Justin Kay makes IMCA history with pair of track titles

FARLEY — More and more, Justin Kay's name is written in the IMCA record books.

Friday night at Farley Speedway, the Wheatland driver added his name to a short list: racers who have won IMCA Late Model and Modified season championships at the same track in the same season. Kay joins Mark Burgtorf (Lee County Speedway in 1998 and 1999) and Tom Charles (Thunder Hill Speedway in Topeka, Kan. in 1995) as the only drivers to accomplish the feat, according to available IMCA records.

Kay is the first to do so at Farley Speedway.

Not only did he finish off the season-long titles, but the three-time IMCA Late Model national champion did it by sweeping the main event victories again — his fifth such feat this season.

Oh, and it was his seventh straight Modified win at Farley, too.

'It just shows what the guys in the shop are willing to do,' Kay said. 'It makes it easy to come to the racetrack. Winning these two titles, I wouldn't have done it without them.

'Getting two of them is pretty exciting.'

Kay has 29 wins overall this season, with 16 in Late Model, 12 in Modified and one in a Sport Mod, which leaves him two wins behind his personal record of 31 (two years ago, all in a Late Model).

Breaking new ground isn't exactly new. He became the first to win IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series for Late Models and Hawkeye Dirt Tour Modified main events at the same track in the same night earlier this season at West Liberty Raceway.

It's still exciting, though.

Not one to boast about himself or celebrate outwardly, Kay allowed himself a fist-pump when he climbed from his racecar Friday night. His Late Model victory puts him in great position to capture his fourth national championship. The accomplishment of Friday, the prospects of what's to come plus having both his kids — his daughter Kayleigh shouting 'yay daddy!' as she ran to greet him in Victory Lane — and his wife with him were enough to leave him grinning ear to ear.

'If we could win that (the Late Model title) for a fourth time, that would be awesome,' Kay said. 'Look at how good these guys are (we're racing). Look at how good (Tyler) Bruening has been. You go to West Liberty, it's hard to beat (Nick) Marolf. I was glad to see (Jeremiah) Hurst back tonight.

'Just everywhere you go, there's really good guys. It's (great).'

Watch the full Late Model main event, plus the entire winner's interview (at 22:00) in the video below.

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com