claycountyfairspeedway Archives

Shryock Sweeps Stock Car Summer Nationals at Spencer

By Ben Deatherage SPENCER, Iowa (Jun. 4, 2025) — Kelly Shryock completed his dominance of the Sunoco IMCA Stock Car features during the IMCA Summer Nationals at Clay County Fair Speedway, winning Wednesday’s $5,000-to-win 30-lapper in dominant fashion. Texan Jeffrey Abbey, the 2016 Smiley’s Racing Products IMCA Southern SportMod National champion, jumped to the early lead. But Shryock, the defending Speedway Motors IMCA Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s winner, was on the move from eighth. Piloting the Lake Mills Motorsports No. 3 owned by Mike Hauan, Shryock powered into the lead on lap five, overtaking Abbey at the stripe. The Fertile, Iowa, native pulled away from the field and never looked back, even while navigating lapped traffic in the closing circuits. The victory was Shryock’s second of the week at Spencer and his sixth of the season in the EQ Cylinder Heads Northern Region. Abbey held on to second while Braden Richards rallied from 14th starting to finish third. Braaksma Dominates for Summer Nationals Modified Title Ethan Braaksma returned to form in the Friesen Performance IMCA [Read More]

Richards Powers to Hobby Stock Glory in $1,500 Summer Nationals Finale at Clay County

By Ben Deatherage SPENCER, Iowa (Jun. 2, 2025) — The Sunoco IMCA Hobby Stocks were in their final night of Summer Nationals competition at Clay County Fair Speedway on Monday night, and the $1,500-to-win 18-lap main event delivered an absolute thriller. Blake Luinenburg, the reigning track champion at both Murray County and Worthington Speedways, launched from the outside pole and immediately took command using the high groove. A caution on lap five bunched up the field, allowing Tyler Smith and 2022 National Hobby Stock champion Dillon Richards to close in on the restart. Luinenburg built another strong lead, but Richards — who started 14th — began methodically searching the track for speed. He found it, and by lap 12, he was at the leader’s door. Richards worked the bottom while Luinenburg held firm up top. The two exchanged the lead before a caution flew just after Luinenburg reclaimed the spot. On the restart with five to go, Richards pulled even and took the lead for good on lap 15. Luinenburg mounted one last-lap charge, but the [Read More]

Luinenburg Powers from Eighth for Hobby Stock Win in Summer Nationals Opener at Spencer

By Ben Deatherage SPENCER, Iowa (Jun. 1, 2025) — Blake Luinenburg made the most of a green-white-checkered restart to capture the first night of the 2025 IMCA Summer Nationals at Clay County Fair Speedway in the Sunoco IMCA Hobby Stocks. The 20-lap, $1,000-to-win main event saw Jay DeVries take command early before bobbling on the backstretch on lap four. That allowed Nick Schilling to sneak by for the lead just before a yellow flag slowed the field. On the ensuing restart, Schilling and Luinenburg waged a fierce battle down the backstretch before Schilling suffered a flat tire. Jimmy Johnson took evasive action and briefly inherited the lead, but amid the scramble, DeVries found himself back out front. Luinenburg, the reigning track champion at both Murray County and Worthington Speedways, was on a mission. The Reading, Minnesota driver chased down the two-time Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compact track champ, DeVries, and took over on lap eight. A caution with seven laps to go tightened things up, but Luinenburg nailed the restart and never looked back. A late caution [Read More]

Midwest Madness Tour Returns for 7th Annual Run Through the Heartland

By Ben Deatherage WORTHINGTON, Minn. (May 22, 2025) — The summer racing calendar heats up once again as the 7th Annual Midwest Madness Tour storms back into action, bringing five consecutive nights of thrilling IMCA competition to tracks across Minnesota, Iowa, and South Dakota from June 29 through July 3. The tour kicks off on Sunday, June 29 at Worthington Speedway, followed by a stop at Clay County Fair Speedway on Monday, June 30. On Tuesday, July 1, the action heads west to Park Jefferson Speedway in South Dakota. Buena Vista Raceway hosts night four on Wednesday, July 2, and the tour concludes at Stuart Speedway on Thursday, July 3. Free pre-registration is now open through MyRacePass. Links can be found on the Midwest Madness Tour Facebook page. “I’m really looking forward to a really busy week of racing at some amazing facilities,” said tour organizer Tim Skaren. “We’re looking to build this up bigger and better each year.” Each event features a full IMCA-sanctioned program for the Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds, Sunoco IMCA Stock Cars, [Read More]

Brauner Edges Shryock in $5,000 Stock Car Thriller at Spencer’s Clay County Classic

By Ben Deatherage SPENCER, Iowa (May 5, 2025) — If you glanced only at the box score, you would see Austin Brauner started first and finished first—but the final night of the Clay County Classic was anything but straightforward. The two-time Nebraska State champion went toe-to-toe with Wisconsin’s Cole Czarneski in an edge-of-your-seat battle that set the tone for a thrilling 30-lap finale at Clay County Fair Speedway. Czarneski briefly led on lap 3 and their door-to-door duel allowed IMCA TV Winter Nationals champion Shelby Williams to enter the fray. The reigning Wisconsin State and 141 Speedway titlist finally gained an edge on lap 13 while the field stayed green, and Shryock climbed into third in the Mike Hauan owned-Lake View Motorsports No. 3. Shryock, the reigning Speedway Motors IMCA Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s Stock Car winner, took second from Brauner on lap 23 and quickly chased down Czarneski. He completed the pass with five laps to go, appearing poised for another big payday. Austin Brauner (10A) battles side-by-side with Cole Czarneski (21CZ) during a [Read More]

Grabouski Rallies From 11th to Win First Night of Clay County Classic

By Ben Deatherage SPENCER, Iowa (May 4, 2025) — The 2025 Clay County Classic roared to life Sunday evening at Clay County Fair Speedway with an action-packed program featuring five divisions of IMCA racing. The night’s headliner was a dramatic Friesen Performance IMCA Modified feature, where five-time National champion Jordan Grabouski stormed from 11th starting to first in a late-race thriller. A three-wide scrap for the lead broke out between Kelly Shryock, Chaz Baca Jr., and Ricky Stephan in the early laps, with Shryock gaining the initial advantage. After an early caution, Baca—the two-time defending National champion—blasted to the front on lap 4. Baca, a standout in the Shaw Race Cars Western Region, tagged the wall on lap 10 but held the lead. Meanwhile, Grabouski and Shryock waged war for second, allowing the Arizonan some breathing room until Grabouski eventually broke free. The Beatrice, Nebraska, pilot made his move on lap 18 with a stunning inside pass to take the lead. Baca searched for a way back by but couldn’t stop Grabouski’s charge. The win marked [Read More]

Baca Outduels Shryock for Iowa Spring Nationals Modified Win

By Ben Deatherage SPENCER, Iowa (Mar. 28, 2025) — Two-time and reigning IMCA Modified National Champion Chaz Baca Jr. of Mesa, Arizona, opened his Razor Chassis North Central Region campaign with a win in the 20-lap Friesen Performance IMCA Modified feature at Clay County Fair Speedway during the Iowa Spring Nationals. Baca led early after passing reigning Kossuth County Speedway champ Cody Knecht, but a misstep on lap eight allowed two-time Harris Clash winner Kelly Shryock to take over. Cody Thompson then grabbed second before Baca battled back, reclaiming the top spot with a slider in turn three on lap 15. After trading the lead once more, Baca secured the position for good on lap 16 and held off Shryock in traffic for his seventh win of the season. Shryock was second while Thompson finished third. Deschamp Digs Deep for Stock Car Victory Westhope, North Dakota’s Gabe Deschamp, a 20-year-old standout, scored his first EQ Cylinder Heads Northern Region win of the year in the Sunoco IMCA Stock Cars. Deschamp led early before the defending Speedway [Read More]

Chased, challenged, never caught, Thornton collects Clay County Clash checkers

SPENCER, Iowa (Aug. 7, 2024) – He was chased and he was challenged but Dylan Thornton was never caught. Thornton led every lap of Wednesday’s Clay County Fairgrounds Speedway Clash main event for Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds, keeping Tim Ward behind him the first 20 laps and holding Tom Berry Jr. at bay the last 10 times around the track. The IMCA Speed Week win was also Thornton’s Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational qualifying third and was good for $2,500. He parried a last-turn slider from Berry, winner of Tuesday’s Harris Clash, to secure that big check. “I saw his (Berry’s) nose so I knew he was close enough to slide me,” he said. “What you have to do coming down the backstretch is not make a mistake and not stuff it into the fence or something stupid, you have to be able to turn back down.” “We actually went home after last night, woke up this morning, decided we were too dumb to quit and decided to drive four hours back up this way,” said Thornton, who’d [Read More]

IMCA Speedweek has Aug. 7 date at Clay County

SPENCER, Iowa (July 29, 2024) – Night two of IMCA Speedweek takes five IMCA divisions to Spencer next Wednesday for the Clay County Clash. Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds race for $2,500 to win their Aug. 7 main event at Clay County Fair Speedway. That feature is a qualifier for the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational and is complemented by a $750 to win, B & B Racing Chassis All-Star Invitational qualifier for the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars. Rounding out the evening’s race program are $500 to win features for IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks and Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods, an a $300 to win feature for the Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compacts. IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing National, regional and Iowa State points will be awarded. Entry fee for the Modifieds is $50. Pit gates at Spencer open at 4 p.m. and the grandstand opens at 5:30 p.m. Hot laps are at 6:30 p.m. with racing to follow. Pit passes are $35. Spectator admission is $15 for adults and free for kids 12 and under. IMCA.TV broadcasts [Read More]

Braaksma starts Salute to Veterans trophy collection

SPENCER, Iowa (July 24, 2024) – Ethan Braaksma started his Salute to Veterans powered by Performance Bodies trophy collection, while Kelly Shryock and Matt Looft added to theirs Wednesday at Clay County Fair Speedway. Braaksma led every lap of the Friesen Performance IMCA Modified finale at Spencer, while Shryock wired the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car field and Looft raced from 10th starting in topping the Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod main. Michael Wade was also a flag to flag winner in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock feature and Oliver Monson prevailed in the Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compact headliner. One hundred and twenty-seven cars in the five divisions were entered for the first of three Salute to Veterans shows this week. Braaksma drew the pole for the $2,000 to win Modified main, seeing leads of three and a half seconds and then a second and a half erased by cautions in the late stages of the race. Tim Ward ultimately prevailed in the battle for second. Jake McBirnie, Cody Thompson and the 19th starting Shryock completed the top five. [Read More]