OCHEYEDAN, Iowa – A driver with a knack for coming up big on the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car stage returned to the top of the Moritz Sport & Machine Dakota Classic Tour powered by Bismarck Motor Company podium this summer.

Elijah Zevenbergen’s five feature wins more than offset a single DNF as he raced to a record-extending sixth championship on the North Dakota-based tour.

“All the tracks in the tour are smooth from top to bottom and that really works into our driving style and what we’re trying to do,” said Zevenbergen, from Ocheyedan, Iowa. “We’ve had a lot of success on this tour. Things have just kind of fallen in our favor.”

In boosting his tour career total to 22 checkers, Zevenbergen racked up wins at Red River Valley Speedway, Jamestown Speedway, Nodak Speedway, Southwest Speedway and Dacotah Speedway. He broke leading late in the fourth night of the tour, at Williston Basin Speedway.

“We’ve got a lot of friends in North Dakota,” said Zevenbergen, also the tour champion in 2013 and from 2015-2018. “It’s great to travel, camp and race six straight nights. We always look forward to it.”

He’d started the season at the Sniper Speed Lone Star Stock Car Tour dialing in a new car, picking up after tracks reopened in the Midwest three months later with the $3,000 Dirt Duel win at Stuart Speedway.

Zevenbergen wrecked that ride in his first post-Dakota Classic Tour start, at 141 Speedway’s King of the Creek, but hopped back in his backup 2018 Sniper to top RPM Speedway’s $5,000 to win Stock Car Shootout and night two of Salina Speedway’s Mid-American Clash, earning another $1,500.

“We always look forward to the specials. We had a lot of success and we had a lot of challenges this season,” he said.