‘Casco Kid’ is national racing champion

LUXEMBURG – Coy Vlies, a 19-year-old race car driver known as “The Casco Kid,” won his third straight 141 Speedway track championship in Francis Creek this season, and fourth straight Luxy Raceway title in Luxemburg.

While these are impressive accomplishments, he was also the 2026 state champion and the first Wisconsin driver to win a national title in the International Motor Contest Association (IMCA) SportMod division. At 19, he was also the youngest to ever win it.

The IMCA is the oldest active auto racing sanctioning body in the United States, mainly focusing on grassroots dirt track racing. It was founded in 1915, and its headquarters is in Iowa.

“A national title was definitely a goal,” said Vlies, a second-generation race car driver. “My dad (Jeff “Pepe” Vlies) and I always talked about it.”

Vlies was honored late in the season at the Luxy track along with other past national champions from Wisconsin, including John Gregorich of Kewaunee (1993, stock car), Benji LaCrosse of Casco (2006, modified) and Jared Siefert of Luxemburg (2007, modified).

Vlies started nearly 50 races in four states this year, earning victory lane in 19 of those.

“I had to win the final night’s race (to get the national title),” Vlies said. “How it happened, it’s probably going to go down as the craziest finish in the history of IMCA. It was in Redwood, Minnesota. I started third and was still in third when the lap car spun out, and took out the top two on the last corner. I couldn’t see what happened. I was shocked and excited at the same time. I was speechless.”

He and Iowa’s Jarett Franzen were battling for the title on that final night, at separate tracks.

“There were only two tracks racing on the last day of points, Iowa and Minnesota,” Vlies said. “I decided to go to Minnesota, and won. He finished fourth in Iowa.”

Vlies said there are races in Iowa almost any day of the week.

“More tracks, less cars,” he said. “We only race (here) on Friday and Saturday nights.”
That meant a lot of trips to other tracks. IMCA allows your best 25 finishes out of your first 50 races. The maximum points for a win is 40, so 1,000 points would be a 25-win total. But, bonuses for a track championship are how Vlies edged Franzen by a single point, 1,024-1,023.

“Fifteen bonus points for a track championship,” Vlies said. “I got 30, he got 29.”

Vlies, who has been racing four years, will be attending an IMCA awards banquet in Nebraska Nov. 28. He said he has “no clue” how much money he’ll win, but expects a solid chunk of contingency prizes.

Chasing the title was a lot of work, he said, including a trio of road trip wins in Minnesota and Iowa. He also raced in Illinois, and on several Wisconsin tracks.

“Obviously, it’s going to be hard to beat this season,” Vlies said. “I’m not planning to run for the national title again. I’ll just go out and try to win every night, and see where it takes me.”
Coy credited his sponsors and crew for his success, and his boss — Duke Kroll of Badgerland Concrete — for letting him take time off to chase the championship.

“I want to thank everybody,” Vlies said. “They all made this possible.”