SPENCER, Iowa – The first Hawkeye Dirt Tour event at Clay County Fair Speedway will also be one of the top-paying races in the six-plus season history of the series for Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modifieds.
Winner of the Monday, Aug. 8 feature earns $5,000. Hahn Roofing of Spencer and the Clay County Fair both added money to the purse to make the winner’s check the biggest of the 2016 tour.
The runner-up gets $1,200, with $600 paid for third and $450 for fourth, and $250 in cash will be paid to the evening’s hard charger.
The Hawkeye Dirt Tour show at Clay County kicks off IMCA Speedweek, with Modifieds headlining the Harris Clash card at Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City on Tuesday, Aug. 9 before the Dirt Tour finale Wednesday, Aug. 10 at Buena Vista Raceway in Alta.
IMCA Modifieds also take top billing when Speedweek continues at Hancock County Speedway in Britt with the Thursday, Aug. 11 Night of 1,000 Stars; the Friday, Aug. 12 Night of 10,000 Stars; and the Saturday, Aug. 13 All Star special.
All six events are 2017 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifiers and will be broadcast by IMCA.TV.
“We’ve got a great sponsor with Hahn Roofing. Denny Hahn has sponsored cars for many years and is a big fan of the Hawkeye Dirt Tour,” said fair board member and racing committee chair Tracy Small. “We’ve got a lot of energy here. The grandstands seat 7,000 and we put in new Musco lighting as part of a $500,000 track upgrade.”
“We started weekly racing with six events four years ago and have 16 this year,” he added. “We have a strong group of racers and race fans in Northwest Iowa.”
Entry fee is $50, tow is $75 and minimum of $150 will be paid to start at Clay County. IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing National, BMS North Central Region, Allstar Performance State and special series points will be awarded.
Pit gates open at 2 p.m. and the grandstand opens at 6 p.m. Hot laps are at 7 p.m. with racing to follow. Spectator admission is $15 for adults and free for 12 and under. Pit passes are $25
Also running are IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods and IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks.
More information is available by calling 712 262-4740, on Facebook and at the www.claycountyfairspeedway.com website.
Wednesday’s winner at BVR earns $1,000 and national, regional, state and local track points will be given. Pit gates open at 5 p.m. and the grandstand opens at 5:30 p.m. Hot laps are at 6:45 p.m. with racing to follow.
Admission to the grandstand is $12 for adults, $8 for seniors and veterans with ID, and kids 12 and under are $2 or free with the donation of a non-perishable food item for the local food bank. Pit passes are $25
IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods, IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks and Mach-1 Sport Compacts complete the program. More information is available by calling 712 267-3278 and at the www.buenavistaraceway.com website.
After back-to-back seasons in 2014 and 2015 when no HDT competitor posted multiple wins, the 2016 series has already seen three drivers accomplish the feat.
Joel Rust of Grundy Center, Justin Kay of Wheatland and Corey Dripps of Reinbeck have each won twice thus far.
Point leader Chris Abelson of Sioux City and Brian Irvine of Oelwein own single checkers.
The tour record for feature wins in a season is three, set by Richie Gustin of Gilman in 2010 and matched by Hinton’s Jay Noteboom two years later.
One hundred and forty-nine different drivers from eight states, California and Nevada among them, have competed through the first eight Dirt Tour events.
IMCA Hawkeye Dirt Tour top 20 point standings – 1. Chris Abelson, Sioux City, 280; 2. Joel Rust, Grundy Center, 258; 3. Kelly Shryock, Fertile, 255; 4. Corey Dripps, Reinbeck, 248; 5. Kyle Brown, State Center, 232; 6. Richie Gustin, Gilman, 196; 7. Mark Elliott, Webster City, 168; 8. Brian Irvine, Oelwein, 160; 9. David Brown, Kellogg, 145; 10. Justin Kay, Wheatland, 137; 11. Jacob Murray, Hartford, 134; 12. Ryan Maitland, Waterloo, and Kurt Kile, Nichols, both 127; 14. Tim Ward, Harcourt, 118; 15. Dakota Hayden, Wilton, 108; 16. Darin Duffy, Urbana, 104; 17. Troy Cordes, Dunkerton, 101; 18. Mike Van Genderen, Newton, 91; 19. Todd Shute, Des Moines, 90; 20. Chris Zogg, New Liberty, 89.