The drivers have been revealed for the the 2018 Iowa's Virtual Dirt Track Classic presented by Bill Colwell Ford (Hudson, IA) and Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center (Hudson, IA). Voting begins Friday, January 19th.

It's the third annual Iowa's Virtual Dirt Track Classic. 108 drivers spread across five different divisions were nominated for this year's event. The same five divisions are featured again in 2018: Modified, Stock Car, Hobby Stock, SportMod/Bmod, and Late Model.

This virtual race is powered by the fans' votes. The more votes a driver receives, the fast their favorite driver(s) will go. Fans, and yes race teams & drivers, can vote once every twenty-four hours.

QUICK LANE TIRE & AUTO CENTER ROUND 1:
Voting for the Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Round 1 begins Friday, January 19th at 6:00 AM and ends Thursday, January 25th at 5:00 PM. Drivers will be divided into two or three groups (pending field size). Ten drivers will advance to the Bill Colwell Ford Main Event, which begins the next day.

BILL COLWELL FORD MAIN EVENT:
The top two vote-getters in each group will automatically advance into the Main Event. The rest of the final ten position will be field by the overall highest vote-getters not already in the field, regardless of group they've been assigned. Voting for the main event begins Friday, January 25th at 6:00 AM and ends Thursday, February 1st at 5:00 PM.

The Bill Colwell Ford champions will be revealed the morning of Friday, February 2.

THE NOMINEES:
The methodology used for this year's list did not vary much from previous year's. Our main goal was to create a list that rewarded the drivers who battled all season long for a championship. Yes there were a lot of talented drivers who won some prestigious events in 2017, and a few of those drivers may have even made this year's nomination list, but the intent has always been to feature weekly racing and its champions. And further more, it is supposed to be fun.

You can read more below about the nomination process, but for now, let's cut to the chase and why everyone is here... who made this year's field.

MODIFIED:

  • Alex Reetz - Buena Vista Raceway Champion (*)
  • Bryce Garnhart - Davenport Speedway Champion
  • Cayden Carter - Southern Iowa Speedway Champion
  • Chase Ellingson - Hamilton Co. Speedway
  • Chris Zogg - West Liberty Raceway Champion
  • Clint Luellen - IMCA State Champion
  • Colby Springsteen - CJ Speedway Champion
  • Dennis Laveine - 34 Raceway & Lee Co. Speedway Track Champion
  • Jake Strayer - Marshalltown Speedway Champion
  • Jason Schueller - Dubuque Speedway Champion
  • JD Auringer - Mason City Motor Speedway
  • Jeff James - Adams Co. Speedway Champion
  • Josh Gilman - Stuart Speedway Champion (*)
  • Josh Ruby - Hancock Co. Speedway Champion
  • Justin Kay - Farley Speedway Champion
  • Kelly Shryock - IMCA Hawkeye Dirt Tour Champion
  • Mike Jergens - Kossuth Co. Speedway Champion
  • Mike VanGenderen - Boone Speedway Champion
  • Mitch Morris - Maquoketa Speedway Champion
  • Nick Deal - Crawford Co. Speedway Champion
  • Scott Hogan - Independence Motor Speedway Champion
  • Shane Demey - Sports Park Raceway Champion
  • (*) = Alternate was awarded the invite, see Methodology details below

STOCK CAR:

  • Chad Palmer - Hancock Co. Speedway Champion
  • Cole Mather - Independence Motor Speedway Champion
  • Devin Smith - Buena Vista Raceway
  • Donavon Smith - Boone & Marshalltown Speedway Champion
  • Elijah Zevenbergen - USRA National Champion
  • Jake Masters - Kossuth Co. Speedway Champion
  • Joe Zadina - Adams Co. Speedway Champion
  • John Oliver Jr. 34 Raceway & Lee Co. Speedway Track Champion
  • Johnny Spaw - West Liberty Raceway Champion
  • Keith Knop - Shelby Co. Speedway Champion (*)
  • Kirk Kinsley - CJ Speedway Champion (*)
  • Luke Sathoff - Mason City Motor Speedway
  • Lynn Panos - Fayette Co. Speedway Champion
  • Marcus Fagan - Stuart Speedway Champion
  • Brian Blessington - Crawford Co. Speedway Champion (*)
  • Mike Nichols - IMCA National Champion
  • Mitch Hovden - Upper Iowa Speedway Champion
  • Nathan Wood - IMCA State Champion
  • Danny Thrasher - Southern Iowa Speedway Champion (*)
  • Phil Holtz - Farley Speedway Champion
  • Rich Gregoire - Rapid Speedway Champion (*)
  • Tim Schneider - Dubuque Speedway Champion
  • Tyler Pickett - Sports Park Raceway Champion
  • (*) = Alternate was awarded the invite, see Methodology details below

SPORTMOD/BMOD:

  • Austen Becerra - 34 Raceway Track Champion
  • Brandon Hare - Mason City Motor Speedway
  • Chad Ryerson - Boone Speedway Champion
  • Chase Rudolf - Stuart Speedway Champion
  • Cody Olson - Crawford Co. & Shelby Co. Speedway Champion
  • Colby Fett - Hancock Co. & Kossuth Speedway Champion
  • Colton Livezey - CJ Speedway Champion
  • Curtis Van Der Wal - Southern Iowa Speedway Champion
  • Dalton Simonsen - West Liberty Raceway Champion
  • Dan Hovden - USRA Iron Man Champion
  • Doug Smith - Buena Vista Raceway & Hamilton Co. Spdwy Champion
  • Gage Neal - Maquoketa Speedway Champion (*)
  • Jake McBirnie - IMCA State Champion (*)
  • Jerod Weston - Adams Co. Speedway Champion
  • Jerry Miles - Farley Speedway Champion (*)
  • Kyle Anderson - Upper Iowa Speedway Champion (*)
  • Kyle Olson - Independence Motor Speedway Champion
  • Tony Dunker - Lee Co. Speedway Champion
  • Tony Olson - Davenport Speedway Champion
  • Travis Peterson - Marshalltown Speedway Champion
  • Trevor Fecht - Fayette Co. Speedway Champion
  • Troy Bauer - Dubuque Speedway Champion
  • Ty Griffith - Sports Park Raceway Champion
  • Tyler Johnson - Rapid Speedway Champion
  • Tyler Soppe - IMCA National Champion

(*) = Alternate was awarded the invite, see Methodology details below

LATE MODEL:

  • Brian Hunter - Independence Motor Speedway Champion
  • Chad Holladay - West Liberty Raceway Champion
  • Charlie McKenna - Sports Park Raceway Champion
  • Corey Zeitner - Adams Co. Speedway Champion
  • Darrel DeFrance - Hamilton Co. Speedway
  • Dennis Woodworth - Lee Co. Speedway Champion
  • Jesse Sobbing - IMCA Summer Series Champion
  • Joel Callahan - Dubuque Speedway Champion
  • Justin Kay - IMCA National Champion
  • Matt Ryan - Davenport & Maquoketa Speedway Champion
  • Todd Cooney - IMCA State Champion

HOBBY STOCK:

  • Benji Irvine - Independence Motor Speedway Champion
  • Blake Arends - Rapid Speedway Champion
  • Brady Link - Upper Iowa Speedway Champion
  • Brandon Nielsen - Hancock Co. Speedway Champion
  • Brandon Nielsen - Kossuth Co. Speedway Champion
  • Chanse Hollatz - IMCA State Champion
  • Daniel Smith - Buena Vista Raceway
  • Dustin Graham - Boone Speedway Champion
  • Jamie Schirm - Stuart Speedway Champion
  • Jason Fusselman - Crawford & Shelby Co. Speedway Champion
  • Jeff Struck Jr. - Davenport Speedway Champion
  • Leah Wroten - Marshalltown Speedway Champion (*)
  • Luke Ramsey - Adams Co. Speedway Champion
  • Matt White - Mason City Motor Speedway
  • Myles Michehl - Sports Park Raceway Champion
  • Randy Byerly - Maquoketa Speedway Champion
  • Shannon Anderson - IMCA National Champion
  • Aaron Martin - Southern Iowa Speedway Champion (*)
  • Steve Larson - Fayette Co. Speedway Champion

(*) = Alternate was awarded the invite, see Methodology details below

ONE FINAL NOTE:
It is 100% legal for drivers, team members, owners, and anyone involved with a race team to promote and encourage their fans to vote for your driver. Good luck.

METHODOLOGY:
The primary prerequisite to even be considered for the Iowa's Virtual Dirt Track Classic competitors list was that a drivers must live in Iowa or competed in Iowa on a regular basis during the 2017 campaign.

First, all sanctioning body national champions were added to this year's nomination list. Then all regional/state champions were added. Then Iowa-based tour champions were added. Then drivers who live in Iowa and who won a tour championship that raced at least a portion of the races in Iowa we added.

The final phase of nomination focused on the many different track champions in Iowa. All track champions in our five divisions were then added. If a track champion was already nominated due to being a national, regional, state, touring, or any of the previously mentioned qualifiers, the track's runner-up was considered. If that driver was already on the list for any other reason, we went no deeper, and no driver was added. If a driver won multiple track championships, no runner-up was added.

AND REMEMBER THIS IS DESIGNED TO BE FUN... So have some fun while we wait for Spring to return the dirt to start flying.

 

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