January 12, 2024

ALEX MANDERE - STATELINE LEGENDS 2024 CHAMPION

 As if short track racing is not full of enough drama, Alex Mandere added his own elements when he won the 2023 Rayce Rudeen Legends title at Stateline Speedway.

The 15-year-old clinched the championship with a last-lap pass, edging Marissa Sawin from Snohomish, Wash. by 15 points.

But more notable, Mandere wrote in an email was, “We went for a wild ride flipping 12 times,” in the legend shootout race. “We scrambled to find a solution, but we ended up just patching up the body for the season and getting new suspension.”

“We worked out the kinks enough to run inside the top 3 the last two races,” he said.

Mandere, who began racing in 2022, also competes sometimes in Mini Stocks, and he will graduate to big cars in 2024 with a late model ride.

“This was our last legend car season as we are moving up to late models and racing full-time in mini stocks with Terry Armstrong Jr.” Mandere said.

“I can’t thank Jesus, my dad John Mandere, Dallas Allen, Trayten Tarr, my grandpa and mother and family enough,” Mandere said.

Other important supporters include Kodiak Building Partners, Redbuilt, Baker Construction, Tire Rama, Kevin Rudeen and Rayce Rudeen Foundation.

RAYCE RUDEEN LEGENDS - STATELINE SPEEDWAY

Pos       #                 Competitor                                         Wins Top 5 Top 10 Points
1.........77.........Alex Mandere (R), Spokane, WA.........1.........4.........6.........409
2..........1...........Marissa Sawin, Snohomish, WA..........0.........4.........5..........394
3..........4..............Shane Quinn, Spokane, WA...............0.........5.........8.........378
4.........28...........Owen Zahnow, Spirt Lake, ID.............1.........4.........7.........358
5.........16X........Brock Denney, Kalispell, MT...............2.........3.........3.........222

LEGENDARY IROC BRAND RETURNS IN 2024

 According to a Jan. 8 news release, Ray Evernham, a NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee, and Rob Kauffman have officially joined forces to form IROC Holdings LLC, a joint venture company, and have acquired the rights to the iconic IROC brand.

IROC Holdings will seek out the revival of the brand beginning in 2024.

A date for the event, a location for the race, and a list of drivers who will compete in the race are unknown at this time.

The purpose of Monday’s announcement was simply to let the world know that the IROC brand is officially back and that it is in capable hands with Evernham and Kauffman steering the ship.

The International Race of Champions (IROC) was a racing series, that held events in 30 seasons between 1974 and 2006 and included a star-studded lineup of drivers from all forms of motorsports in the series.

Following the 2006 season, IROC faded away, but the memory of the special series has remained in the minds of race fans.

For Evernham, the IROC brand also means a great deal as he started his professional motorsports career, which led to him recording three NASCAR Cup Series championships (1995, 1997, and 1998) as a crew chief for Jeff Gordon, as a chassis specialist for IROC at the age of 26.

Evernham has an extensive collection of original IROC race cars, including a large collection of the Chevrolet Camaros, which were utilized in the series in the 1970s.

According to a representative with IROC Holdings, the plan at this time is for the IROC event to feature the IROC 1970s Chevrolet Camaro race cars.