The Scoop
“TOO TOUGH TO TAME – TRACKING WISCONSIN’S ALL TIME IMCA STOCK CAR WINNERS
Posted on: Sunday March 27, 2022
Pulaski’s “Hot Rod Snellenberger’s familiar No. 10 IMCA stock car is shown on his open trailer in the pit area at Shawano Speedway in the early 2000s. Snellenberger remains Wisconsin’s winningest IMCA stock car driver heading into 2022. (Joe Slack photo)
When it comes to the class dubbed “too-tough-to-tame” on Wisconsin’s dirt ovals the IMCA stock cars not only boast multiple national champions but all but two of the top ten drivers in overall feature wins remain active heading into 2022.
The IMCA stocks have earned a reputation in northeastern Wisconsin for providing exciting, wheel-to-wheel racing no matter whatever track surface is served up on any given night. Three and four wide action is common at every track from the legendary half-mile at Shawano Speedway to the tighter confines of 141 Speedway’s high banks in Francis Creek.
Pulaski’s “Hot Rod” Snellenberger remains the man to beat in overall sanctioned wins. Heading into 2022 Snellenberger has 220 sanctioned feature flags according to IMCA. Trailing Snellenberger are a pair of fellow national champions, Pulaski native Brandon Czarapata and Shiocton’s Travis Van Straten.
Pulaski native Brandon Czarapata is a two time IMCA national stock car champion. (danlewisphoto.net)
Snellenberger’s national crown was earned in 2008, while Van Straten claimed the nation’s top honors in 2015. Czarapata is a two-time national champion having won the crowns in 2012 and 2013.
Czarapata stands at 131 career victories while Van Straten’s win total heading into ’22 is at 124. Czarapata was also an IMCA Supernationals champion at Boone (IA) Speedway in 2013 while it was another Supernationals champion, Horicon’s Jeremy Christians, who sits fourth in all time wins with 103.
Horicon’s Jeremy Christians shown after a win at Shawano Speedway’s Mid-Summer Classic in 2021. (Turn 2 photos)
Christians hit the “century mark” with 100 sanctioned victories in 2020 and was a top dog for several seasons when IMCA sanctioned races were held weekly at the Dodge County Fairgrounds in Beaver Dam. Christians dabbled in modified racing as well for several seasons where he was also a topflight competitor. Green Bay’s John Heinz rounds out the top five in all time wins with 85 and one of two drivers amongst the top ten who are currently no longer racing.
Although he doesn’t race nearly as much as he once did “Chargin’ Charlie” Kroll of Forestville sits sixth with all-time wins at 80. Oconto Falls Kyle Frederick sits seventh with 67 wins while Larry Karcz Junior of Pulaski is eighth with 52 victories.
“The Flyin’ M” Dan Michonski, of Leopolis, who’s also an accomplished ice racer, sits ninth at 51 while Kewaunee’s Brian Bruechert, who’s currently retired from racing rounds out the top ten with 50 sanctioned stock car wins.
The landscape has changed slightly compared to years ago in terms of scheduling at a few of the tracks and the number of available nights a local driver can race in his or her backyard.
A long-time sanctioned track in Sturgeon Bay, The Hill Raceway runs an abbreviated schedule and no longer flies the IMCA flag at their racetrack.
Sanctioned tracks in northeast Wisconsin where drivers can still rack up IMCA victories include Outagamie Speedway (Seymour), Shawano Speedway, The ‘Burg Speedway (Luxemburg) and 141 Speedway (Francis Creek).
Thing is among the eight active racers currently in the top 10 all of them are still running for the most part at the top of their game and continue to win features and run up front on a consistent basis.
A big thanks to IMCA’s public relations maven Bill Martin for providing these stats for the story.
WISCONSIN’S ALL TIME IMCA STOCK CAR FEATURE WINNERS HEADING INTO 2022
Rod Snellenberger, Pulaski, 220
Brandon Czarapata, Pulaski, 131
Travis VanStraten, Horicon, 124
Jeremy Christians, Horicon, 103
John Heinz, Green Bay, 85
Charlie Kroll, Forestville, 80
Kyle Frederick, Oconto Falls, 67
Larry Karcz, Pulaski, 52
Dan Michonski, Marion, 51
Brian Bruechert, Kewaunee 50