(11/17/2018)
2018 was another successful for veteran Sport Mod driver Jimmy Ford. The Yuba City native picked up 4 wins in his travels, winning races as far north as Lebanon, Oregon’s Willamette Speedway, and as far south as Marysville Raceway. Ford also collected victories at Chico’s Silver Dollar Speedway and Yreka’s Siskiyou Motor Speedway along the way.
Ford’s travels across the Northern half of California rewarded him in a big way in the IMCA state standings as well, with his 22 starts in the state earning him a strong placing of 5th. Of all the tracks he raced at, Marysville Raceway easily had to be his best, only placing outside the Top 3 once in 7 starts, which also included a win and two runner up finishes.
In the midst of 2018, Ford made a couple of stops at tracks that had not raced the division before this season. Ford made appearances at the inaugural Sport Mod races at both Orland Raceway and Fernley 95a Speedway in Nevada. Fans in Orland were treated to a fierce battle between Ford and Olivehurst gasser Phillip Shelby for the entirety of the race, with Ford falling just short in the end. Ford would also finish 2nd at the first ever Sport Mod race at Fernley.
Ford would make appearances at 2 of the most prestigious Sport Mod races on the West Coast in 2018, the R Charles Snyder Memorial in Medford, Oregon, and the Duel in the Desert in Las Vegas. The trip north to Southern Oregon Speedway proved to be an immensely successful one for Ford. Piloting Marty Burdine’s number 79, Ford drove up to a 2nd place finish on night 1, then followed that with a B Main win and a charge through the field to claim 6th in the Main Event. After a couple of okay nights at the Duel in the Desert, Ford went into the final night with one final chance to make the big show. After starting 8th in his last chance qualifier, Ford drove through the field and into a transfer spot. But with 3 laps to go, tragedy struck, as Ford’s car broke a rear gear, ending Ford’s weekend.
After a busy 2018, Ford has big plans for 2019, saying “We plan on running races in Oregon, Nevada, California of course, Arizona and if I can get some sponsorship the Super Nationals in Boone, Iowa.” Ford had this to say on 2018 as a whole: “The year was amazing, we raced in three states won in two of them and a second in the other. How many drivers can say I won 4 races at 4 different tracks and 2 states?”
Jimmy would like to thank all his sponsors and supporters, including:
T-Time racing
Midtown Grill
Ace Hood Cleaning
Sitter Marine
Road Trip Bar and Grill
My Generation Lanes
Trik koncepts
Ford Season Stats:
Starts: 30
Wins: 4
Top 5’s: 18
Top 10’s: 26
Best Finish: 1st (4 times)
Worst Finish: 12th (Twice)
5th in California IMCA Sport Mod Standings
Chico:
March 30th: 3rd
April 21st: 9th
May 5th: 2nd
June 8th: 6th
June 15th: 12th
June 29th: 7th
July 4th: 5th
July 13th: 4th
August 3rd: 11th
August 24th: 1st
Marysville:
May 12th: 2nd
May 19th: 3rd
May 26th: 3rd
June 9th: 2nd
June 16th: 1st
July 3rd: 9th
July 14th: 3rd
Yreka:
April 21st: 7th
July 21st: 1st
Antioch:
June 30th: 10th
October 13th: 12th
Medford:
June 2nd: 2nd
September 1st: 2nd
September 2nd: 6th
Fernley:
September 15th: 2nd
Vegas:
Running in a spot to transfer to big show, but lost rear end late
Cottage Grove:
August 10th: 9th
Willamette:
August 11th: 5th
August 17th: 1st
Orland:
July 25th: 2nd
Interested in having writeups like these done for your race team throughout the season? Contact Daren Ricks of DRC Motorsports Media here on Facebook, at darenricks999@gmail.com or at (916) 229-7474 to discuss a plan that fits your team’s needs.
Daren Ricks
DRC Motorsports Media
DRC Motorsports Media 