WYMORE, Neb. — Over the winter, Dillon Richards and his crew laughed about the idea of running for another national championship.
Their early spring success got them thinking more seriously about it.
Richards, from Wymore, Neb., would become just the seventh driver to win national crowns in different IMCA divisions, adding the 2022 Sunoco Hobby Stock trophy to a collection that already includes the 2017 Mach-1 Sport Compact hardware.
“We joked about it over the winter, then we won Spring Nationals at Beatrice, the Dirt Crown Spring Tour at Thayer County and both nights of the Sunflower Classic at RPM Speedway,” he said. “That’s when we decided to get serious and pursue it.”
“We really focused on Beatrice Speedway and Eagle Raceway,” added Richards, track champion at both. “We are not a big-time race team. We work out of a two car garage so any time we raced three nights a week, it was a lot of work.”
He won 11 times at Eagle and six times at Beatrice. Richards’ late-race dramatics on season championship night at Beatrice earned him the feature win and track title, and ultimately Big Daddy Race Cars Northern Region and national crowns.
“It was stressful going into the night knowing I had to do everything right but once I took the checkered it was a big relief,” said Richards, also the Nebraska State king. “Winning this national championship means a lot to me. There are a lot of good drivers in this division.”
Also a winner at Crawford County Speedway, U.S. 30 Speedway and Salina Speedway, he collected his final checkers of the season at Shelby County Speedway’s Tiny Lund Memorial. Richards had started his racing career in the Sport Compacts and won 11 Hobby Stock features last year. He joins friend and sponsor Jordan Grabouski in the select group of drivers winning IMCA national championships in different divisions.
“It’s cool to be on the list with those guys,” Richards said. “They’re good in anything they drive.”
None of those other drivers, however, happen to have a spouse who won a track championship the same season as Richards’ wife Kaylee paced Sport Compact points this year at Beatrice.
“That was pretty cool,” said Richards. He is as proud of her accomplishment as he is of his own. “Kaylee has won track championships in the past but she was really good this year. It was a lot of fun getting to watch her race.”
He’ll wheel an IMCA Sunoco Stock Car weekly at Beatrice in 2023, hitting area specials and joining friend Marcus Tomlinson on the Dakota Classic Tour.