Blum, Neal, Guss among racers chasing IMCA title
By Todd Turner
DirtonDirt.com chief writerThe IMCA weekly points season wraps up Sunday, Aug. 30, with the J&J Steel-sponsored championship still up in the air. In the latest points tally, four drivers are within 20 points of leader Kevin Blum of Colona, Ill.
Blum, who plans to race this weekend at Davenport (Iowa) Speedway and and Quad City Raceway in East Moline, Ill., knows there are variables in a complex points system, but he plans to do the best he can to grab his first title.
"I've gotta win," the 35-year-old Blum flatly said in a Wednesday phone interview. "I'm just going to race my race, if I get it, I get it, if I don't, I don't."
Although IMCA points haven't been updated through Aug. 23 events (they're scheduled to be released Friday), Blum figures he's tied for the lead with Terry Neal of Ely, Iowa. Both drivers have 14 victories in a points system based on a driver's best 20 finishes. Other drivers in the mix are Ray Guss Jr. of Milan, Ill., two-time IMCA champion Todd Cooney of Des Moines, Iowa, and 1998 IMCA champ Mark Burgtorf of Quincy, Ill.
While victories are key in the points chase, Guss isn't eliminated despite just six victories. IMCA is in the third season of using a points system that includes bonus points for track championships based on average weekly car counts, and that should benefit Guss, the champion at Davenport Speedway.
The 40-year-old Neal, the champion at Jackson County Speedway, knows he needs a Saturday victory at the Maquoketa, Iowa, track to solidify his chances. And his Mark Coin-owned team is considering racing Friday at Davenport, although he'll start deep in the field because the top drivers in points (including Guss and Blum) will start up front.
"I think we're going to give it a shot, I guess," Neal said. "We've got nothing to lose."
Besides 14 victories apiece, Blum and Neal have another thing in common. Neither driver planned on gunning for the $5,000 championship when the season started.
"Like I told everybody, running for nationals points wasn't even a goal of ours this year. I've had a real good year," Blum said. "If (Neal) wins it, I'm happy for him. I've raced Terry a lot of years and he's always been a clean racer, fun to race with."
Neal has some near-misses in the IMCA weekly title chase, but ironically the year he set out to win the points he performed poorly. This season appears to be his best chance, planned or not.
"We don't usually go for it because you usually gotta race two or three nights a week, and we try not to because we run that Deery (Brothers Summer) Series and those (Dart Corn Belt Clash) races, and that's just too much racing," Neal said. But after seeing the IMCA weekly points late in the season, "here at the end, you might as well go for it.
"All you can do is race your deal and how it ends up, it ends up."
