race Cars Western Region rookie of the year honors. “We started and went into the season with a goal and wanted to achieve it no matter what it took. We had to keep on truckin’ no matter what the outcomes were,” said Mallet, the first California driver to win the national rookie prize since Scott Pounds in 1993. “We went through a lot of lows, from wrecking a bunch and flipping one night at Willamette.” “We just stayed focused on the goal and did our best not to let anything negative affect us.” Also the California state champion, Mallet made [Read More]

B & B All-Star eligible list adds eight

VINTON, Iowa (Nov. 4, 2024) – Eight more IMCA Sunoco Stock Car drivers will contend for the 2025 B & B Racing Chassis All-Star Invitational crown. Zane DeVilbiss earned an automatic berth in that event with his $10,000 checkers at Batesville Motor Speedway’s Schoenfeld Headers Mid-America IMCA Stock Car Championship. Jeff Larson won twice during the Fall Bash at Cedar County Raceway while Dallon Murty’s night two win at Tipton proved to be his first of three qualifying victories during October. Jordan Grabouski swept the Octoberfest weekend at Beatrice Speedway. Patrick Linn and Hayden Linn each made visits to victory lane during the Natural State Nationals at Two Dollar Pistol Motor Speedway. Mike Mullen banked the big money at 141 Speedway’s Car Wars, David Brandies was the class of the field at Maquoketa Speedway’s Allstar Classic and Jason Batt was best at Abilene Speedway’s Southern Challenge. Drivers winning specials paying $750 or more who were already qualifying eligible were Tathan Burkhart and Branon Schmitt. Drivers already eligible to qualify for the B & B All-Star Invitational [Read More]

Career highlights bookend Zogg’s IMCA North Central Region championship season

NEW LIBERTY, Iowa (Nov. 4, 2024) – After starting his season with one career highlight, Chris Zogg ended it with another. The Friesen Performance IMCA Modified veteran from New Liberty, Iowa, ventured to Arizona’s Cocopah Speedway in January, outrunning Tim Ward and 68 other Modified entries on opening night of the IMCA.TV Winter Nationals. He’d return to the Midwest and race to another 13 feature wins among 34 top five finishes in earning his career-first Razor Chassis North Central Region crown and national runner-up honors. “I like going to different race tracks and racing against different people. I can learn more about the car and make myself faster,” said Zogg, also the Davenport Speedway track and Iowa State champion. “This year I decided we’d travel more, and when I say travel I mean we have like eight tracks within three hours of us. I consider myself spoiled with all the tracks we have.” “I decided to race Davenport and 34 Raceway weekly and we started clicking off wins,” continued Zogg, who had looked at the [Read More]

Rainy start to season slows, but can’t stop Looft’s charge to seventh IMCA Northern SportMod crown

SWEA CITY, Iowa (Nov. 4, 2024) – His season didn’t begin like any other in Matthew Looft’s Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod career, but the way it ended was plenty familiar. “It was just a different year with all the rainouts early in the season. We went almost a month (April 15 to May 11) without a race,” said Looft, asked to compare national championship number seven with any of the six that preceded it. “So we worked and we relaxed and had more family time, which was good.” Looft, from rural Swea City, Iowa, totaled 33 feature wins among 46 top-five finishes in his 50 starts in 2024, earning track titles at Arlington Raceway, Kossuth County Speedway and Murray County Speedway. The biggest payday of his 296 career wins in the division came at Clay County Fair Speedway’s Quarter Million Dollar Challenge in May; his checkered flag run at Boone Speedway’s NAPA Auto Parts Double Down Prelude came with the national points race heating up. “The Quarter Million Dollar Challenge paid $16,667 and that made [Read More]

12 new to Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational list

VINTON, Iowa (Nov. 4, 2024) – Add another dozen Friesen Performance IMCA Modified drivers to the list of those eligible to qualify for the upcoming Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational. Cody Laney and Tripp Gaylord were both winners at the Fall Bash, held at Cedar County Raceway. Andrew Pearce prevailed at Antioch Speedway’s Bill Bowers Memorial and Clay Money cashed in at RPM Speedway’s Fall Nationals. Cole Czarneski topped Car Wars at 141 Speedway while Jordan Grabouski and Cory Wray paced features at Beatrice Speedway’s Octoberfest. Kyle Wisdom paced Abilene Speedway’s Southern Challenge. Brandon Schmitt scored big at the Iowa Dirt Nationals held at Maquoketa Speedway. Jeff Taylor and Ashton Wilkey were best at Two Dollar Pistol Motor Speedway’s Natural State Nationals. And Troy Morris III took home the top check from Mohave Valley Raceway’s Trick or Treat Classic. Already eligible, Tom Berry won four qualifying events in October, including a three-race sweep at Batesville Motor Speedway’s Race For Hope 71. Ethan Braaksma and Drew Janssen were also already qualifying eligible and winners at Allstar Classic [Read More]

After plans change, Herrera sets winning pace for IMCA Hobby Stock rookie, Junior National awards

PRICE, Utah (Oct. 25, 2025) – After his dad talked to some of the “big names” in IMCA, Payce Herrera made a name for himself in an IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock. The Carbon High School sophomore hotshoed his way to 24 feature wins and national and B & B Racing Chassis Southern Region rookie of the year honors, as well as the coveted Junior National Championship. “We weren’t even planning to race a Hobby Stock this season,” said Herrera, whose father and crew chief J.R. was thinking more along the lines of an IMCA Sunoco Stock Car or Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod. “Then he talked to Chad Wehrs and some of the big name drivers and they all recommended a Hobby Stock.” Those guys with the names you know clearly knew what they were talking about as the 16-year-old from Price scored Diamond Mountain Speedway and Utah State championships, while finishing eighth in national point standings and second in his region. “We set a goal at the end of last year to run for [Read More]

Goos adds to South Dakota IMCA Sprint Car heritage with 2024 RaceSaver national crown

HARTFORD, S.D. (Oct. 25, 2024) – Lee Goos Jr. knew all about the rich heritage of IMCA Sprint Cars in his home state of South Dakota when he started racing. Now he’s an even bigger part of it. From Hartford, Goos is the 2024 Racesaver Sprint Car national champion, joining the likes of Matt Richards, Steve Ballenger, Doug Wolfgang and Dusty Ballenger in earning IMCA’s top award for the winged division. “The first car I ever bought, which I still have, is 1994 Schnee that Matt Richards won the 1994 IMCA Championship with. I remember thinking how cool is was a local guy being the national champion. I never imaginedmI would be in the same group of (South Dakota) drivers to win a national championship,” Goos said. “And I’ll never forget years later after buying Matt’s car, he came up to me at the race track and mentioned I turned out to be a much better racer then he ever expected.” “Winning the national championship is definitely a great accomplishment. I realized more last year what it meant [Read More]

Relaxed approach to racing takes Raffurty to fourth straight IMCA STARS Mod Lite title

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Oct. 24, 2024) – Dillon Raffurty says he “just races” and doesn’t worry about wins. This season, he took that relaxed attitude to the track and raced to a fourth consecutive Stealth Racing IMCA STARS Mod Lite national championship. “It’s cool, especially to be the only national champion since IMCA began sanctioning the class (in 2021),” said Raffurty, from Kansas City, Mo., and the winner of 30 out of 40 starts this season. “IMCA definitely has a different point format than what we were used to and it’s made us work along the way, but it’s been neat to compete against everybody in the country and come out on top.” Track champion at Electric City Speedway and at Valley Speedway – his IMCA career 100th win came on June 1 at Grain Valley – Raffurty also four-peated as the Missouri State king. He’d started 2024 with another successful Southern swing, winning the night two show at Ocala Speedway’s Brick City Nationals and night three at Hendry County Motorsports Park’s Sugar Bowl Winter Nationals [Read More]

Probst caps decade of success with second IMCA Hobby Stock national championship

BREWSTER, Minn. (Oct. 24, 2024) – A couple wins at a track that hasn’t treated Cory Probst too kindly in the past gave him a big boost of confidence. Four wins racing closer to home to wrap up the season made him a two-time IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock national champion. Probst, from Brewster, Minn., matched his career-best total with 29 feature wins, in 46 starts, for the tie-breaking championship edge over Mike Smith and Cody Williams in the national standings. All three had finished the season with the maximum 1,000 points, plus 30 points for two track titles. “I wasn’t planning on racing for national points this year but it’s always something that’s in the back of your head, especially when you’ve won it before and put together some good seasons. It wasn’t until maybe early August that I saw I could have a shot,” said Probst, who’d previously hoisted the national champion trophy in 2020 and dedicated this campaign to late chassis builder Dale Bittner, who passed away in May. “We knew it would [Read More]