APACHE JUNCTION, Ariz. – A driver who likes to travel raced his way into the IMCA history book this season.
Larry Brigner became the first driver from Arizona to earn rookie of the year honors in the EQ Cylinder Heads Southern Region for IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars. While supporting three tracks in his home state and a fourth in Colorado, he complemented his first feature win in The Class Too Tough To Tame with 17 top five finishes
“National and regional rookie of the year awards were what I really wanted to go for at the start of the season. We had a lot of fun and we were able to race at a lot of different tracks,” said Brigner, from Apache Junction. “I like the close racing in this class and that you don’t tear too much stuff up.”
The runner-up in KMJ Performance State standings, Brigner finished second in point standings at Arizona Speedway and third at Cocopah Speedway.
Career win number one came on opening night at Cocopah, in front of eventual regional champion Aaron Spangler.
“That was a pretty good race. I wish I could have stayed and celebrated the win a little longer,” he said. “I had to leave for a friend’s birthday party 4-1/2 hours away.”
Brigner started his career in the factory stock class at Canyon Speedway and ran in a pure stock class before making the move to the sanctioned Stock Cars.
“Pure stocks are similar to IMCA Hobby Stocks but the rules are different at each track,” he explained. “I figured if I ran an IMCA Stock Car I could go to different tracks and not have to change anything because all the rules are the same. I got a lot of help from family and friends, who made it possible for me to do that this year.”