BLOG: BRETT ROOT IMCA SEPTEMBER COLUMN
The record setting 29th annual IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Cenex is now in the history books as 843 IMCA cars stuffed the Boone Speedway pit area over the course of the six-day event.
We talk a lot about car counts at Super Nationals. They’re impressive. Even the anti-IMCA crowd can’t dispute that the Super Nationals car count kicks the snot out of every other dirt track event in the country. There’s not even a close second.
We take some of that credit at IMCA and so does Boone Speedway. However, the racers deserve the lion’s share of that credit. We know it and we do our best to make sure our racers get every bit of the credit they deserve.
Super Nationals is an event. Boone Speedway takes on a face all of its own for the Super Nationals. It can’t be put into words. Experiencing it is the only thing that can do Super Nationals justice.
While the car counts are awesome, the racing is even more impressive. Again, the racers deserve most of the credit. Boone Speedway is second to none in the track prep department. They take it seriously and that shows. The racing is a direct result of the quality of Boone Speedway and the quality of the racers on the track.
Super Nationals has become a weekly blur for me and most of our staff at IMCA. We spend countless hours preparing for the event and it seems to go by in the blink of an eye.
I always regret leaving Boone without thanking each and every IMCA racer I see. I try, but 800-plus with their race cars and probably just as many IMCA racers there without their race cars makes it impossible for me to reach each of you personally. On behalf of IMCA, Boone Speedway and our event sponsors, thank you goes to all of you who support this annual event.
Congratulations as well to each of the Super Nationals champions. Nobody can ever take that away from you. It’s a special feeling being able to walk into Boone Speedway during the Super Nationals for the rest of your life, knowing that you achieved the pinnacle!
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If you missed Super Nationals, or if you just miss Boone already, be sure to check out the awesome DVD documentary compiled by Barry Braun at XSAN.
The DVD set is worth every penny! More than four hours in length, the DVD will fulfill your racing fix through those cold winter nights and keep your blood pumping about the 30th annual event in 2012. It can be ordered at www.octanetrade.com.
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We’re busy burning the midnight oil around the home office, already working on the 2012 IMCA divisional rules. There is plenty of discussion taking place with IMCA racers, promoters and sponsors about next season.
We’re headed back to the engine dyno with a 602 crate engine, as well as IMCA’s in-house claimer engine to once again research and obtain some balance and parity between those engine options in the SportMod and Hobby Stock divisions.
We’ll release those decisions and rules as quickly as possible. We will not be waiting until November to do that. November is becoming too late for us to release any significant rule changes.
One thing you will not be seeing IMCA do is allowing floater rear-ends in the Hobby Stocks, or changing the floor pan, firewall or body rules in that division. We will deal with the body rules and floor pans in time, but 2012 will not be the year.
Nor will quick changes be allowed in the Modified division. We’re not going that direction.
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Congratulations to Curt Lund on accomplishing what many racers only dream about doing: 100 career IMCA Sprint Car wins is one heck of an accomplishment.
As a guy who has only watched Sprint Cars race and never actually driven one, winning 100 features in a race car with the drive shaft between your legs, is astounding.
Sprint Cars are the fastest machines on dirt and Curt deserves all the recognition he can get for wheeling one to 100 victories.
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It’s been a busy few months for me. I’ve been slowly getting back on the road as the season progressed. I purposely kept my IMCA travels short and close to home early this year.
I’ve had a hard time traveling too far from my family in 2011 with the birth of my second daughter, Kenidi. My oldest daughter Alyssa, is now a teenager. Both have made me realize that life is too short and goes by too fast. I love what I do at IMCA, but I love my family more.
Finding a balance with my business travels and family life is tough, especially when I enjoy doing what I do and spending time with the three ladies in my life.
Labor Day Weekend, I found myself at the Southern SportMod Nationals at Boyd Raceway. Texas has been hit by brutal temperatures this year with record setting temperatures and record setting droughts. In most areas rain is non-existent and temps were 100 plus degrees for over three months.
Weather like that is tough on everyone. It’s hard not to have even more respect for a racer that is climbing into his driving suit under those climate conditions.
Plenty of Texas IMCA racers do it and they put on some awesome racing in the process. Congratulations to the winners during the Southern SportMod Nationals weekend and thank you to all the IMCA racers in the Lone Star State!
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Just because the IMCA point season ends Sept. 25, does not mean IMCA racing has ended for the year. There are numerous IMCA sanctioned specials occurring through October and into November. Always be sure to check out the IMCA website or the upcoming special events section of each newsletter.
The IMCA racing season officially ends for us at the Duel In The Desert at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Details of that event are already available. However, it’s Vegas, baby and there is a wildcard being seriously considered right now. Pay attention, SportMod racers, we may be giving you a reason to visit Vegas on Nov. 10-12, 2011.
Stay tuned for details!
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Thanks for racing with us in 2011, I’ll see you down the road somewhere!
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