Texas Showdown II @ I-37 Speedway 1/6-10/26
By JM Hallas
Pleasanton, TX.,(Jan. 7th, 2026)
After a short winter break, I-37 Speedway, just south of San Antonio, returned to action with a huge 4-day show. The event features the IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars, Factory Stocks and Sport Compacts on the ¼ mile, semi-banked, dirt, oval with some good early season pay outs. Extra money is up for grabs as well for any driver sweeping all four nights in the two IMCA classes.
After an open practice Tuesday night(Jan. 6th) that provided free BBQ and Margaritas afterwards, it was time to start the first racing of the year. Top five times in practice last night were, Boone, Iowa's Izac Mallicoat(15.472), who finished second to Jordan Grabouski in last years Texas Showdown, Spencer Hartwick, Jared Maupin, Owen Barnhill and Dean Abbey in IMCA Modifieds.
The I-Stocks saw Gardendale's, Jeramey Bradley(17.430) lead the practice chart ahead of Tommy Fain, Robert Yearian, Shawn Graham and Doug Holzmiester.
Wednesday night kicked off with two classes in action, the IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Stock Cars making their return to action at the south Texas venue after a long hiatus. Up for grabs is $1,000 to win for the Modifieds and $750 to win for the I-Stocks. Who would take the first step in grabbing the sweep bonus?
Thursday and Friday the Factory Stocks join the action running for $500 to win and $600 to win respectively. The Modifieds see their payout increase to $1,250 to win Thursday and $1,500 to win Friday. I-Stocks increase to $1,000 to win both nights.
The Saturday night finale would see the Sport Compacts come out to play looking to pick up the $500 to win. The Modifieds, I-Stocks and Factory Stocks would see their pay out improved to $2,000 to win(Modifieds), $1,500 to win(I-Stocks) and $750 to win Factory Stocks.
Laney Lands Wednesday Loot
As the 20-lap IMCA Modified main came to green Jared Maupin jumped into the lead with Rick Green, William Gould and Troy Morris three wide for second, but a false start had them rerack for a second try. Second verse, same as the first, but without the jump start. Maupin held the point trailed by Morris, Gould, Green and Jeff Taylor. Taylor got by Green for fourth bringing Steven Whiteaker jr along to fifth. Cody Laney broke into the top five getting by Whiteaker before a lap 6 caution for debris.
Maupin got out on the restart with Gould, Whiteaker, Laney and Morris trying to sort out. At the crossed flags it was Maupin, Gould, Laney, Whiteaker and Morris in the top five with another caution for racecar parts on track. Maupin again got away on green with Taylor moving by Morris for fifth. Morris now had Dean Abbey and Izac Mallicoat alongside going three wide for sixth.
Up front Laney got by Gould for second and began running down Maupin for the lead. Laney caught Maupin with five to go but slipped giving up some ground. In the meantime, Whiteaker was taking third from Gould. The lead battle caught traffic and Laney slipped past for the lead with two to go.
Laney(Torrance, Ca.) was able to motor away the final two circuits while Maupin was being challenged by Whiteaker late, getting the spot. Laney, in the Mike Kirby owned, South Bay Appliance, Black Magic Bead Breaker, Empire Income Tax, Guerin Mobile Home Service, Friesen crate powered Impressive Race Chassis, now has a leg up in the sweep bonus.
“We just didn't get enough in the heat to start up front,” said Laney who started seventh. “There were some good cars in front of me. I knew it would be tough. We've thrashed on this thing since we've been here. We made gains on it every time we hit the track. That was an awesome race, really fun. It turned out pretty good, seemed like there was two lanes out there.”
“We learned some stuff tonight for the week. It fired off pretty good, but I didn't feel like we'd be good enough. Starting father back there I saw the middle was rolling off pretty good. I was just so free that I could stay turned all the time. We'll just keep tuning on it and hopefully it won't knock us out of the ballpark. It was pretty cool.”
I've got to thank Mike Kirby and Brenda for giving me this opportunity. They hit me up a couple months ago to come out to race. He was my hero growing up for a long time. To be able to race in one of his cars is pretty awesome.”
“Towards the end I was just cruising,” replied runner-up Steven Whiteaker. “I was just biding my time trying to be on the bottom. The middle started getting fast towards the end. Good thing about my fan base, every time I open my phone, they tell me how slow I am. With the rules change for this year. They just won't turn. You're kind of unsure entering below someone.”
“I feel good” said Maupin who led a big part of the race. “This is the first race on this car. We've only owned it four days now. I hate giving one up like that. I hate it for the crew, but we've got a good piece, there's no damage and we'll go get them tomorrow.”
IMCA Modifieds by Sundowner Performance Diesel
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 5K-Cody Laney[7]; 2. 89-Steven Whiteaker Jr[9]; 3. 96-Jared Maupin[1]; 4. 60-William Gould[3]; 5. 5-Jeff Taylor[6]; 6. 11-Izac Mallicoat[11]; 7. 07X-Troy Morris III[4]; 8. 26-Dean Abbey[5]; 9. 94-Chris Morris[8]; 10. 9JR-Spencer Hartwick[15]; 11. B24-Owen Barnhill[12]; 12. 5B-Brenda Kirby Morris[10]; 13. 82-Rick Green[2]; 14. 1B-Jason Barnhill[16]; 15. 717-GW Egbert IV[18]; 16. 5R-Ryan Doyon[14]; 17. 77-Robert Liese Jr[19]; 18. 41-Rick Talley[21]; 19. (DNF) 15-John Owens[20]; 20. (DNF) 2T-Talon Minten[13]; 21. (DNF) 2-Chad Rockefeller[17]; 22. (DNS) 88-Chris Smith
IMCA Modifed B-main(top 10 to A-main)
B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 2T-Talon Minten[1]; 2. 5R-Ryan Doyon[5]; 3. 9JR-Spencer Hartwick[6]; 4. 1B-Jason Barnhill[8]; 5. 2-Chad Rockefeller[3]; 6. 717-GW Egbert IV[13]; 7. 77-Robert Liese Jr[12]; 8. 15-John Owens[11]; 9. 41-Rick Talley[10]; 10. (DNF) 88-Chris Smith[9]; 11. (DNF) 5RM-Robby Minten[2]; 12. (DNS) 7A-Steve Askew; 13. (DNS) 118-Cameron Wilson
IMCA Modified heats(top 4 to A-main)
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 82-Rick Green[1]; 2. 96-Jared Maupin[6]; 3. 94-Chris Morris[5]; 4. 5B-Brenda Kirby Morris[7]; 5. 2-Chad Rockefeller[3]; 6. 118-Cameron Wilson[2]; 7. 7A-Steve Askew[8]; 8. 41-Rick Talley[4]; 9. (DNF) 717-GW Egbert IV[9]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 60-William Gould[1]; 2. 5K-Cody Laney[3]; 3. 26-Dean Abbey[8]; 4. B24-Owen Barnhill[5]; 5. 2T-Talon Minten[7]; 6. 5R-Ryan Doyon[2]; 7. 88-Chris Smith[6]; 8. 15-John Owens[4]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 07X-Troy Morris III[1]; 2. 5-Jeff Taylor[4]; 3. 11-Izac Mallicoat[2]; 4. 89-Steven Whiteaker Jr[8]; 5. 5RM-Robby Minten[7]; 6. 9JR-Spencer Hartwick[5]; 7. 1B-Jason Barnhill[3]; 8. 77-Robert Liese Jr[6]
Starry Stars in Stock Cars
The start of the 20-lap IMCA Stock Car feature saw Beau Collins and Cody Leonard stay side by side into turn 1, but it was Collins off turn 2 with the advantage. Cameron Starry was able to get by Leonard for second with Leonard getting in line third ahead of Boone Evans and Mason Martin. Behind the lead pack it was three wide for eighth before Shawn Graham broke and stopped in turn 3.
Once back to green, Starry was pressuring Collins for the lead while Johnny Torres and Jacob Slough made contact in mid-pack. Starry was able to get inside Collins and take over the top spot on lap 6 with Leonard trying to follow through the hole. At halfway it was Starry, Collins, Leonard, Evans and Martin still holding the top five spots.
Starry then eased away from Collins and Leonard who had a gap back to Evans, Martin and Gregory Muirhead. With four to go Leonard was able to sneak past Collins, but Collins fought back going door to door with Leonard on lap 17. As those two slugged it out, Starry(Corpus Christi) was building a three quarter straightaway lead going unchallenged to the checkers in the Starry Ranch, Rush Race Gear by Austin Witt, Stealth Oilwell Service, Allgayer Inc., Mid-State Machine, Penske Shocks, Cullen Dixon Trucking, On Demand Shirts, 1st Class Towing, KMO Racing, Ace Transmission, M&M Industrial Rentals, Water Truck Rentals, Starry Enterprises, Big 10 Graphics, Supreme Vinyl Works, Devilbiss Chassis.
“We have a really good piece right now,” said Starry. “It stuck anywhere we could have gone. It kind of got bottom dominant there, but you can't beg for anything different. It's just nice we have somewhere to race on a Wednesday. It was a little fast. I'm normally not a fast track driver.”
“I knew we had a good piece. When I was running second I could see you'd skate up a bit off of (turn) 2. I knew if I'd be able to cut it down a little I'd be able to get under them and make a run at them. I've got to thank my dad, my crew guys, they worked their butts of the entire weekend getting this thing ready making sure we have the best equipment on the track.”
IMCA Stock Cars by Comanche Concrete
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 8JS-Cameron Starry[3]; 2. 42-Beau Collins[1]; 3. 4JR-Boone Evans[4]; 4. 31-Mason Martin[5]; 5. 22-Gregory Muirhead[7]; 6. F4-Tommy Fain[6]; 7. 92-Dan Mackenthun[9]; 8. 25-Jeramey Bradley[14]; 9. 15T-Johnny Torres[10]; 10. 34H-Doug Holzmeister[13]; 11. 70-George Egbert[12]; 12. 26Y-Robert Yearian[15]; 13. (DNF) 82-Shelby Williams[17]; 14. (DNF) XXX-Shawn Graham[11]; 15. (DNF) 15-Jacob Slough[8]; 16. (DNF) 717-GW Egbert IV[16]; 17. (DQ) 12-Cody Leonard[2]
I-Stock heats
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 4JR-Boone Evans[1]; 2. 42-Beau Collins[7]; 3. 8JS-Cameron Starry[9]; 4. 22-Gregory Muirhead[6]; 5. 15T-Johnny Torres[2]; 6. XXX-Shawn Graham[8]; 7. 34H-Doug Holzmeister[3]; 8. (DNF) 26Y-Robert Yearian[4]; 9. (DNF) 82-Shelby Williams[5]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 12-Cody Leonard[3]; 2. 31-Mason Martin[4]; 3. F4-Tommy Fain[2]; 4. 15-Jacob Slough[6]; 5. 92-Dan Mackenthun[8]; 6. 70-George Egbert[1]; 7. 25-Jeramey Bradley[5]; 8. (DNF) 717-GW Egbert IV[7]