 BOONE,
IA (September 4-9, 2006) -- Last week, the International Motor Contest
Association held its annual IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals at Boone
Speedway in Iowa. This year, the 6-day event attracted a record 789 race cars
competing in six different divisions. Racing kicked off on Monday and ran
through Saturday on the 3/8-mile dirt oval culminating in the crowning of six
champions. Drivers from 25 different states and Canada competed in this year's
event looking for their share of the $275,000 purse and more than $50,000 in
contingency awards. IMCA, which selected Hoosier as its official tire, is the
oldest automobile sanctioning body in the United States. First founded in 1915,
IMCA's formula for success has been to offer affordable, competitive and
entertaining auto racing to its members and fans.
MODIFIED CLASS: After 160 heat races and 8 preliminary A-main events
whittled the 325-car field to 33 starters, Garner, IA veteran Rich Lewerke
(above photo) captured the IMCA Super Nationals Modified championship. In the main event,
Lewerke started seventh and made his way into the lead on lap 23 en route to
the $2,000 win. Lewerke used the same set of Hoosier G-60's for both his
qualifying race on Wednesday and the 40-lap finale on Saturday.
LATE MODEL CLASS: Todd Cooney won the IMCA Super Nationals Late Model
championship. After starting 10th in the 24-car field for the 50-lap feature,
the Des Moines, IA native wasted no time taking the lead on just the 11th lap.
Cooney led the remainder of the way collecting $2,000 for the win.
SPRINT CAR CLASS: Curt Lund won his second career IMCA Super
Nationals Sprint Car championship. Astonishingly, it took just three laps for
the 1993 champion to move into the lead after starting in the fifth row in the
20-lap feature. Lund, from Redwood Falls, MN, earned $1,000 for the top finish.
STOCK CAR CLASS: Brian Irvine won Saturday's IMCA Super Nationals
Stock Car championship. The Oelwein, IA driver led flag-to-flag en route to
capturing the $1,000 win.
SPORTMOD CLASS: Jason Mallicoat, from Boone, IA, captured the IMCA
Super Nationals Northern SportMod championship. The hometown driver bested a
field of 72 cars to capture the $500 win.
HOBBY STOCK CLASS: The Hobby Stock champion was Dustin Smith who
earned $600 for the victory. The Hobby stock class is the only IMCA class where
participants are not required to run Hoosier tires. The IMCA Hobby Stock class
requires cars be mounted on regular O.E.M. street tires.
Hoosier Racing Tire Corp. had several key personnel at the special event
including; Vice President of Marketing Dennis Sherman, Sales Manager Paul
Menting, IMCA Product Manager Shanon Rush and compound engineer Jon
Huffman.
Shanon Rush commented, "This was a great debut for Hoosier at the Super
Nationals. All the Hoosier IMCA tires proved to be very durable and consistent
all week, while Hoosier Tire Midwest and JR Motorsports did an excellent job
with trackside service."
Rush added "On behalf of the entire Hoosier organization, we want to
thank IMCA's Kathy and Brett Root, the IMCA and Boone Speedway staffs, and
especially the drivers and fans for making this event a tremendous
success."
For more information about the IMCA Super Nationals and the IMCA Series
visit their website at www.imca.com.
|
