Tag Archives: DIRT TRACK RACING

Rain shortens TOMS race at HOT Speedway; make up date set for May 2

April 5, 2025 Brant Thurmond Leave a comment

The Touring Outlaw Modified Series (TOMS) race at Heart O’ Texas Speedway was cut short Friday evening, at Heart O’ Texas Speedway, in Elm Mott, Texas.

Mother Nature was the ultimate winner as track and series officials were forced to cancel for the night due to rain after the second B Main of the stock car division .

Shane Hartline (Ivanhoe, Texas) won the TOMS’ first heat race, Friday, April 4, at HOT Speedway. ***(Photo Courtesy of TOMS)***

The TOMS were able to get all three of their heat races in and later said in a Facebook post on the series’ Facebook page that the series will make up the feature race on Friday, May 2, when the series plans to return to HOT Speedway.

“We will make up tonight’s A Feature for the 18 cars that were checked in tonight,” the Facebook post reads. “We will also run a full show as scheduled from tonight’s makeup A Feature. The feature lineup will remain the same as posted tonight.”

The rainy weather was the main concern all week as early forecasts showed rain in the area on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

The TOMS’ second show of the weekend at Kennedale Speedway Park scheduled for Saturday evening, in Kennedale, was cancelled early Friday and announced in a Facebook post on the track’s page.

“We want to give the fans and the racers a great experience for the TOMS race and the weather is just not going to allow for that,” the post reads. “We have looked at the forecast and it’s just not getting any better for tomorrow (Saturday) night’s race. With the rain, 15-20 mph winds and upper 40 temps at race time. So, we have decided to cancel the race for April 5th, however, we know the racers and fans want to see the TOMS race, so we will look at our schedule and try to find a date that works for KSP and the TOMS for a makeup date.”

Steven Ashcraft (Forney, Texas) won the second TOMS heat race Friday, April 4, at HOT Speedway.
***(Photo Courtesy of TOMS)***

The 2024 TOMS race at Kennedale Speedway Park was also rained out.

Friday’s action at HOT Speedway featured 18 cars and three heat races.

Shane Hartline (Ivanhoe, Texas) moved up two spots from his third starting position to pick up the opening heat race win. Hartline led all eight laps of the heat race according to My Race Pass timing.

Jason Ingalls (Longview, Texas) and Eric Tomlinson (Robinson, Texas) rounded out the top three finishers of the first heat race.

Steven Ashcraft, (Forney, Texas) was victorious in the second heat after he moved up one spot from his second starting position. Ashcraft led all eight laps of the second heat race according to My Race Pass timing.

Wesley Veal (Princeton, Texas) moved up three spots to finish second, while Troy Taylor (Midlothian, Texas) moved up one spot to finish third.

The third and final heat race was won by Jack Sartain (Royse City, Texas). Sartain started on the pole and led all eight laps.

Jack Sartain (Royse City, Texas) won the third TOMS heat race, Friday, April 4, at HOT Speedway. ***(Photo Courtesy of TOMS)***

Ryan Veal (Princeton, Texas) moved up one spot to finish second and Chase Hatton (De Berry, Texas) advanced two spots to round out the top three.

Full heat race results were as follows:

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 25H-Shane Hartline [3]; 2. 12-Jason Ingalls [1]; 3. 45T-Eric Tomlinson [2]; 4. 33C-Carl Large Jr [5]; 5. 13S-John Smelley [6]; 6. (DNF) 19-Robert McKinney [4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 56R-Steven Ashcraft [2]; 2. 11X-Wesley Veal [5]; 3. 56-Troy Taylor [4]; 4. 94-Chris Morris [6]; 5. 18J-Jake Huckaby [3]; 6. 5-Dwight East [1]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 47-Jack Sartain [1]; 2. 11R-Ryan Veal [3]; 3. 211-Chase Hatton [5]; 4. 14V-Dean Abbey [4]; 5. P1-Paul White [2]; 6. 716-Trey Votaw [6]

The makeup feature race on May 2, will see Ryan Veal start on the pole, while Jack Sartain will be to his outside, starting second for the 25 lap feature race.

The rest of the 18-car field will start in the following positions:

Row 2- Jason Ingalls (12); Chase Hatton (211)

Row 3- Troy Taylor (56); Steven Ashcraft (56R)

Row 4- Wesley Veal (11X); Shane Hartline (25H)

Row 5- Chris Morris (94); Eric Tomlinson (45T)

Row 6- Carl Large (33C); Dean Abbey (14V)

Row 7- John Smelley (13S); Jake Huckaby (18J)

Row 8- Paul White (P1); Trey Votaw (716)

Row 9- Dwight East (5); Robert McKinney (19)

Other classes competing with the TOMS Friday at HOT Speedway included IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA Southern Sportmods, Outlaw Street Stocks and Factory Stocks.

Results for each class can be found at the following link.

https://www.myracepass.com/events/544998/media-results

Racing News

Clement wins TOMS opener at SOS; Hatton scores first career TOMS win on night two

March 25, 2025 Brant Thurmond Leave a comment

Mitchell Clement shown with his family and TOMS official Ricky Randall in victory lane following the 25-lap feature race, at Southern Oklahoma Speedway, in Ardmore, Oklahoma. **(Photo by Brant Thurmond/Double T Media)**

The Touring Outlaw Modified Series (TOMS) kicked off its 2025 season with two nights of racing Friday and Saturday night, at Southern Oklahoma Speedway, in Ardmore.

Mitchell Clement (Bonham, Texas) moved his No. 32 car up seven spots from his eighth starting position to claim the win on the opening night.

The 25-lap feature race had one caution as Steven Ashcraft (Forney, Texas) came to a stop entering turn three on lap 10.

Shane Hartline (Ivanhoe, Texas) was the race leader at the time of caution and went on to lead an additional four laps as Clement worked his way up to the second position with 11 laps remaining.

Clement passed Hartline for the lead with seven laps remaining as the two would battle for the lead for an additional two laps.

Clement went on to lead the remaining laps and won over second place finisher Hartline by 1.601 seconds, according to My Race Pass timing.

“The car has been good all night and we just made some minimum changes there for the feature,” Clement said standing in victory lane after the race. “I was able to lean on that cushion a little bit, and it felt good up there.”

Mitchell Clement (32) races with Bo Day off of turn two during the feature race held Friday, March 21, at Southern Oklahoma Speedway, in Ardmore, Oklahoma.
**(Photo by Brant Thurmond/Double T Media)**

“The track definitely had some character to it,” Clement said. “I think it may take some time for him to get it worked after putting new dirt on it three days before we race on it. It is what it is. We all got to race on it.”

Jason Ingalls (Longview, Texas), Chris Henigan (Marshall, Texas) and Bo Day (Greenville, Texas) rounded out the top five finishers

Earlier in the night the TOMS raced two B-Mains, which were won by Jason Sartain (Royce City, Texas) and William Gould (Celera, Oklahoma).

Heat race winners for night one included:

●Heat 1- Mitchell Clement

●Heat 2- Jason Ingalls

●Heat 3- Chase Hatton (DeBerry, Texas)

●Heat 4- Shane Hartline

Full results can be found at the following link.

https://www.myracepass.com/events/557571/media-results

Hatton wins night two at SOS

Chase Hatton (second from right) picked up his first career TOMS win Saturday evening, at Southern Oklahoma Speedway, in Ardmore, Oklahoma.
**(Photo by Brant Thurmond/Double T Media)**

Night Two at Southern Oklahoma Speedway saw Chase Hatton win the A-Feature race.

For Hatton, it was his first TOMS win with the series.

The field started the race three wide as Hatton was in the middle between Michael Ables and Chris Henigan.

Chris Henigan (16) leads Mitchell Clement (32) and Chase Hatton (211) off turn four and down the front straight away during the early stages of the A-Main, Saturday, March 22, at Southern Oklahoma Speedway. Hatton ended up winning the race, while Henigan finished second and Clement fell back to 21st.
**(Photo by Brant Thurmond/Double T Media)**

Hennigan led the first lap and a half before Shawn Johnson (Marlow, Oklahoma) spun in the middle of turn three and four bringing out the caution.

On the restart, Henigan took the lead and set sail and lead the next 15 laps. However, as the field got strung out and lap traffic became a factor, Hatton decided to take the outside groove and Henigan stuck to the bottom as they passed a lap car with 13 laps remaining.

Hatton used the momentum from the high line and was able to use a lap car to put distance between himself and Hennigan.

Hatton went on to lead the remaining 13 laps en route to score his first career TOMS win and first in win 2025. The margin of victory was 4.419 seconds, according to My Race Pass timing.

“After last night’s mishap, we definitely had to work on the left rear of this thing and right front pretty hard all day today,” Hatton said after the race. “We came out in the heat race, and we were alright. We weren’t really good. The slick track kind of caught us off guard.

“We made some changes,” he said. “We didn’t get too aggressive with it. Whenever Henigan got out front and the 32 got by me, I was like, ‘Oh man. I’m running third tonight guys.’ We had that caution and then I was able go to the outside of the 32. Lap traffic really played a favor in tonight.”

Henigan finished behind Hatton in second, while Hartline finished third; Dean Abbey was fourth and Ingalls rounded out the top five in fifth.

Saturday’s heat race winners were:

•Heat 1- Clement

●Heat 2- Hartline

●Heat 3- Henigan

Full results from the second night can be found at the following link.

https://www.myracepass.com/events/557574/media-results

The TOMS series will be back in action Friday, April 4, at Heart O’ Texas, in Elm Mott, Texas and Saturday, April 5, at Kennedale Speedway Park, in Kennedale, Texas.

TOMS Points

(Top 10)

Shane Hartline – 186 pts
Chris Henigan – 182 pts (-4)
Jason Ingalls – 175 pts (-11)
Dean Abbey – 161 pts (-25)
Mitchell Clement – 153 pts (-33)
Chase Hatton – 153 pts (-33)
Michael Ables – 147 pts (-39)
Sam Cox – 140 pts (-46)
Ryan Veal – 134 pts (-52)
Jake Huckaby – 132 pts (-54)

Racing News

Broken rear end leads to short night 1 for Wojtek; Night 2 yields better results

March 24, 2025 Brant Thurmond Leave a comment

Fred “Fast Freddy” Wojtek races down the front straight away towards turn one during the Touring Outlaw Modified (TOMS) feature race held Saturday, March 22, at Southern Oklahoma Speedway, in Ardmore, Oklahoma. (Photo by Brant Thurmond/Double T Media)

By Brant Thurmond

Heading into Friday’s Touring Outlaw Modified Series (TOMS) opener at Southern Oklahoma Speedway, Blackwell, Texas native Fred “Fast Freddy” Wojtek was hoping to put all the bad luck from the 2024 season behind him.

However, just a few laps into hot laps, the crew and others were having déjà vu as Wojtek was forced to pull his 44F car to the infield and ended up getting pushed back to the pit area by the tow truck.

The crew went to work quickly to diagnose the issue and found an issue with the rear end of the car.

“Long story short, we were low on oil and burned up the rear end of the car,” Wojtek said. “I think it might have had a quart of oil in it. That put an end to our night.”

With his night cut short, a decision was made to put in the work and replace it with a rear end from Wojtek’s spare car at his shop.

“Gerrit (Haynes) got here about 10:30 this morning with it and we pulled this one (broken rear end) out of it last night. And we put the replacement in this morning,” he said. “We got everything set where we needed it. We went out in hot laps and everything was good.”

Wojtek started first in the first heat race for the TOMS and after leading the opening two laps, he went off the edge of turn three and dropped back to seventh place.

“I know he (track owner John Webb) flattened it up over there, and I just wasn’t expecting it to hold the car like it used to,” Wojtek said. “My fault. I made a mistake. I went to the back; I think I passed one car there towards the end. It kind of messed our night up, and we should’ve been starting closer in the feature.”

Fred Wojtek (44F) races with Steven Ashcraft (56R) off turn two during the TOMS feature race held Saturday, March 22, at Southern Oklahoma Speedway, in Ardmore, Oklahoma. (Photo by Brant Thurmond/Double T Media)

Wojtek ended up finishing sixth in his heat race, but the good news is Wojtek was second quickest in his heat race with a best lap of 18.944 (lap six) and had an average lap time of 19.197. Mitchell Clement, who won the heat race, recorded a best lap time of 18.882 and an average lap time of 19.074, according to My Race Pass timing.

Wojtek started the feature race on the inside of the seventh row in 19^th as the field started the feature three abreast.

Wojtek passed five cars in the feature race and ended up with a 14^th place finish.

“We thought the track was going to slick off more than it did,” Wojtek said of his feature race. “It rubbered up towards the end of the race. We tightened the car up a little too much and I was fighting tight conditions all night.

“I wish we could’ve done better,” he said. “Our luck is just not with us lately. We are just going to keep plugging away and hopefully we will do better at the next one.”

Fred Wojtek (44F) leads Ryan Veal (11R) to the green flag during the first heat race of the night for the TOMS, Saturday, March 22, at Southern Oklahoma Speedway, in Ardmore, Oklahoma.
(Photo by Brant Thurmond/Double T Media)

With two races in the books, Wojtek will now turn his attention to another two-race weekend on April 4 and 5, at Heart O’ Texas Speedway, in Waco and Kennedale Speedway Park, in Kennedale.

Wojtek finished eighth in the last TOMS race he raced at Heart O’ Texas on June 14, 2024. That same night he won his heat race after starting on the pole.

The last trip to Kennedale Speedway Park came on Aug. 16, 2023, where Wojtek finished 22 in the feature and third in the heat race.

The previous trip on April 8, netted better results with a fourth-place feature finish. The same night Wojtek won his heat race after starting in second.

TOMS Points

(As of 3-22-24)

Pos # Competitor Hometown Points

1 25H Shane Hartline Ivanhoe, TX 186

2 16 Chris Henigan Marshall, TX 182 -4

3 12 Jason Ingalls Longview, TX 175 -11

4 14V Dean Abbey Boyd, TX 161 -25

5 32 Mitchell Clement Bonham, TX 153 -33

6 112 Chase Hatton De Berry, TX 153 -33

7 61 Michael Ables Caddo, OK 147 -39

8 3 Sam Cox Flower Mound, TX 140 -46

9 11r Ryan Veal Princeton, TX 134 -52

10 18J Jake Huckaby Texarkana, TX 132 -54

20 44F Fred Wojtek Blackwell, TX 10 -77

Racing News

Abilene Speedway set to host Ice Breaker Friday and Saturday

February 15, 2025 Brant Thurmond Leave a comment

Load up your kids, grab an extra blanket and pack up the trailer… It’s race time in Texas!

The 2025 racing season is set to kick-off today, Friday Feb. 14 for the annual Abilene Ice Breaker at Abilene Speedway, in Abilene, Tx.

“This is our 31^st year to host this event and we are excited and looking forward to some great racing from the drivers,” said Abilene Speedway owner Libby Poor. “We are looking forward to a great turnout and should have around 120 to 150 drivers.

Kyle Wisdom (91), Kade Ogle (11), Fred Wojtek (44), Charles Brewer (72) and Kaleb Emerson battle off of turn two during the June 8, 2024 race at Abilene Speedway. The 31st Annual Ice Breaker event is set to begin tonight at Abilene Speedway. *(Photo by Brant Thurmond/Double T Media)*

“We have drivers from Iowa, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and all across Texas registered to come to Abilene for the Ice Breaker,” Poor continued. “Rob and I have worked hard getting everything ready and Rob has been working hard on the track to give the drivers a great track to race on. We are ready to see everybody as this is our first event of the 2025 season and leads into our regular weekly racing.”

The two-day event (Friday and Saturday) will feature some of the fastest dirt track action from across the state as drivers race for their first win of the 2025 season.

The IMCA Modifieds sponsored by Abilene Race Rads will headline the event with feature races with a hefty $1,000 to win purse for each night. IMCA Stock Cars sponsored by Five Star Coatings will duel it out for $1,000 to win as well, while the Dark Horse Racing Shocks sponsored IMCA Southern Sport Modifieds will race for $650.

The Street Stocks sponsored by Brown Plumbing purse is $450, while the Centec Electric sponsored Sport Compacts $250 and Junior Limiteds sponsored by CEP Transport will race for $400 to win on Saturday.

IMCA.TV will add to the excitement with an additional $1,000 for modifieds and stock cars and $650 for drivers who can win both nights in their divisions.

Grandstand admission to the races will be $15 for adults, $12 with military ID, $5 for kids ages 6-12 and 5 and under are free. Pit passes are available for $35 each night.

The pits will open at 3 p.m. today, Feb. 14. The grandstands will open at 5:30 p.m. each day.

Hot laps will take place at 6:30 p.m. Friday evening with races set to start at 7 p.m. Saturday’s hot laps will start at 5:45 p.m. and races will start at 6 p.m.

Drivers can register at http://www.myracepass.com/tracks/1008/registrations.

For those that can’t be in attendance, the event will be streamed live on IMCA.TV. Additional information can be found on the Abilene Speedway Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566903836185.

2024 Ice Breaker results (2-16-24)

(TOP 5)

IMCA Modifieds by Abilene Race Rads

(Finish listed first; Start position listed second)

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 117-Toby Herring[1]; 2. 11-Kade Ogle[3]; 3. 60-William Gould[14]; 4. 98T-Tyler Iverson[2]; 5. 11T-Tim Hamilton[5]

IMCA Southern Sport Modifieds by Dark Horse Racing Shocks

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 48-Bradley Poor[1]; 2. 00-David Phillips[9]; 3. 77-Tyler Fain[6]; 4. 9-Gavin Faulks[4]; 5. 28-Jerrett Bransom[8]

IMCA Stock Cars by Five Star Coatings

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 114-Thomas Hall Jr[1]; 2. 60-William Gould[7]; 3. 98-Tyler Iverson[10]; 4. 233TC-TANNER COX[15]; 5. 03-Jack Miles[6]

IMCA Sport Compact by Centex Electric

A Feature 1: 1. 7S-Steven Bevills[1]; 2. 148-Keagan Haralson[3]; 3. 8-Randall Martin[10]; 4. 16-Kelly VanDriel[2]; 5. 1-Chase Martin[5];

Street Stocks by Brown Plumbing