heartotexasspeedway Archives

All Star Shootout Modified champion William Gould

CALERA, Okla. (May 26, 2024) – After finishing runner-up in 2023, William Gould was determined to take his Kerry Friar Motorsports no. 60 Friesen Performance IMCA Modified to the All Star Shootout title this year. After winning his opening night heat at Southern Oklahoma Speedway, Gould drew the seventh place start in the “A”. However, things just didn’t go his way and he finished up 10th. Drake Findley sailed to a commanding win and set himself up to be Gould’s greatest challenge for the points championship. Undaunted, Gould hit the dirt running at Kennedale Speedway Park on night two. However, a bad draw had him starting dead last in his heat. Unable to snatch a transfer spot, Gould was relegated to a “B.” Starting fifth, Gould went on to win that race and secure a start in the “A.” Starting 13th, the Calera, Okla., veteran really had his work cut out for him to work his way up through a very tough field of competitors. After battling with Brint Hartwick, Jacob Pirkle, Trevor Raney and [Read More]

All Star Shootout Stock Car champion Shelby Williams

BONHAM, Texas (May 26, 2024) – Shelby Williams once again performed in championship style in this year’s IMCA All Star Shootout, successfully defending his 2023 IMCA Sunoco Stock Car title. Picking up his first win right out of the gate at Southern Oklahoma Speedway on opening night, Williams set the stage going into the rest of the tour with a lot of momentum behind him. No stranger to Victory Lane at Ardmore, Williams drew well and started on the outside of the front row in the “A”, going on to win. Night two at Kennedale Speedway Park put a damper on his momentum after being squeezed between two cars coming out of turn four in his heat. After qualifying for the main event through his “B,” Williams started 15th, advanced eight spots and finished seventh. Onto night three at Heart ‘O Texas Speedway in Waco. With 10 inches of rain hitting the area over the past month, track officials performed a Herculean feat to prepare the track for the last leg of the tour. Although [Read More]

All Star Shootout Southern SportMod champion Trey Votaw

ELM MOTT, Texas (May 26, 2024) – Trey Votaw had one goal in mind when he signed up for the IMCA All Star Shootout Tour this year. Votaw had a successful run in 2023 but finished runner-up to Smiley’s Racing Products IMCA Southern SportMod champion Jeff Shepperd. The Elm Mott speedster knew he had the car to win if he could just put together the runs it would take to come out on top. On opening night at Southern Oklahoma Speedway, Votaw drew outside front row in his heat and went on to win, securing his place in the “A.” He then drew the seventh place start behind some very fast competitors. Votaw was able to advance three spots to finish fourth, but Shepperd took the win after advancing 11 positions. Shepperd was no doubt going to be tough. However, Josh Landers and Mikel Wingate proved they had the goods to compete with second and third place finishes, respectively, as well. Night number two at Kennedale Speedway Park saw Votaw draw a fourth place start [Read More]

Shootout sees All Stars of IMCA in action May 22-25

ARDMORE, Okla. (May 9, 2024) – Three IMCA divisions are back in All Star action before the Memorial Day holiday. Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds run for $1,000 to win and $100 to start, IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars and Smiley’s Racing Products IMCA Southern SportMods both for $750 to win and $75 to start at All Star Shootout events fueled by IMCA.TV on May 22 at Southern Oklahoma Speedway, May 23 at Grayson County Speedway, May 24 at Heart O’ Texas Speedway and May 25 at Kennedale Speedway Park. Point fund shares will be paid out in all three divisions. Should all four events be held as scheduled, the top drivers in points for Modifieds and Stock Cars will be eligible to qualify for their respective race of champions at the upcoming IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s while the SportMod champion is guaranteed a starting spot in the IMCA Southern SportMod Super Nationals powered by Smiley’s Racing Products main event at KSP in September. Bonus money is also at stake for the Modifieds, [Read More]

Jeffrey Abbey won Heart O’ Texas Speedway’s Baby Blue Harcrow special for a second time, taking the $1,515 IMCA Sunoco Stock Car checkers Friday night. (Photo by Stacy Kolar, Southern Sass Photography)

Abbey leaves Harcrow foes feeling blue

WACO, Texas (April 5, 2024) – A race night that saw a who’s who of IMCA Sunoco Stock Car drivers in the EQ Cylinder Heads Southern Region saw Jeffrey Abbey stand tallest at the end of the evening. Abbey got the best of the rest of a star-filled field at Heart O’ Texas Speedway’s fifth annual Baby Blue Harcrow Memorial, scoring both a $1,515 payday and B & B Racing Chassis All-Star Invitational qualifying eligibility. “There were a lot of good cars here,” said Abbey, also the Harcrow race winner in 2022. “But we got a couple good breaks and were able to win it.” After starting seventh, he’d run with the likes of Blake Clark, Cody Smith and Jason Batt before passing pole starter Paul White for the point with 10 laps remaining. “I caught a couple breaks. Jason pushed up a bit and I was able to get by him,” Abbey said. “Then the next time around Paul pushed up and I was able to get by him, too.” “Once we got the [Read More]

IMCA Stock Cars chase $5,000 to win Baby Blue Harcrow checkers at Heart O’ Texas

WACO, Texas (June 22, 2023) – IMCA Sunoco Stock Car drivers will get an extra shot at winning more green at Heart O’ Texas Speedway’s June 30-July 1 Baby Blue Harcrow Memorial. Saturday night’s main event winner earns $5,000 and a guaranteed starting spot in the upcoming B & B Racing Chassis All-Star Invitational. What’s new at the fourth annual special is a buy-back race to fill the final two starters in that race. Passing points earned in Friday night heats will determine starting grids for two qualifying features, with the top five finishers in each locked into the big show. Two Saturday ‘B’ races will be lined up based on Friday feature finishes and six more cars advance from each. Non-qualified drivers can then pay another $50 to enter the buy-back race, with first and second-place drivers joining the main event grid. The winner will draw to determine where those two cars start between rows six and 12. Buy-back race entry fees will be added to the $17,000-plus main event purse, which already guarantees [Read More]

Day has quite a night at IMCA All Star Shootout finale

WACO, Texas (May 28, 2023) – The final night of the All Star Shootout fueled by IMCA.TV saw Matthew Day race to a feature victory, a $500 bonus and the tour title. The Farmersville hotshoe hustled to the $1,000 Friesen Performance IMCA Modified feature win Sunday at Heart O’ Texas Speedway. The bonus accompanied his second checkers of the tour, which also provided the tiebreaker as Day and one-time All Star winner William Gould tied atop the Modified point standings. Gould had brought a five point advantage over Day coming into the finale, started inside him on the front row and led the first 15 laps before getting caught up with a lapped car. Day motored by, stayed in charge after a lap 17 restart and led the rest of the way. Gould rallied after contact with another car turned him all the way around and raced back to sixth, behind Day, Kaleb Emerson, Tate Butler, Jake Upchurch and Chris Morris. “We were able to figure some stuff out and get some ground made up [Read More]

Smith’s IMCA Lone Star Tour success continues with Heart O’ Texas sweep

WACO, Texas (March 8, 2023) – While the track was new, the story was the same when the Cody Smith show traveled to Heart O’ Texas Speedway for round four of the Sunoco Race Fuels Lone Star Tour presented by Sniper Speed. Smith won for the fourth time in as many $750 to win Smiley’s Racing Products IMCA Southern SportMod starts, then outran Jesse Sobbing to the $3,000 checkers following a late-race stoppage in the 30-lap IMCA Sunoco Stock Car headline event. “We’ve been fortunate and gotten some pretty good draws,” acknowledged Smith, who nonetheless had to work his way to the front from seventh starting in Wednesday’s Stock Car feature. “We were excited to win this race. I can’t believe we won two tonight.” Twentieth starting G.W. Egbert IV, Benji Kirk Patrick and early race leader Paul White rounded out the top five. White drew the pole and led through the first 10 laps before two-wheeling his way high out of his line and watching Smith speed by following a lap 11 restart. Gould [Read More]

Abbeys run 1-2-3 in Stock Car feature while Shepperd checks Fall Classic off bucket list

WACO, Texas (Oct. 22, 2022) – Their classic runs to the checkers at Heart O’ Texas Speedway’s 25th annual Fall Classic sent Dean Abbey and Jeff Shepperd home with $2,000 checks. Abbey outran brothers Westin and Jeffrey in Saturday’s main event for IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, earning family bragging rights for the night along with qualifying eligibility for the 2023 B & B Racing Chassis All-Star Invitational. And Shepperd won his first Fall Classic crown in nearly two decades of racing the season-ending special at Waco, topping the Smiley’s Racing Products IMCA Southern SportMod headliner ahead of Brandon Geurin and Kyle Wilkins. Dean and Westin Abbey ran side-by-side the first two times around the track in the Stock Car feature before Dean eked ahead racing down the front stretch. Westin’s pass for the lead on lap 15 was erased by a caution. The final yellow waved with two laps left and Jeffrey Abbey would complete his charge from 12th to complete the top three. “We haven’t raced together for a long time, let alone finished 1-2-3,” Dean [Read More]

Raffurty takes Texas-sized check home from inaugural Texas Mod Lite Nationals

WACO, Texas (Oct. 15, 2022) – After he consulted Google Maps to decide on gear for the weekend, Dillon Raffurty didn’t need any help finding the fastest way around Heart O’ Texas Speedway. Raffurty’s first visit to the Waco speedplant paid off with the $10,000 checkers at the first annual Texas Mod Lite Nationals. “It was a pretty good weekend,” understated Raffurty, who had collected 30 wins in defending his IMCA STARS Mod Lite national championship this season. “It was exciting. I couldn’t have asked for much more.” The Kansas City, Mo., star won both heat races and the Joe Butler Jr. Invitational, and finished fourth in the qualifying feature on Friday night. Satisfied with his setup, Raffurty eschewed hot laps before Saturday’s main event. He advanced to second early in the 30-lapper, closed on home state speedster Taylor Hunter in lapped traffic and made his pass to the front just pass midway. Hunter chased Raffurty to the checkers in a race that ran caution-free. “Size-wise, Heart O’ Texas is a combination on my home [Read More]