Feature Archives

Emerson thrives on competition, earns Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMod national rookie award

MILLSAP, Texas – Kaleb Emerson knew that good competition would make him a better driver. It made him the Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMod national rookie of the year, too. The 16-year-old from Millsap, Texas, topped the points race for rookie drivers in the division, complementing his first feature win in the division with another 11 top five finishes. “We set our sights on rookie of the year at the beginning of the season, knowing that racing with so many good drivers was going to make us better in the long run,” said Emerson, son and frequent travel partner of now three-time Texas Sprint Series champion Jeff Emerson. “This is definitely a very competitive division and when you race with guys like Jerrett Bransom, Matthew Day and Billy Gould Jr., it pushes you to strive to do your very best.” After making the move from a junior limited class – the biggest differences from a Southern SportMod were the engine and suspension – Emerson ran a homebuilt car at Abilene Speedway, Boyd Raceway, Heart O’ [Read More]

Day is lights out in drive to Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMod national crown

FARMERSVILLE, Texas – A driver who left prom early to go racing will be wearing a tuxedo again at the IMCA national awards banquet. Matthew Day, 18 years old and a senior at Farmersville, Texas, High School, collected a division-best 14 feature victories in winning the 2021 Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMod national championship “It’s definitely a big accomplishment,” said Day, who had earned top rookie of the year honors in the class last year. “All the work we put in on the car was definitely worth it.” ‘The car’ is the same 2020 Harris that Dean Abbey had driven to the 2020 national crown. “We chased Dean a lot of last year and decided to upgrade,” explained Day, who also enjoyed the expertise that car owner Chris Bragg provided with the purchase. “I wanted to be more consistent and get more wins this year. Our realistic goal was 10 wins.” “It took a little bit of getting used to but the car definitely fit my driving style,” he added. “We didn’t have the experience [Read More]

Seven drivers lock into weekend main events of Karl Chevrolet Duel in the Desert

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (Nov. 10) – Seven new drivers locked themselves into Karl Chevrolet Duel in the Desert championship features by way of qualifying feature victories on Wednesday night at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Winners of qualifying features receive automatic bids into Friday and Saturday night’s main events in four classes at the Duel in the Desert: IMCA Modified, Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod, IMCA Sunoco Stock Car and IMCA STARS Mod Lite. Chase Alves (SportMod), Dylan Van Wyk (SportMod), Arie Schouten (SportMod), Bubba Stafford Jr. (Stock Car), Zane DeVilbiss (Modified), Zack VanderBeek (Modified) and Ricky Alvarado (Modified) all earned places into their respective main events on Qualifying Night 2. The three repeat winners – who earned victories on both Tuesday and Wednesday – were Dallon Murty (Stock Car), Ricky Thornton Jr. (Modified) and Zack Forster (Mod Lite). To see a full breakdown of Wednesday night’s results, click here to see the Box Score. To see the event points standings, click HERE. Alves of Casa Grande, Ariz., took the lead on the second lap [Read More]

Quick to see potential with IMCA, Raffurty is first STARS Mod Lite national champion

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Dillon Raffurty saw the potential for himself and for the division when IMCA sanctioning of the STARS Mod Lites was announced late last year. He quickly lived up to that potential, winning 28 times and becoming the first national champion crowned in the division. “You can’t ask much more than to win the national championship,” said the Kansas City, Mo., star, who drove a homebuilt car most of the season and incredibly finished outside the top five just once in 37 starts. “It’s always cool to win points, especially when you do it in a car you built. That makes it even more special.” “I knew I would like the IMCA point structure and being able to race anywhere in the country for points,” added Raffurty, the winner at eight different tracks in four states and KMJ Performance Missouri State champ. “We had a lot of fun going to different places and racing against a lot of different drivers.” He was an 11-time winner and champion at home track Valley Speedway, [Read More]

Eleven drivers cash in on Night One of 24th annual Karl Chevrolet Duel in the Desert

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (Nov. 9) – The opening night of the 24th annual Karl Chevrolet Duel in the Desert is in the books with 11 drivers punching their tickets to Friday and Saturday night championship features. Four classes got started on Qualifying Night One as IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, Karl Kustoms Northern SportMods, IMCA STARS Mod Lites and IMCA Modifieds ran heat races and qualifying features at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. To see a full breakdown of Tuesday night’s results, click here to see the Box Score. The first feature of the night was in the Stock Car division, with Dallon Murty of Chelsea, Iowa, and Zane DeVilbiss of Farmington, N.M., fighting for the win. Following multiple exchanges of the top spot, Murty took the victory off the final corner by .014 seconds with the two side-by-side. The Stock Car division was dominated by the Murty family in feature No. 2, as Damon Murty, Dallon’s father, commanded the race for an easy win in the second of two features in the class. [Read More]

Prauner tops all expectations, earns IMCA Sunoco Late Model rookie award

NORFOLK, Neb. – A top five finish here and there would have convinced Kyle Prauner that his first IMCA Sunoco Late Model season was a success. Prauner far exceeded those aspirations, winning five features along with the track championship at hometown Off Road Speedway and the national rookie of the year award. “Any expectations we had were blown out of the water,” Prauner said following his 19th season on the track. “We were hoping for a handful of top five’s but the season went way better than we thought it would.” A long-time IMCA Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod driver – he is still fourth on the career wins list for that division with 141 – Prauner had both a growing family and a new job to consider when making his 2021 race plans. “There was some discussion of retirement. I had always wanted to race a Late Model but never felt I would be able to afford it,” he said. “Then IMCA came to town with Late Models and the crate motor. I started perusing ads [Read More]

Dumpert joins exclusive club with third straight IMCA Sunoco Late Model title

EXETER, Neb. – A season that saw its shares of highs and lows ended with a new high for Cory Dumpert. Dumpert clinched his third consecutive IMCA Sunoco Late Model national championship with his 17th feature win on the final night of the 2021 campaign. That matches the divisional modern era streaks of three straight by Ray Guss Jr. from 2010-2012 and Justin Kay from 2013-2105. “It’s cool to be one of only three drivers to do that,” said Dumpert. “Winning another national championship wasn’t something we thought we’d be able to do at the start of the season this year. There was a point when we didn’t even know if we’d be racing at all.” Dumpert was traveling home from an early-spring event when the trailer hitch came off and while his race car was not damaged, the trailer and many of its other contents had to be replaced. “We limped along early but some new sponsors stepped up and really made the season happen for us,” he explained. “Things really started to turn around [Read More]

Rosencrance sprints to top IMCA RaceSaver rookie honors

BUTLER, Pa. – Jarrett Rosencrance made a couple late-season starts last fall to get a feel for his IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car. Late-season starts this year saw him win his career first feature and national rookie of the year honors in the division. “I hadn’t raced anything before the Sprint Car,” said Rosencrance, from Butler, Pa. “Ever since I was little, I always loved Sprint Cars and my dad told me it that if it was something I wanted to do, I should. Two weeks later we bought a car.” David Rosencrance had raced street stocks, hanging up his helmet after his son was born on Christmas Day in 1997. Twenty-four years later, he was part of the crew that helped Jarrett become the first Pennsylvania driver in any division to earn IMCA national rookie honors. Rosencrance made 23 starts in a 2006 Maxim in his freshman campaign, following the Allegheny Sprint Tour and hitting seven Ohio Thunder Sprint Car Series or Laurel Highlands Sprint Series events, four of which were co-sanctioned with the Allegheny [Read More]

Feature wins in five states lift Ohio’s Clark to national IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car crown

HAMERSVILLE, Ohio – Justin Clark knew he’d have to travel to have a shot at winning the IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car national championship. After winning 16 times in five states and with as many different series, he accomplished just that. From Hamersville, the fourth-year RaceSaver competitor became the first driver from Ohio in more than half a century to win the national IMCA Sprint Car crown. “With the number of races here (in Ohio), we knew we’d have to work hard and travel if we wanted to win it. I feel like I raced 80 times with all the traveling we did,” said Clark, who collected nine checkers in his home state, along with feature victories in North Carolina, Indiana, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. “We have really enjoyed this division. There were challenges this year but when we got knocked down, we got back up.” Clark won 10 times in topping Ohio Thunder Sprint Series points – he won the July 10 feature at Wayne County Speedway after restarting 18th – and once en route to the [Read More]

Early engine woes don’t slow Ward in drive to fourth Dirt Works Eastern Region crown

IONIA, Mich. – The start of his season had A.J. Ward wondering if he’d even be racing for points in 2021. The end saw him winning a career fourth Dirt Works Eastern Region championship and finishing as runner-up in the national IMCA Modified standings for the second time in four years. From Ionia, Mich., Ward battled early April engine issues before righting the ship and winning three straight and seven of his next nine outings before the Memorial Weekend. “This was our first full season in a Razor Chassis and the April 3 race (at Winston Speedway) was our earliest ever in Michigan,” said Ward, who also ventured to Pennsylvania for the first time and won the inaugural NY-Penn Series event, the Sean Lias Memorial at Penn Can Speedway. “We blew two new engines early and had to decide whether or not to chase points.” The decision to get back on the track paid off with 20 feature wins, track championships at I-96 Speedway and Thunderbird Raceway, along with a career fifth KMJ Performance Michigan [Read More]