BOONE, Iowa (Aug. 4) – Fourteen states are represented by the 18 IMCA Modified drivers elected to start the upcoming Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational.
Thirteen of those drivers will make career-first appearances in the Friday, Sept. 9 race, during the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Cenex at Boone Speedway. Two provisional starters rounding out the field of 20 will be determined when Modified qualifying starts on Sept. 7.
One former race winner returns to the starting grid with the highest vote total among the 98 candi¬dates on the ballot: Joren Boyce of North Dakota won in 2006 and will make his career fourth All-Star appearance.
Elected for the second straight year were 2010 runner-up Brad Pounds of California, Will Brack of Colo-rado and Texan Keith White. Tim Ward of Arizona took the green in the 2009 event.
First-time All-Stars are Chris Abelson, J.D. Auringer and J.J. Wise of Iowa, Jason Noll of Arizona, Drew Armstrong of Arkansas, Sam Cox of Texas, Jeff Waterman of Illinois, Josh Borton of Michigan, Hank Berry of Montana, Dylan Smith of Nebraska, Scott Bennett of New York, Brendon Gemmill of Oklahoma and Shawn Kilgore of Wisconsin.
More than 360,000 votes were cast between June 1 and July 31 via the IMCA website to decide All-Star race starters. Candidates included 2010 regional and state champions, as well as drivers who won sanctioned events paying $1,000 or more from June 1 of 2010 through May 31, 2011.
The top two vote recipients from each of the five regions were automatically in; the next eight driv¬ers with highest vote totals, regardless of their home region, were then added.
Completing the All-Star field will be the highest driver in national point standings and then the top driver in total feature wins as of Sept. 2. Neither is required to have been on the ballot.
Their numbers of feature wins will be the tie breaker if two or more drivers are tied for the national point standing spot; second-place finishes will break any ties for the All-Star spot determined by feature wins.
Currently, Nebraska’s Jordan Grabouski is the top non-qualifier in points. Mike Smith of New York is the feature win leader with 18.
The eighth annual invitational will be 20 laps and pay $1,000 to win and a minimum of $200 to start, plus lap money.
Armstrong, Borton and Boyce were state champions. White brought the ButlerBuilt South Central Region title, as well as state and Lone Star Series crowns, plus special and weekly event wins to the ballot.
Brack ended one of the most successful special event campaigns in the division, ending 2010 with a sweep at the Sherman County Flatlander and then the big RPM Speedway Fall Nationals checkers.
Abelson won the Summer Shootout at Eagle Raceway, Bennett topped Five Mile Point’s Little Mike’s Race to Win, Kilgore was first at the Badger State Showdown at Luxemburg Speedway and Wise won the Skip Rose Memorial at I-35 Speedway.
Noll, Smith and Ward were all winners of Winter Challenge Series features at Canyon Speedway Park. Smith was also a state champ.
Other candidates with special series wins to their credit were Gemmill in the Dakota Track Side Classic Tour, Pounds in the Winter Series at SoCal Speedway and Waterman in the JR Motorsports Hawkeye Dirt Tour.
Winners of weekly shows paying $1,000 or more were Auringer, Berry and Cox. Pounds owns a unique achievement, winning a weekly qualifying event at Hanford the same day as one of his two SoCal victories.
Thirteen of those drivers will make career-first appearances in the Friday, Sept. 9 race, during the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Cenex at Boone Speedway. Two provisional starters rounding out the field of 20 will be determined when Modified qualifying starts on Sept. 7.
One former race winner returns to the starting grid with the highest vote total among the 98 candi¬dates on the ballot: Joren Boyce of North Dakota won in 2006 and will make his career fourth All-Star appearance.
Elected for the second straight year were 2010 runner-up Brad Pounds of California, Will Brack of Colo-rado and Texan Keith White. Tim Ward of Arizona took the green in the 2009 event.
First-time All-Stars are Chris Abelson, J.D. Auringer and J.J. Wise of Iowa, Jason Noll of Arizona, Drew Armstrong of Arkansas, Sam Cox of Texas, Jeff Waterman of Illinois, Josh Borton of Michigan, Hank Berry of Montana, Dylan Smith of Nebraska, Scott Bennett of New York, Brendon Gemmill of Oklahoma and Shawn Kilgore of Wisconsin.
More than 360,000 votes were cast between June 1 and July 31 via the IMCA website to decide All-Star race starters. Candidates included 2010 regional and state champions, as well as drivers who won sanctioned events paying $1,000 or more from June 1 of 2010 through May 31, 2011.
The top two vote recipients from each of the five regions were automatically in; the next eight driv¬ers with highest vote totals, regardless of their home region, were then added.
Completing the All-Star field will be the highest driver in national point standings and then the top driver in total feature wins as of Sept. 2. Neither is required to have been on the ballot.
Their numbers of feature wins will be the tie breaker if two or more drivers are tied for the national point standing spot; second-place finishes will break any ties for the All-Star spot determined by feature wins.
Currently, Nebraska’s Jordan Grabouski is the top non-qualifier in points. Mike Smith of New York is the feature win leader with 18.
The eighth annual invitational will be 20 laps and pay $1,000 to win and a minimum of $200 to start, plus lap money.
Armstrong, Borton and Boyce were state champions. White brought the ButlerBuilt South Central Region title, as well as state and Lone Star Series crowns, plus special and weekly event wins to the ballot.
Brack ended one of the most successful special event campaigns in the division, ending 2010 with a sweep at the Sherman County Flatlander and then the big RPM Speedway Fall Nationals checkers.
Abelson won the Summer Shootout at Eagle Raceway, Bennett topped Five Mile Point’s Little Mike’s Race to Win, Kilgore was first at the Badger State Showdown at Luxemburg Speedway and Wise won the Skip Rose Memorial at I-35 Speedway.
Noll, Smith and Ward were all winners of Winter Challenge Series features at Canyon Speedway Park. Smith was also a state champ.
Other candidates with special series wins to their credit were Gemmill in the Dakota Track Side Classic Tour, Pounds in the Winter Series at SoCal Speedway and Waterman in the JR Motorsports Hawkeye Dirt Tour.
Winners of weekly shows paying $1,000 or more were Auringer, Berry and Cox. Pounds owns a unique achievement, winning a weekly qualifying event at Hanford the same day as one of his two SoCal victories.
