ALGER, Wash. — He was racing a borrowed car at a track he’d never been to before, but his Saturday night results were familiar to Tom Berry Jr.
Berry returned to his Pacific Northwest roots, topping the $10,000 to win Skagit Aggregates Survive the 55 main event for Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds at Skagit Speedway.
“It was nice to get back and see a lot of people I haven’t seen for a while,” said the Oregon native, who raced out of North Dakota before moving his dirt track operation to Central Iowa eight years ago. “The facility is very nice and I got to race against a lot of different cars.”
“This is the third time I’ve won a race that paid $10,000,” continued Berry, who took home the same amount for winning the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s in 2022, “So this has to rank right up there. There were a lot of tough cars here.”
Berry fell back to fourth early in the 55-lapper before starting his drive to the front. Contact with leader Nick Trenchard caused some concern about a flat tire before Berry took over the front spot on lap 20.
Kyle Strickler closed in before the mandatory stop on lap 30. Berry was unflappable the last 25 times around the track despite three restarts, building a lead of as much as two seconds.
Strickler, Trenchard, Ty Clemens and Collen Winebarger rounded out the top five.
Berry was the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational winner at Super Nationals earlier this month and thus already eligible to qualify for the 2025 race.
His win Saturday in the Jason Beaulieu-owned Lethal Chassis was Berry’s IMCA 14th of the season. Those checkers have come in five different states and Canada.
Berry ended the 2025 IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing season with 85 wins in his modified career.
He’d made his last West Coast start at California’s Yreka Speedway late in the 2016 campaign.
The race was streamed on IMCA.TV, an affiliate of SPEEDSPORT.TV.