A division-best 28 feature wins and bonus points from three local track titles paved the way for Dylan Smith’s
first national IMCA Modified championship.
The Osceola, Neb., driver edged Garner’s Jeremy Mills by five points or the title. Mills won 25 features and was the only driver in the division with four track crowns to his credit this season.
Smith’s banner season also included the championship in the ButlerBuilt Central Region and Boone County Raceway, I-80 Speedway and US 30 Speedway crowns.
Also capturing national titles were Dustin Smith of Lake City in the Sunoco Stock Cars, Neil Stevens of Bing ham Lake, MN, in the KSE Racing Products Sprint Cars, Jesse Sobbing of Glenwood in the Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods, Garrett Rech of Davey, NE, in the Mach-1 Sport Compacts and John McNeil of Denton, TX, in the GM Performance Crate Models.
Shannon Anderson of Atlantic and Keith White of Little River Academy, TX, defended their titles in the Sunoco Hobby Stock and Southwest Racing Specialties Southern SportMod divisions, respectively.
The point season for all eight classes ended on Sept. 27. Standings become official at noon on Monday, Oct. 26.
Dustin Smith became the third driver to win national IMCA crowns in different divisions. The 2004 Hobby Stock king bested three-time champion Mike Nichols of Harlan and defending champ Rod Snellenberger of Pulaski, WI, in the drive for this year’s prize.
The track champion at Buena Vista Raceway, Marshalltown Speedway and Shelby County Speedway, Smith won 23 features. Nichols was tops in point standings at Dawson County Raceway and I-35 Speedway LLC and had 26 wins; Snellenberger was track champion at Shawano Speedway and won 25 times.
A dozen feature wins gave Stevens the inside track toward his second career national title in the winged class. Also the 2005 champion, Stevens was first in points at both Arlington Raceway and Redwood Speedway.
Sobbing is the third straight driver to earn both the national title and rookie of the year honors in the Northern SportMod division in the same season. He won 20 features and raked in the maximum 60 bonus points for track titles at I-80, Iowa State Fairgrounds Speedway and Shelby County.
Runner-up Tyler Frye of Belleville, KS., had 27 wins and was first in the standings at Beatrice Speedway and Minneapolis Raceway. Kevin Sather of Ankeny was third after winning 26 times and leading point races at Marshalltown and Stuart.
Anderson won an IMCA single division season record 43 features this season, a title difference-making dozen more than runner-up B.J. Dauer of Marquette, KS. Both won four track crowns and earned the maximum number of bonus points.
The son of five-time national Stock Car champion Jeff Anderson, Shannon topped point standings at Buena Vista, the Iowa State Fairgrounds, Shelby County and Stuart Speedway in repeating as Jet Racing Northern Region king.
White’s fourth career Southern SportMod prize came by virtue of his 20-9 advantage over Chris Meyers of Eunice, NM, in feature wins.
While White was champion at Heart O’ Texas, Meyers topped points at both Cardinal Motor Speedway and Lady Luck Speedway. Jeff Turner was third with 18 wins and the Boyd Raceway title to his credit.
Rech won nine Sport Compact features this season and was the only national champion not to have won a local track title as well this season. He was runner-up at Eagle Raceway and at Butler County Motorplex.
McNeil topped a pair of Crate Model main events and also won the track championship at Kennedale Speed way Park.
All five Modified drivers winning ButlerBuilt regional titles did so for the first time.
Mills scooped up the North Central Region prize. The 1998 national Hobby Stock champ, Mills earned track titles at Algona Raceway, Buena Vista Raceway, Hancock County Speedway and I-35 Speedway.
White did double-division duty, capturing the South Central Region trophy. He was track champion at Heart O’ Texas Speedway and Kennedale Speedway Park.
Eastern Region king Kevan Cook of Constantia, NY, ruled at Brewerton Speedway and Skyline Raceway.
Justen Yeager of Green River, WY, reigned in the Western Region. He’d also won the EQ Cylinder Heads Wild West Northern Tour.
White collected 25 Modified checkers for a total of 45 multi-division sanctioned wins in 2009.
Cook was a 17-time winner this season. Yeager won 14 features.
Bloomfield, NM’s Rex Higgins is champion of the Stephenville Starter Southern Region for Stock Cars. He won 11 features and was first in the point race at Fairgrounds Speedway.
Charles Cosper of Belton, TX, repeated as champion of the Stephenville Starter Southern Region for Hobby Stocks. The 281 Speedway and Heart O’ Texas king won 14 features.
Dauer paced the points at Minneapolis Raceway, RPM Speedway, Thomas County Speedway and WaKeeney Speedway.
Joining Sobbing as national rookies of the year are Gabe Tucker of Carbon, TX, Modified; Phil Holtz of Manchester, Stock Car; Dylan Book of Adel, Hobby Stock; Dustin Sargent of Cleveland, MN, Sprint Car; Steven Abbey of Comanche, TX, Southern SportMod; and Jeff Davis of Lincoln, NE, Sport Compact.
Top ButlerBuilt Modified regional rookies are Tucker in the South Central; Tim Ward of Mesa, AZ, in the West; Shane Hiatt of Rising City, NE, in the Central; Chris Stein of Davenport in the North Central; and How ard Jones of Freeville, NY, in the East.
Steffan Carey of Bloomfield, NM, is Stock Car ROY and Joe Williams of Waco, TX, is the Hobby Stock ROY in the Southern Region.
David Murray Jr. of Oberlin, KS, had set the previous single-season record with 41 Modified wins in 2004. The single-season multi-division feature win mark is 47, established by Dave Trauernicht of Beatrice, NE, in 2001.
Kevin Blum of Colona, IL, was national champion and Ryan Giles of West Des Moines the top rookie in the IMCA Late Model division. Final point races for that class were Aug. 30.
All IMCA champions and rookies of the year will be honored during the national awards banquet on Saturday, Nov. 28 in Lincoln, NE.
UNOFFICIAL Top 10 Standings
Modifieds – 1. Dylan Smith, Osceola, NE, 1,248; 2. Jeremy Mills, Garner, IA, 1,243; 3. Keith White, Little River Academy, TX, 1,235; 4. Kevan Cook, Constantia, NY, 1,221; 5. Jordan Grabouski, Beatrice, NE, 1,206; 6. David Murray Jr., Oberlin, KS, 1,192; 7. Justen Yeager, Green River, WY, 1,189; 8. Max Cor poron, Marion, IA, 1,185; 9. Corey Lagroon, Salina, KS, 1,185; 10. Scott Hogan, Vinton, IA, 1,185.
Sprint Cars – 1. Neil Stevens, Bingham Lake, MN, 790; 2. Keith Beckler, Litchfield, MN, 720; 3. Dwain Wilmes, Kasota, MN, 710; 4. Bruce Allen, Mankato, MN, 709; 5. Chris Graf, Glencoe, MN, 686; 6. A.J. Stevens, Bingham Lake, MN, 679; 7. Brandon Allen, St. Peter, MN, 668; 8. Brad Lund, Fairfax, Minn., 653; 9. Curt Lund, Redwood Falls, MN, 615; 10. Richard Smith, Mankato, MN, 608.
Stock Cars – 1. Dustin Smith, Lake City, IA, 1,247; 2. Mike Nichols, Harlan, IA, 1,228; 3. Rod Snellen berger, Pulaski, WI, 1,218; 4. Kevin Opheim, Mason City, IA, 1,206; 5. Cory Struckhoff, Kensington, KS, 1,202; 6. Abe Huls, Carthage, IL, 1,193; 7. Trent Murphy, Jefferson, IA, 1,183; 8. Mike Jergens, Plover, IA, 1,180; 9. Damon Murty, Chelsea, IA, 1,170; 10. Kelly Henderson, Minot, ND, 1,164.
Hobby Stocks – 1. Shannon Anderson, Atlantic, IA, 1,260; 2. B.J. Dauer, Marquette, KS, 1,260; 3. Charles Cosper, Belton, TX, 1,206; 4. Allen Montgomery, Fort Worth, TX, 1,198; 5. Devin Smith, Lake City, IA, 1,197; 6. Austin Davis, Benkelman, NE, 1,189; 7. Eric Stanton, Hartford, IA, 1,180; 8. Michael Mur phy, Jefferson, IA, 1,162; 9. Frank Paul, Kewaunee, WI., 1,133; 10. Matthew Crowell, Clearwater, KS, 1,133.
Northern SportMods – 1. Jesse Sobbing, Glenwood, IA, 1,243; 2. Tyler Frye, Belleville, KS, 1,238; 3. Kevin Sather, Ankeny, IA, 1,237; 4. Austin Kaplan, Ankeny, IA, 1,202; 5. Scott Davis, Madrid, IA, 1,197; 6. Tim Jorgenson, Seymour, WI, 1,183; 7. Travis Van Straten, Hortonville, WI, 1,182; 8. Eric Arne son, Oconto Falls, WI, 1,160; 9. Luke Wanninger, Jefferson, IA, 1,134; 10. Jim Hendricks, Council Bluffs, IA, 1,126.
Southern SportMods – 1. Keith White, Little River Academy, TX, 1,205; 2. Chris Meyers, Eunice, NM, 1,205; 3. Jeff Turner, Kaufman, TX, 1,199; 4. Ronnie Welborn, Princeton, TX, 1,179; 5. Zach Hamilton, Farmington, NM, 1,164; 6. Steven Abbey, Comanche, TX, 1,158; 7. Gabe Tucker, Carbon, TX, 1,157; 8. Robert Black, Waco, TX, 1,118; 9. Matt Winnett, Colbert, OK, 1,104; 10. T.J. Green, Robinson, TX, 1,088.
Sport Compacts – 1. Garrett Rech, Davey, NE, 1,156; 2. Gary Peiffer, Troy Mills, IA, 1,140; 3. John Sed lachek, Eagle, NE, 1,130; 4. Allen Rice, Minneapolis, KS, 1,100; 5. Justin Wacha, Vinton, IA, 1,086; 6. Jeremy Noonan, Lincoln, NE, 1,072; 7. Jeff Davis, Lincoln, NE, 998; 8. Mike Simpson, Ashland, NE, 978; 9. Nicholas Hintz, Lincoln, NE, 915; 10. John Irvine, Omaha, NE, 831.
Crate Models – 1. John McNeil, Denton, TX, 818; 2. Jay Bransom Jr., Burleson, TX, 787; 3. Damon Hammond, Burleson, TX, 759; 4. Charlie Wilson, Sanger, TX, 737; 5. Ronnie Davis, Hurst, TX, 556; 6. Darryl Campbell, Everman, TX, 488; 7. Eric Winnett, Fort Worth, TX, 467; 8. Ronnie Pennington, Saginaw, TX, 401; 9. Steven Saunders, Bellevue, NE., 319; 10. Robert Ferron, Venus, TX, 315.
