LAWTON, Okla. – The first IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car track champion crowned in Oklahoma will earn that title at Lawton Speedway.Opening night on the 3/8-mile red clay oval is scheduled for April 7. The IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing point season continues on Saturday nights through Sept. 29.The growth of RaceSaver nationwide helped pique the interest of co-promoters Kyle Ezell and his mother Marcy Davis but its economical rules is what ultimately sold them on the class.“What we really like is the rules package with the sealed motor,” Ezell explained. “IMCA RaceSaver rules give everybody the same chance to win and be competitive. You can’t just outdollar somebody. The outcome of the race is determined by the driver and setup and not just how much money you spend.”As a promoter and RaceSaver driver himself, Ezell has seen the effects high costs have had on car count numbers for a non-IMCA series in the state.“It’s no fun when you know you can’t win or finish in the top five any night,” he said. “RaceSaver is more appealing to everybody. The weekend racer can compete with anybody.”The Sprint Series of Oklahoma made a single visit to Lawton last season and returns for three shows this year, on April 14, July 7 and Aug. 11.Ezell grew up working at the race track. His grandfather was legendary promoter and Chili Bowl Midget Nationals co-founder Lanny Edwards.“I learned a lot from him,” said Ezell. “He taught me about business in general and the business of racing in particular.”“Lawton Speedway is in a traditional Sprint Car area,” said IMCA Vice President of Operations Jim Stannard, “and what’s even more exciting is the opportunity to work with another generation of the Edwards family.” read more
Opening night takes the IMCA Late Model tour to Davenport Speedway for the $5,000 to win Rebel 5K next Friday, April 12. All series features pay a minimum of $300 to start. More information is available from promoter Bob Wagener at 563 340-4079. Complementing the Late Models at Maquoketa’s Hershel Roberts/Ray Guss Sr. Memorial are IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks and Karl Kustoms Northern SportMods, running for IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing National, regional, E3 Spark Plugs State and track points. “You’d be hard-pressed to find another series in America that can boast about their 500th event in series history. We will achieve that incredible milestone this summer, in large part due to the unwavering backing of the Deery Brothers Automotive Group and support of some of the best and most loyal Late Model drivers in the country,” said Tour Director Kevin Yoder. “It’s entirely possible that a dozen drivers who competed in the series in 1987 could hit the track in 2019, which is truly remarkable.” Spectator admission at Maquoketa and at Dubuque is $20 for adults, $18 for seniors and students and free for ages 12 and under. Pit passes will be $30. DAVENPORT, Iowa (April 4) – A rich weekend kicks off the Deery Brothers Summer Series’ history-making 33rd season. The Deery Brothers Automotive Group begins its 28th consecutive year as title sponsor of the series. Justin Kay of Wheatland is the three-time and defending Deery Series champion while iron man Darrel DeFrance of Marshalltown has competed at all 490 events held through the tour’s first 32 seasons. Davenport had hosted the 2018 Deery finale. Pit gates will open at 4 p.m. and the grandstand will open at 5 p.m. Hot laps are at 6:30 p.m. with racing on the half-mile oval to follow. Grandstand admission is $20 for adults, $18 for seniors and teens, and free for kids ages 12 and under. Pit passes are $35 The Sunday show at Dubuque also boasts sanctioned Modifieds, Stock Cars, Hobby Stocks and Northern SportMods in action for national, regional, state and track points. Pit gates and the grandstand open at 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. hot laps precede racing. Additional information about either event is available by calling promoter Nick McCrady at 563 940-7841 and at the www.tracksidepromotionsia.com website Pit gates and the grandstand open at 3:30 p.m. Hot laps are at 5:15 p.m. with racing to follow. Completing the tripleheader slate are $2,500 to win events Saturday, April 13 at Maquoketa Speedway and Sunday, April 14 at Dubuque Speedway. The Deery Series is at Cedar County Raceway in Tipton on Saturday, April 20 and at Independence Motor Speedway on Saturday, April 27. read more
“We’ve upgraded the track to all town and county specs,” said Sprague, clicking off a list of improvements that ranged from improved water runoff and handicapped parking to updated electrical and more lighting. A $1,000 to win Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifying event is on the June 29 card at Thunderbird, the newest track in IMCA’s Dirt Works Eastern Region. Opening night at the 3/8-mile clay oval in Muskegon, on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, is April 27. Saturday shows during the IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing point season continue through Aug. 31. Sprague won track championships in both late model and sportsman classes and then became a tech inspector at Thunderbird. He had owned and promoted Winston Speedway before buying and reopening Thunderbird, now the fifth track in Michigan sanctioning Modifieds weekly with IMCA. The sanctioned class will run at his Thunderbird Raceway beginning this season. “We have added clay every year since I bought the track. We’ve installed new fencing and guardrails and built up the driveways,” he noted. “There are a lot of drivers in the area who think what we’ve done is great. We’re giving them the opportunity to race.” “Thunderbird is going to be a great addition to the Michigan IMCA family,” said Jim Stannard, vice president of operations for the sanctioning body. “Tom is a well respected promoter and works well with other tracks. Thunderbird is going to make IMCA racing in Michigan even stronger.” “I’ve always liked the IMCA rules. They’re for the budget-minded racer,” commented Sprague, who fit that description during his own career in the class. “When I bought Thunderbird I said from the get-go that we were going toward IMCA. They keep the rules consistent and the costs down.” MUSKEGON, Mich. – Tom Sprague has been a fan of the IMCA Modified division for 30-plus years. read more
By Jack WalbringQUINCY, Ill. (May 31) – The Summy Tire and Auto Center IMCA Northern SportMod main event was the special event of the evening Sunday at Quincy Raceway, with the 22-car field competing for $500 first place money.Pat Dunker of Dunker Concrete Services came up with a twist with the Back Row Challenge issued to the first two drivers to accept the challenge in the first five rows of the feature event. Brandon Lennox and Wes Mayfield accepted the challenge and went to the rear of the field to start the 27-lap main event. As the crowd got into the festivities, more money was raised to bring the total bonus to win from the back row to a whopping $600, giving a possible $1,100 to win for Mayfield or Lennox.Lennox and Mayfield used several early caution periods to their advantage to move up quickly in the field with Lennox working his way into third by the 12th lap. Lennox used the restart on lap 15 to power around leader Tony Dunker and second place Adam Birck to take the lead.Lennox then held back Dunker’s challenges to take home the huge payoff at the checkered flag. Dunker settled for the second spot followed by Bobby Six in third.Andrew Hustead held off Abe Huls in the Powder Coat Plus IMCA Stock Car main event to take his first-ever win in the division. Brandon Lambert held off Kimberley Abbot to capture his first win of the season in the Mach-1 Sport Compacts. Jeffery DeLonjay scored third. read more
By Randy Pospishilsports@norfolkdailynews.comNORFOLK, Neb. (June 25) – Strangely, three of four featured IMCA races became two-lap winner-take-all competitions Saturday night at the Off Road Speedway.Only the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock division was able to race caution-free. However, the Mach-1 Sport Compacts, IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars and Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods all became sprints to the finish with all-or-nothing strategy required to cross the finish line first.The Hobby Stock feature, won by Tiffany Bittner, with Mark Arduser and Jeremy Hoskinson finishing second and third, respectively, also provided evidence of track conditions that allowed drivers to venture almost anywhere effectively, with several racers taking their cars high and near the wall entering into a curve then gaining momentum by coming back down into the low part of the track to slingshot past cars, an approach that extended into the feature races which followed.For example, SportMod winner Derik Fox, experienced a narrow defeat two weeks ago to Justin Addison but flipped the script this time around by edging Kyle Prauner, who drove the high-to-low line frequently while making his way through the pack and onto Fox’s rear bumper, for a first-ever win at Off Road Speedway and first win of the season.“When that caution came out during the white flag lap, I thought, ‘Here we go again, not again,’” Fox said. “I knew Prauner was there, and I knew it was going to be close. He’s always tough.”Prauner’s second-place finish was his seventh in nine feature races at Off Road Speedway. Jeremy Gnat finished third after leading for a dozen laps in the 18-lap event.The night’s green, white, checkered scenario began with Lance Mielke’s first Off Road Speedway win of the season in the Sport Compact feature.Mielke had to work his way to the lead from a fourth-row starting position, then weather a caution and restart to protect the lead that he had attained midway through the 12-lap race, before holding off Ramsey Meyer and Dustin Jackson.But the “hard luck” award of the night would go to Hans Houfek, who finally got to the front of the Stock Car race after prevailing in a competitive four-car battle that had lasted for 11 laps, only to spin out entering turn four of the final lap and setting up a green, white, checkered win for Ron Pettitt.Kyle Becker of Columbus took second, with Shawn Primrose finishing third.No racing will be held at the Off Road Speedway this Saturday, but a regular night of racing will take place on Saturday, July 9. read more
By Jerry MackeyWEST LIBERTY, Iowa – The West Liberty Raceway located on the Muscatine County Fairgrounds, will kick off the stock car racing season this Saturday, April 1 with an open practice session for all drivers planning on racing on Saturday nights at one of the longest running dirt tracks in the state of Iowa.The pit gates will open at 11 a.m. with practice slated to take the green flag at 1 p.m. Grandstand admission will be free although there will be a charge to get into the pits to cover insurance costs.All drivers will have plenty of opportunities to dial their new cars in for the opening event of the season which will be held Saturday, April 8 as the Deery Brothers Summer Series will come to town.For more information, please log on to www.farleyspeedwaypromotions.com. read more
Phil Yaw was first to the IMCA Modified checkers Friday at Outlaw Speedway. (Photo by Greg Mesler)By Paul SzmalDUNDEE, N.Y. (May 4) – Phil Yaw hung on for a big IMCA Modified win Friday on Little League Night at Outlaw Speedway.Phil Yaw got out ahead of Rodney Morgan. Will Ward passed Morgan for second and almosttook the lead in traffic with two to go, but Yaw held on for the win, followed by Ward, Morgan, Shawn Bruce and Tony Harris.
Angel Munoz won the Saturday IMCA Sunoco Stock Car feature at Dodge City Raceway Park. (Photo by Lonnie Wheatley)By Lonnie WheatleyDODGE CITY, Kan. (June 30) – After starting deep in the field, Angel Munoz motored to the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car checkers on mid-season championship night at Dodge City Raceway Park.Munoz became the first three-time winner of the season at Dodge City, ultimately fending off Troy Burkhart to take top honors in the 15-lap feature.Munoz gridded the feature ninth and waded through three and four-wide traffic to take command by the fifth lap. Burkhart charged into second after a lap nine caution and turned on the heat on Munoz to see which one would become the first three-time winner of the year.Burkhart edged ahead briefly on the 10th lap only to have Munoz counter and recapture the point for keeps. Munoz raced to the stripe ahead of Burkhart with Chris Oliver, Dusty Witthuhn and Greg Schell rounding out the top five.Clay Sellard was the IMCA Modified winner and Robert Elliott paced the IMCA SportMods. Tathan Burkhart topped the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock main. read more
Humphries was by Rice and checking out as Harris closed, going low into second to take up the chase. Humphries topped the Saturday Virginia Sprint Series feature at Natural Bridge Speedway, becoming the fifth different IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car tour winner in as many events so far this season. The laps clicked off as Harris kept closing as they went under the white flag they were side-by-side. Going in to turn one, Humphries had a cleaner line and pulled out a car length on Harris and he held it under the waving checkered flag. Next it’s off to Hagerstown Speedway on Friday, May 24 and Saturday, May 25 for the East Coast Nationals for IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Cars. NATURAL BRIDGE, Va. (May 18) – On the first summer-like day Tom Humphries figured out what he needed to get back to victory lane. Charlie Ware and Bill Rice started on the front row as the field went green with Rice out first. Rice tried to gap the field but Humphries stayed right on him. Tom Humphries became the fifth different winner in as many Virginia Sprint Series events this season when the IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car series traveled to Natural Bridge Speedway on May 18. (Photo by Jim Haines) By Jim Haines Jerald Harris made his way after the front two, first getting by Charlie Ware and then Daren Bolac. Feature results – 1. Tom Humphries; 2. Jerald Harris; 3. Bill Rice; 4. Daren Bolac; 5. Tony Harris; 6. Chris Ware; 7. Charlie Ware. read more
Sunman – At approximately 10:50 Saturday morning, officers from the Indiana State Police and Dearborn County Sheriff’s Department responded to a disturbance, reported to involve a man armed with a firearm, at 12300 Five Point Road in northern Dearborn County. When the deputy and trooper arrived and started to approach the residence, they were confronted by a man who pointed a firearm at the officers. This resulted in both officers firing their weapons at the suspect.The suspect was struck by at least one of the officers’ rounds. The officers were able to render immediate first aid to the suspect and he was quickly transported to Margaret Mary Hospital in Batesville, Indiana, for medical treatment. None of the officers were injured in the incident.After arriving at the hospital, the suspect was pronounced deceased.The names of the involved officers and the deceased suspect will be provided at a later date.Detectives from the Indiana State Police-Sellersburg District will be leading the investigation.Once the investigation has concluded it will be forwarded to the Dearborn County Prosecutor’s office for review. read more