DIRTcar has its World Finals. The Sports Car Club of America has its Runoffs. The National Hot Rod Association has its U.S. Nationals. And the International Motor Contest Ass’n has its Super Nationals, which will celebrate its 40th anniversary Sept. 5-10 at Boone (Iowa) Speedway.
The 2022 edition of the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s is expected to draw more than 1,000 cars from across the United States and Canada.
Modifieds, IMCA’s calling card division, have headlined every Super Nationals since the first one in 1983. Late models and stock cars were added in 1988; hobby stocks in 1997; Northern SportMods in 2005; sport compacts in 2011 and ModLites in 2021.
Last year more than $300,000 was paid to Super Nationals competitors.
Approximately $60,000 in contingency and cash awards was given as well. The modified winner earned $7,000; $5,000 was paid to the stock car winner; $3,000 went to both the late model and Northern SportMod winners; $2,000 to both the STARS ModLites and hobby stock feature winners; and the sport compact winner earned $1,000.
Starting the modified Big Dance paid a minimum of $1,000.
The event has become a motorsports happening, and part of some families’ heritage. Stories that start with “I remember one year at the Super Nationals …” have become generational.
“If you like short-track, dirt racing, it’s a bucket-list event” said Rob Goodman, the veteran announcer at Indiana’s Gas City I-69 Speedway and Kokomo Speedway. “Just the logistics of running all those cars in all those races is something everyone should see.
“They don’t take any crap,” he added. “The biggest number on the scoreboard is for the cars that get black-flagged. If you spin or stop in the heats, you’re out. In qualifying events you get two cautions. That doesn’t apply in the A-features, but they do everything possible to keep the show moving.
“It usually seems to rain sometime during the week, but they do everything they can to work around that,” he added. “If it rains, the mud just adds another element to it. They’ll start racing in the afternoon, run all night, and finish at 6 a.m. in the morning if they have to.
“It’s a family reunion for lots of families, and a big party,” he added.
Boone, Iowa, is near the geographical center of the state and it owes its early growth to the railroad.
One of the Super Nationals’ main sponsors, Casey’s General Store, opened its first store in a converted three-bay garage in Boone in July 1968. In 2020, the town’s population was approximately 12,470.
According to Expedia, it has about five hotels, with others available in neighboring towns. The track website lists 33 suggestions for lodging. Many people attending the races camp, either on the speedway grounds or elsewhere.
The track itself is a one-third mile, high-banked dirt oval that hosts IMCA events weekly on Saturday nights.
General seating is available in the grandstands, VIP seating is available in the grandstand towers and half of the race track is lined with catwalks. Robert Lawton and Kathy Root own the track.
According to an economic-impact study released in March, the IMCA Super Nationals produces approximately $60,720,031 annually in economic benefits throughout the region and across Iowa.
The study was conducted by the United States Motorsports Ass’n and Drs. Robert and Leslie Dunn, associate professors of economics at Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, Pa.
They called the event a “unique perfect storm of travel and tourism,” and noted that about 1,000 teams from 23 states make the annual trip to compete at Boone. They estimated 609 local jobs are generated by the event, producing $16,786,757 in direct and indirect local area earnings.
“In one week, the IMCA Super Nationals provides the equivalent economic value to an entire season of Iowa State football,” the study said.
Promoter Keith Knaack, who died in June 1992, started the Super Nationals in 1983 at Benton County Speedway. Mike Schulte was the modified winner that first year.
The event has always been run in Iowa.
Subsequent Super Nationals were held at Independence Motor Speedway (1984), West Liberty Raceway (1985), Knoxville Raceway (1986) and Mason City Motor Speedway (1987) before the event moved to Boone Speedway in 1988.
“Super Nationals has evolved, traveling to different tracks and adding divisions over the years while always featuring the best drivers competing in front of the best fans in the sport,” said Brett Root, Kathy’s son, who is president of IMCA.
The idea for something like the Super Nationals started nearly 60 years ago in Iowa.
According to an article by Kyle Ealy in Midwest Racing Archives, Vern Carman started a special race called the Grand Nationals in 1965 to bring attention to his one-fifth mile dirt track in Dayton, Iowa.
“The event proved to be very popular with drivers and fans alike,” Ealy wrote. “In general, however, it appeared that rodeos were more popular than racing in the small community, and the track would soon meet its demise (it would shut down completely in 1967).
“Carmen had bigger fish to fry and decided to build a three-eighths mile, high-banked dirt oval race track on the outskirts of Boone, Iowa,” Ealy continued. “Boone Speedway was born and the rest is history.”
Carman continued his Grand Nationals through 1984.
“Then track owner and promoter George Barton sold the facilities to Robert Lawton, and for one reason or another Lawton decided not to continue on with the event,” Ealy wrote. “A few years later, the Super Nationals made Boone Speedway its permanent home and put the track on the map. None of this would have been possible, though, if it wasn’t for Vern Carmen and his dream of building a track and bringing his big-time event to Boone, Iowa.”
This year, STARS ModLites will run both nights of the Sept. 3-4 Prelude, joined by modifieds and stock cars on Saturday, Sept. 3, and hobby stocks, Northern SportMods and sport compacts on Sunday, Sept. 4.
The entire late model program is set for Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 5, while sport compacts run on Tuesday, Sept. 6. Hobby stocks and Northern SportMods qualify Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 5 and 6, with last-chance races on the card for Wednesday, Sept. 7, along with the first round of qualifying for modifieds and stock cars.
In a change for this year, the hobby stock and Northern SportMods Race of Champions will be on Tuesday, Sept. 6.
Both of these Race of Champion events had been part of the Saturday program since their divisions were added to the Super Nationals schedule.
The second annual B&B Racing Chassis All-Star Invitational for stock cars is Thursday, Sept. 8, and the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational for modifieds is on Friday, Sept. 9.
Race of Champion events for the modifieds and stock cars along with the main events for the hobby stocks, SportMods, stocks and modifieds bring the curtain down on Saturday, Sept. 10. The modified main event will feature a field of 33 and the stock cars will start 30.
All of the Big Dance features start three wide.
Former Super Nationals, national and regional champions and former race winners, as well as 2022 track champions or points leaders, are eligible to qualify for their respective Race of Champions events on Labor Day Monday, Sept. 5.
All past Super Nationals, national and regional champions may attempt to qualify for life.
Following the Saturday night races, the champions’ engines are auctioned off and the proceeds are added into the main event purses. Last year that added $29,000 overall for the drivers in the main events for stock cars, modifieds, Northern SportMods and hobby stocks.
This year, Karl Kustoms and Karl Chevrolet will present a 604 crate engine to the modified winner and 602 crate engines to the hobby stock and Northern SportMods winners. The stock car winner’s engine is replaced by donated parts supplied by IMCA sponsors. It’s assembled by Midstates Machine, which also donates many parts.
In addition to prize money, both modified and stock car main event qualifiers receive commemorative bottles of Methanol Moonshine, a brand of corn whiskey.
In addition to races, there is a cornhole tournament that is quite popular with the fans. All of its participants must be associated with a registered driver in order to compete.
There’s a fan zone sponsored by NAPA for draws, redraws, interviews, autographs and even concerts, and a trade show of manufacturer displays.
Those who can’t attend in person can watch the races on SPEED SPORT affiliate IMCA.tv.
Fans who want to do it all could begin the month with the IMCA Sprint Car RaceSaver Nationals at Eagle Raceway in Eagle, Neb., Sept. 1-4. After all, in the true spirit of the Super Nationals, too much racing is never enough.