CHICO, Calif. — The final night of the Hoppes Motorsports California IMCA Speedweek was at Silver Dollar Speedway on Saturday.
It was the first time in tour history that the Chico quarter-mile has hosted a Modified Speedweek event. Two Speedway Motors IMCA Weekly Racing program divisions were in attendance, including 27 IMCA Modifieds and 30 Karl Kustoms IMCA Northern Sport Mods.
For the 25-lap IMCA Modified feature, Troy Foulger beat out Oakley native Kellen Chadwick for the top spot on the opening start. Foulger, also from Oakley in the Bill Bowers-owned car, pulled away from the rest of the pack. Foulger hit all his marks and constructed a massive lead, but as the long green-flag run continued, he eventually had to deal with some lapped traffic.
Foulger made quick work of the tail end of the lead lap field and did not let any of them slow him down. But as the traffic got heavier and heavier, Clint Reichenbach was in hot pursuit of the leader via the top shelf of the track.
Suddenly, Reichenbach would have to deal with a charging Nick DeCarlo for a bid for the runner-up spot.
A late-race caution on lap 21 bunched the field up for the only time of the main event. When the cars returned to green, Reichenbach again tried to rail around the high side of Foulger. Furthermore, Clint operated with a slim margin of error as Martinez’s DeCarlo was also in an active hunt for first place.
Foulger and Reichenbach drag raced to the white flag, with Reichenbach having the advantage at the start-finish line. As the final lap continued to unfold, Clint Reichenbach rode his momentum up top to hold off Troy Foulger to the checkered.
His third win of the 2021 Hoppes Motorsports California IMCA Speedweek and in KMJ Performance California State action ties him for the most in series history with Ethan Dotson. Reichenbach’s last trip to victory lane was back on May 1 at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare.
Foulger ended the race a strong second, with Buddy Kniss in third. Nick DeCarlo hit the wire fourth over fifth-place finisher Ryan McDaniel.
In the 25-lap Karl Kustoms IMCA Northern Sport Mod main event, Jason Nation beat out Phillip Shelby for the point on the initial start. Nation cruised around the high side, but Shelby stayed dedicated on the low line. Tyler Bannister came to the party to make it a three-car race for first.
Bannister battled hard with Phillip Shelby for second, but it would have to put on pause. Lap seven witnessed the first yellow flag of the race and slowed the field down. However, Nation got back on the throttle when the green flag came back out. Jason pulled away from the rest of the pack and went without any pressure for the first time.
Bannister secured second from Shelby and tried to run down Nation for the race lead. Several circuits later, Tyler caught and passed Jason on lap 14. Now Jason Nation gave chase to try and overtake the young Bannister. As the lap count dwindled, Nation tried to get around Bannister but could not quite catch him.
A couple of back-to-back yellows came out on the 21st circuit. Tyler Bannister mastered the restart and opened some breathing room. He had a tad bit of pressure by Nation on the final lap, but Tyler managed to beat the competition to the checkers.
Bannister had been victorious in three of the last four Hoppes Motorsports California IMCA Speedweek features. He is second on the all-time win list with the series and has five triumphs in KMJ Performance California State racing in 2021 all at five different race tracks.
Jason Nation was a close second while Tyler’s father, Jason Bannister, earned the third spot.
When all the points were tabulated, Ethan Dotson would be the Hoppes Motorsports California IMCA Speedweek champion for the IMCA Modified ranks.
In the Karl Kustoms IMCA Northern Sport Mod point standings, Jason Nation was at the top of the table at the end of the night.