Ron Pope Motorsports History
Ron Pope began racing in the early 1980'S, when Enduro Cars were gaining in popularity. Ron began driving race cars on a dare. Ron and a few friends built an enduro car and headed for the track. That night Ron won his heat and his feature and racing won his heart. He was hooked, and has been racing ever since.
Ron's family has been involved with racing since the late 1950's when his grandfather and father took up the sport with a 1934 Ford Coupe. Ron seemed destined to be a racing champion because on the day he was born, after a brief introduction, Ron's father was "off to the races".
In 1984 he won the Points Championship in the Street Stock Division. The next year he moved into the Modified Class. Ron always had great success in racing but the real victories came in 1993.
That was the year that Ron achieved successes that most race car drivers only dream about. He won the Points Championship at two tracks, Worthington and Slayton, Minnesota. He won the 1993 Season Championship at the Jackson Motor Speedway in Jackson, Minnesota. He also earned the 1993 North Central Regional Championship title. In addition, he won the IMCA Supernationals in Boone, lowa. And last, but not least, Ron also captured the 1993 National Points Championship.
In 1994, Ron decided it was time to try a new challenge and moved into the Late Model Division. During his experience with Late Model racing he came to the conclusion that Modified racing was, and still is, where he wanted to be.
Ron jumped back into the modified driver's seat for the 1995 racing season with a car sponsored by a Algona businessman. Ron ended the 1995 season with an offer to drive and be a technical advisor for FRC Racing out of Hawkeye, lowa.
In 1996, racing for FRC he captured four feature wins and made numerous advancements in the FRC race cars design.
In 1998, Ron won the Hancock County Modified Challenge in Britt, Iowa; the first driver to do it in its 3-year history!
In 1999, Ron was Algona Track Champion. He again won the Hancock County Modified Challenge, twice!
In 2001, Ron was track champion at the Hancock County Speedway in Britt, Iowa. He was also voted "Driver of the Year" by his fellow racers.
In 2002, Ron won the Ron Efkamp Memorial Race of Champions at the supernationals event in Boone, Iowa. This race is exclusively for former national champions and current track champions.
In 2005, Ron finished third in the IMCA National standings and won the North Central regional points. He also earned track championships at both the Fairmont and Algona Raceways.
Ron is known at the tracks as a real racing competitor that brings integrity along with him to every track. He is often ranked as one of the nation's Top 10 Drivers.
Over the years Ron has racked up a number of accomplishments to highlight his racing career, including:
1992 NCAR Nationals titleholder.
1993 National points champion.
1993 Super-Nationals winner. For
more about this race, see the article featured in January 1994
"Stock Car Racing" magazine or Click
Here.
First modified driver to accept and win the modified challenge 2
years in a row at Hancock county speedway.
1999 points champion at Algona raceway.
2001
points champion at Britt.
2002 winner of the "King of the Hill" competition at Britt.
For more information Click Here.
2002 winner of the Ron Efkamp Memorial Race of Champions. For more
about this
race, see the article featured in October 2003 "Speedway
Illustrated" or Click Here.
2005 Fairmont
Raceway Track Champion, Algona Raceway Track Champion,
IMCA
North Central Region Modified Champion,
third in IMCA
National points.
August 2007 Salute to the Champions of the IMCA Speedway Motor Super
Nationals. For more information about celebrating the 25th anniversary Click
Here.
