The Scoop
TRACKING ALL TIME WISCONSIN IMCA MOD FEATURE WINS HEADING INTO ’23
Posted on: Wednesday May 10, 2023
Luxemburg native Benji LaCrosse leads the way with 132 IMCA sanctioned modified victories among Wisconsin racers. (danlewisphoto.net)
When it comes to all time Wisconsin winners in the IMCA modified ranks Benji LaCrosse remains atop the field heading into the 2023 season.
The Luxemburg native who now calls Casco home, scored enough sanctioned wins in ’22 to pull ahead of a pair of stalwarts in the division – Green Bay’s R.M. “Buck” Van Pay and Brian Mullen of Seymour.
Heading into the 2023 season LaCrosse stands at 132 sanctioned IMCA modified wins. LaCrosse, who began his career in an IMCA stock car, doesn’t race nearly as much as he did in the 2000’s. For that matter neither do Mullen or Van Pay, who remain tied in the second spot at 129 sanctioned wins.
Seymour veteran Brian Mullen remains tied in 2nd with long time rival R.M. Van Pay with 129 IMCA sanctioned wins. (danlewisphoto.net)
Mullen and Van Pay have been racing modifieds for at least a full decade more than LaCrosse. Van Pay got his start in the sportsman class in the early 1980’s and had a long career racing dirt late models in addition to wheeling a modified – often two classes in one night as was often displayed on a Sunday night at Seymour Tri-Oval.
Mullen’s racing career began in the street stock class, but it wasn’t long until Mullen quickly jumped into the open wheeled mods. It didn’t take long for Mullen or Van Pay to get a handle on the modifieds.
As the allure of weekly racing has faded in recent years, most modified racers began chasing the high dollar shows, which are fairly prevalent these days. The days of guys racing three or even two nights per week weekly are virtually a thing of the past for most, with a few exceptions.
Algoma veteran Todd “Felix” Dart remains active in IMCA modified contention heading into 2023. (danlewisphoto.net)
Fremont’s Mike Wedelstadt sits fourth with 113 victories and Algoma’s Todd “Felix” Dart rounds out the top five with 80 wins. All drivers in the top five remain actively racing IMCA modifieds in 2023.
With the bottom five it’s a different story as three of those five remain actively racing. Pulaski veteran Brad Rohloff and Green Bay’s Eddie Muenster sit in sixth and seventh spot, respectively. Rohloff has 72 wins while Muenster has 71. Both drivers do not have plans to race modifieds in ’23. However Muenster will be inducted into the Shawano Speedway Hall of Fame this summer on June 3.
However drivers in the eighth through 10th spots are still racing. And those three drivers are all within a handful of wins. Green Bay native Jared Siefert, who now lives in Luxemburg, is in eighth with 59 wins. New Franken’s Shawn Kilgore is ninth with 56 victories. Wausau’s Marcus Yarie rounds out the top ten with 55 wins.
Wausau’s Marcus Yarie, shown here after a $5,000 win at Shawano Speedway, rounds out the top ten in all time Wisconsin IMCA winners with 55 victories. (Precious Photography photo)
IMCA MODIFIED ALL TIME WISCONSIN WINNERS AS OF MAY 9, 2023
Benji LaCrosse, Green Bay, 132
Brian Mullen, Seymour, 129
R.M. VanPay, Green Bay, 129
Mike Wedelstadt, Fremont, 113
Todd Dart, Algoma, 80
Brad Rohloff, Pulaski, 72
Eddie Muenster, Green Bay, 71
Jared Siefert, Green Bay, 59
Shawn Kilgore, New Franken, 56
Marcus Yarie, Wausau, 55