JEFFERSON, S.D. — Fans at Park Jefferson Speedway got to see one of their own in victory lane when IMCA Sunoco Late Models made their triumphant return to South Dakota.
Sioux Falls native and now Silvis, Ill., racer Evan Miller passed Jesse Sobbing and then Keegan Nordquist late in Thursday night’s 25-lapper to earn the $1,000 Titan Clash payday.
The checkers came in the first IMCA Late Model event held in South Dakota since 2007, the summer before Miller started second grade.
“It’s pretty awesome,” said Miller, who’d taken the day off work to make the almost 400-mile tow and became the national points leader with the win. “We’d started thinking about making this race right after Park Jefferson posted about it and we really wanted to come back and race in front of family and sponsors we have here.”
The win came in his fourth start of the season. Miller had made 19 starts, with one feature win and eight top five finishes at seven different tracks as a rookie in 2023.
“Park Jefferson was definitely different that any track I raced at last year. There’s definitely more banking,” he said. “I got from sixth to second in a couple laps in my heat so I knew I had a good car. The track came to me in the feature and I was able to get under Jesse and Keegan for the lead.”
Sobbing, Keegan and Zach Zeitner were next across the stripe as drivers from different states … Illinois, Iowa, South Dakota and Nebraska … completed the top four.
“The last time I raced and won in South Dakota was in the outlaw street stocks at I-90 Speedway in 2021,” Miller said. “Being able to come back and win means a lot to us and to do it all in front of family and friends was icing on the cake.”
“It was pretty special for sure.”