Six first-time All-Stars elected to Fast Shafts Invitational field

[NickHolt]

Six first-time All-Stars elected to Fast Shafts Invitational field

 

BOONE, Iowa (Aug. 6) – Six IMCA Modified drivers can now add the title of All-Star to their racing resumes.

 

Half a dozen first-time starters have been elected to the field of 10 for the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational, to be held Friday night, Sept. 11 during the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals at Boone Speedway.

 

New All-Stars include the top two rookies in the open wheeled ranks, Gabe Tucker of Carbon, Texas, and Tim Ward of Mesa, Ariz.

 

Also appearing in their career first Fast Shafts race will be Chris Bragg of Springtown, Texas; Rich Lewerke of Garner, Iowa; Brian Mullen of Seymour, Wis.; and Jeff Taylor of Cave City, Ark.

 

Completing the field will be two-time race winner David Murray Jr. of Oberlin, Kan., and a trio of second-time All-Stars: Dale Caswell of Central Square, N.Y., eighth in the 2005 race; Kevin Stoa of Salisbury, N.C., fifth in 2006; and Ricky Alvarado of Delta, Colo., fourth last year.

 

Two drivers were elected from each of the five ButlerBuilt Modified regions, in electronic balloting through the IMCA website conducted from June 1-July 31. More than 39,000 ballots, with votes for two drivers in each region, were cast.

 

Ward and Alvarado will make the trip to Boone from the Western Region, Tucker and Bragg from the South Central, Murray and Taylor from the Central, Lewerke and Mullen from the North Central and Caswell and Stoa from the Eastern.

 

The 90-plus All-Star candidates included 2008 regional and state champions, and the winners of designated specials and special series events paying $1,000 or more held from June of 2008 through May of 2009.

 

Tucker and Bragg both topped first-of-the-month features boasting four figure prizes at Boyd Raceway. Ward, son of long-time IMCA Modified driver Rick Ward, was a Rotating Right Wild West Modified Southern Tour winner at Mohave Valley Raceway.

 

Lewerke won five qualifying events, in Iowa, North Dakota and Arizona, along with the title at Canyon Speedway Park’s Winter Challenge Series. Mullen was a winner at Luxemburg Speedway’s Badger State Showdown. Taylor ventured outside his home region to win the Western Region Nationals at Ocean Speedway.

 

Winner of the 2004 and 2007 All-Star races, Murray was first across the finish line in eight qualifiers, among them three Larry Shaw Racing Blood, Sweat and Tears Series features and the Duel In The Desert at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

 

Caswell collected his second straight regional crown last season. Stoa is a two-time and defending Super Nationals champion.

 

Alvarado racked up 11 qualifying event wins, seven of them on the 2008 or 2009 EQ Cylinder Heads Wild West Northern Tour circuits, and was champion of the 2008 series.

 

The 2009 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational pays $1,000 to win and is a qualifying event for the 2010 ballot. Roddy Ranch Racing LLC will also pay $50 to the leader of each lap.

 

Super Nationals opens on Monday, Sept. 7 and runs through Saturday, Sept. 12.

 

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Race of Champions events new at Super Nationals for Hobbies, SportMods

 

BOONE, Iowa (Aug. 6) – Two Race of Champions events have been added to the Friday night program at the upcoming IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals.

 

Winners of 10-car, 10-lap races for IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks and for Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod on Sept. 11 at Boone Speedway will earn $300. Runners-up each earn $200, with $100 paid to start.

 

“We’ve been kicking around the idea of a Race of Champions for Hobby Stocks for a couple years,” said IMCA Vice President of Operations Brett Root. “We’ve also gotten to the point where the number of tracks sanctioning the Northern SportMods and the number of entries in that class at Super Nationals justify a similar event.”

 

The Super Nationals car count record of 825 established last year included 139 Hobby Stocks and the same number of Northern SportMods. Sanctioned Hobby Stocks were added to the Super Nationals card in 1997. Northern SportMods started with 54 entries just four years ago.

 

Eligibility to compete for starting spots in either 10-car field would be similar to those for the Harris Auto Racing Race of Champions for Modifieds and Sunoco Race Fuels Race of Champions for Stock Cars.

 

2009 track champions or current point leader as of Sept. 3, former regional, former national champions and former Super National champions would be eligible. Race of Champions winners this year would earn career-long eligibility to qualify in future events for the same class.

 

Qualifying heats for the Hobby Stocks will be on Tuesday, Sept. 8. Northern SportMods qualify on Thursday, Sept. 10.