PORTLAND, Mich. — Jeff Reay introduced the Friesen Efficiency IMCA Modified Nationwide Championship again to Michigan, steering the Prime Contracting / JBS Coating / Grand Ledge Paving no. 12 Rage Chassis owned by Greg Bower, who he’s pushed for the previous two seasons, to the 2025 Nationwide crown.
It’s his first profession championship — and the state’s first since Rick Stout in 1995 — earned by simply two factors.
“Firstly of the season I instructed everybody I wasn’t going to be operating for factors,” Reay mentioned. “We had a couple of hiccups originally — broke a few components — however then issues began getting higher and we had slightly luck on our facet and located some new velocity. We’re working with a automotive from 2022, so it’s three years previous and has 130 nights on it. There have been a number of nights the place we didn’t win, however we moved ahead after beginning on the again and simply stored pushing.”
Reay’s on-track consistency quickly turned the spine of his championship bid. He made 42 begins and earned 14 function victories, together with seven at I-96 Speedway, 5 at Crystal Motor Speedway, and two at Mt. Nice Speedway.
All through the summer time, he discovered success in bunches, scoring a number of wins on 5 completely different weekends and stringing collectively lengthy stretches of podium finishes. His mid-season surge featured seven straight victories between late Could and mid-July, anchoring a marketing campaign that produced 21 podiums, 29 top-five finishes, and 36 high 10s total — all however six of his begins ended inside the highest 10.
“My crew man Tyler, in the midst of the season, began mentioning one thing about factors and I instructed him I didn’t wish to even take a look at them,” Reay mentioned. “He’s been an enormous a part of protecting all the pieces going and protecting me going. We began to bop round to completely different tracks like Mount Nice Speedway and I-96 Speedway. We had been actually good at I-96 — traditionally I’ve by no means completed the best there, however it match me this 12 months. At Crystal we struggled slightly bit, however that’s as a result of the competitors has gotten so good within the final three years.”
En path to the nationwide title, Reay additionally secured the DeVilbiss Racing Chassis Jap Area crown, the Michigan State championship, and monitor titles at Crystal and I-96 Speedways.
All had been first-time achievements for him besides Crystal, the place he efficiently defended his 2024 monitor championship. He later added a visit east to compete within the NY-Penn IMCA Modified Collection occasion at Woodhull Raceway in New York towards the top of the season.
“It was superior to win a lot of the greater occasions between Crystal, I-96, and Mt. Nice Speedway this 12 months. We’re lucky for positive — it’s loopy it’s been 30 years since a nationwide champion has come from Michigan.”
“I wish to thank I-96 Speedway and Crystal Motor Speedway and all of their employees for protecting the tracks operating clean. I wouldn’t have made this potential with out the assistance from my crew — Tyler Henry, Lee Parkouse, Mike Geister, and Tom Heniser — together with my spouse Allyson and our boys Kruz and Paxton.”
