LINCOLN, Calif. – There is little doubt that Jordan Grabouski won more races in 2019 than anyone else.
The Beatrice, Neb., driver won an amazing 69 times, 33 while racing an IMCA modified and 36 in an IMCA stock car.
Added to his phenomenal season were two IMCA National championships and he had the type of season that will be difficult to top.
Grabouski had the benefit of racing in two divisions to compile those numbers. Who had the most wins while racing in one division?
Research reveals it was Cody Thompson from Sioux City, Iowa. The 23-year-old won 44 times at 14 different tracks in 92 races in his IMCA Northern Sport Mod, winning nearly half of his events.
Making his first appearance at a race track at the age of two weeks, Thompson was still five years away from starting his racing career. His father raced to lead to his growing up at a dirt track, and the younger Thompson first raced a motorcycle.
At 5 years old Thompson started in motorcycles, two years later he added go karts to his resume and he graduated to a sport compact at 12. His first full sized race track experience was at Park Jefferson Speedway, located at the north edge of Sioux City. Finishing ninth in the initial effort was soon improved upon when he won during his fifth night out in a sport compact, that coming at Raceway Park, which is across the road from Park Jefferson.
The following year at 13 was a full season in sport compacts and nine wins were recorded with track titles at Park Jefferson and Raceway Park. In six years of racing a sport compact Thompson won 42 times.
In 2016 he moved to IMCA Northern Sport Mods and after four seasons he has earned 75 wins. Showing how successful 2019 was for the full time racer, 44 of those 75 wins came in an eight month span season, ranging from Humboldt, Kan., to Peoria, Ariz.
His first sport mod win came in 2016 at Crawford County Speedway in Denison, Iowa, and was his seventh race in that class. This year three track titles at Park Jefferson, Alta, Iowa, and Columbus, Neb., were part of his first year of full-time racing. He did win some good paying races, but Thompson notes that without his sponsors his full-time effort would not be possible.
So what led to the huge growth is racing success this year?
“Hard work in the shop, paying attention to the race tracks, trying different things, and write that stuff down in a notebook so you know for next time,” Thompson said.
“I lived off of that notebook, luckily I made a pretty good notebook, and I was able to use it to help win a ton of those races.”
He has been working on a car, getting ready for an earlier start to his season when he tows to Cocopah Speedway, south of Yuma, Ariz., for a series starting Jan. 9.
He will be in Arizona until the IMCA Arizona Mod Tour finishes in mid-February, then he’ll be off to Texas for the Lone Star Tour, including an event at Texas Motor Speedway’s dirt track, which will include the North vs. South Sport Mod battle.
Thompson drives a Razor chassis and believes that has helped his program. He expects to spend 2020 in a Northern Sport Mod and will not chase track points, instead traveling to experience different tracks, race against different drivers and continue his learning process.