STANHOPE, Iowa — The honor of being named an IMCA National Champion requires a great amount of effort and racing success.
A driver’s best 25 finishes out of 50 races determines a point total and No. 1 in points is named the IMCA National Champion.
The state of Arizona has had only one national champion and it wasn’t until 2023 that Chaz Baca Jr. from Mesa, Arizona, was crowned the national champion in the modified division. It was a double honor, winning the title and being the first Arizona driver to do so.
Baca won the honor again in 2024.
For Baca, the effort to win the national title meant many miles getting to a race in the western region. Only races count in his home region and the western region includes Arizona, California, Oregon, Nevada and Washington.
This year Baca will be based in Iowa until November and instead of chasing points, he will chase the events that offer a larger purse.
His father, Chaz Baca Sr. still races a modified in Arizona and Baca Jr. grew up going to race tracks with his father. The elder Baca was the flagman at Canyon Raceway Park at one time.
Baca got into racing at age nine driving a flat kart at the Arizona Karting Association events. Four years later he stepped into a mod lite and won his first championship. At age, 16 Baca moved into a modified and won his first main two years later at Central Arizona Raceway.
Baca recalled, “As a kid I looked toward racing NASCAR but as I got older, I looked at racing for a living on dirt tracks.”
A recent win at Benton County Speedway in Vinton, Iowa, was the type of large purse event that Baca will focus upon this summer.
As to Iowa tracks, Baca noted, “Iowa tracks race beautifully and ones I’ve raced so far are Benton, Stuart, Spencer, Marshalltown and Boone. They are a lot of fun to race on.”
Baca tours Iowa with one crew person who happens to be his girlfriend. Taylor Elliott comes from a racing family and Baca met her at Boone Speedway during the IMCA Super Nationals. According to Baca, she helps “a ton” with the constant maintenance that accompanies owning a race car.
At age 27, Chaz Baca is looking toward driving for a late model team. He is well aware that it is difficult to get a ride for a team and he understands the type of things he needs to do to become a candidate.
“My goal is to make a living racing for a late model team. I understand I need to build good publicity, show a good personality and do good deeds,” Baca said. “It is important to build a fan base of supporters and want to perform every night. Teams are always scouting and I have to put myself in their eyes. Most of them have hired drivers with top level stuff.”
Although he doesn’t have a late model team, Brad Whitfield considers Baca an excellent choice for a team. Whitfield is the promoter at a pair of Arizona tracks.
“I’ve known Chaz Baca Jr. since his go-kart days and he came a long ways, almost came up the way Ricky Thornton Jr. did,” Whifield said. “Baca is an owner’s dream as he takes care of equipment, knows what it costs to race, and is easy on equipment.
“He reminds me of Mark Martin, a quiet guy who was like a pit bull once he gets focused on the race. Baca represents very well.”
