Wednesday, August 7th proved to be an interesting sort of day, one that found me finally finding a race to attend after my third attempt of the day. Originally, I was scheduled to attend a Northern Storm special for WISSOTA Late Models, Modifieds and Midwest Modifieds at a track on Minnesota's Iron Range. However, a less than favorable weather forecast for that region saw that race cancelled by mid morning.
Up against the clock for travel time, my next option was for a rescheduled Stock Car special at the Arlington Speedway Southwest of the Twin Cities. This race was rained out last Wednesday during the Sibley County Fair and rescheduled for Wednesday. However, the weather was not quite done pulling my chain yet, as I hit rain upon heading through the Twin Cities and it continued on to Arlington. Just as I literally got within a few city blocks of the track, I got a phone call that this race too had been rained out.
So now I'm three hours from home and seemingly out of options for the night. However, my friend on the phone reminded me of the race at Spencer but I thought that I would never be able to get there in time. A quick calculation proved my theory inaccurate so I continued South, seeing some new territory as a bonus to the trip.
I arrived in Spencer just before 6 pm, giving me time to make one quick lap of the pits before heading to the grandstand as hot laps were about to commence. I thank my friend for the suggestion and help with directions, but now would find my trip home after the races to be about doubled. But let's worry about that later.
Five divisions of IMCA racing were on the card for the Clay County Fair Speedway on this Wednesday for "The Clay County Clash", the last regular season race of 2024 for the speedway. The Modifieds were at center stage on this night, racing for twenty five hundred dollars to win as a follow up to the Harris Clash held the night before with two more special events coming the next two nights at tracks in North Iowa.
A nice field of Modifieds was on hand Wednesday, mixed between track regulars and a considerable number of travelers from a broad region of the country, migrating to Iowa for all the special events upcoming that lead into the Super Nationals right after Labor Day. The car count in the other classes was down some, possibly due to either the fact that this race didn't pay those classes as much as some of the earlier season races did here or perhaps, there has just been too much racing and drivers have to take nights off occasionally, especially when they fall midweek. The northern third of Iowa has an incredible number of races available over the course of the Summer with weekly racing available five nights per week without even counting all the special events and Fair races, of which there are many.
The track was prepared about as wet as I have seen it here all year and quite a bit of extra packing laps were needed before and between races early on, and the racing surface formed about the biggest cushion on this night that I have seen here. But despite the extra wheel packing needed, they still managed to start right on schedule at 7 pm. This was to be one of the quickest shows put on here all year and of course it probably helped that the car count allowed them to scrape any B Features and it was strictly a heat and feature night but for a week night, that's OK with me. In fact, all qualifying heat races were completed in fifty seven minutes with the main events to follow then shortly.
The features were run off in order on this night, with the slowest to the fastest class run in that order. The Sport Compacts had another teeny, tiny field of drivers, reduced by two even before the main event was run. Five drivers on this big track was not exactly what one would hope for, but they managed to exchange the lead for times during their eight lap main. Some times I wonder in this class if things might be "staged" just a bit as it seems that cars that are non competitive in the heats suddenly find lots of speed come feature time. This race saw Jake Paysen and Gilbert Aldape race side by side for eight laps, jockeying the lead back and forth between them.
On the final lap, Paysen drove deep into the corners, kind of moving Aldape out a bit and then driving home for the win, the trophy and the victory lane interview with J Van along with a nice check for three hundred dollars.
But Aldape would have the final lap as Paysen failed tech inspection and was DQ'd so while Gilbert didn't get to do the interview, he did get the check.
After the Sport Compacts ran off their main event nonstop, the Hobby Stocks would do the same thing in what was a real race. John Briggs got the jump in the Hobby Stock feature but before a lap could be completed, Justin Frederick had made a pass and took over the top spot. As Frederick continued to hold the top spot, a great battle behind him saw Blake Luinenberg, Brandon Nielsen and Briggs battle for second. Also on the move was Mike Smith who started ninth on the grid.
Frederick continued to hold the top spot through the halfway point of the race with Luinenberg up to second and Nielsen right behind him while Smith had charged up to fourth. With only three laps to go, Luinenberg got under Frederick to take over the lead and shortly after that, Frederick rolled a tire off the rim and was done. Smith continued picking off positions and got up to second and the last couple of laps saw Smith all over Luinenberg with them banging doors once down the back chute as they fought for the win.
Smith had one last burst to offer and on the final corner he threw a slider on Luinenberg, cleanly got by as they exited the final corner and then fought off the cross over attempt by Luinenberg to take the win by .080 seconds! Nielsen would settle for third while Cory Probst came from thirteenth to fourth without the aid of a single yellow.
When it comes to Sport Mod racing at this track, Matthew Looft is mighty hard to beat and such was the case again on this Wednesday. He started fourth on the grid and quickly closed in on early leader North Dakota's Gabriel Deschamp. A yellow flag bunched the field and on the green, Looft did a two for one, passing both Brady Joynt and Deschamp to come from third and take over the lead.
Deschamp held Looft close for a few laps but then Matthew gradually pulled away and there was no doubt who would win the contest. He had a comfortable lead and cruised home first over Deschamp who had a nice run of his own for second. The family Klynsma battled for third with Justin edging out John for that spot.
Another almost guarantee when racing takes place at Spencer is that Kelly Shryock will win a feature race too and once again, the script held as this night it was the Stock Cars that were dominated by the legend of Iowa racing. He would let Mike Albertsen lead the opening round after Mike came from the second row with a quick burst to grad the lead as Jake Masters got way too high and jumped the bern. But one lap was all Kelly was going to allow as he drove past Albertsen on lap two and then led the rest of the race.
Masters rebounded from his early gaff and fought his way back up to second and he made life miserable for Shryock, trying several times to get past for the lead but Shryock refused to make a mistake, hitting his marks on the heavy berm but not slipping up as Masters tried everything he could to find a way past but there would be none and he had to settle for second. Albertsen finished third in the seventeen car field.
Twenty six Modifieds took the green for their thirty lap main event, with only Jayden Schmidt missing after he blew a motor at the finish line of his heat. Dylan Thornton would be scored the leader of all thirty laps but that makes it sound easier than it was.
He was under the gun throughout the race with Tim Ward and Tom Berry Jr taking turns harassing him for the top spot. Thornton had gotten the jump on David Stremme to take the initial lead as Ward moved to second as Brandon Beckendorf and Berry Jr also joined in.
Beckendorf lost a few spots when he bicycled in turn one but somehow saved his car from going for a wilder ride. As Thornton continued to hold the lead, Ward and Berry Jr put on a show as they battled for second with Berry Jr finally getting past in the late going.
A debris yellow just as the white flag was ready to be waved set up a wild finish. Berry Jr sized up the leader and on the final tour, threw a slider at Thornton Jr in turn three, edging past for the lead. However, Thornton wasn't ready to give up easily and he crossed back over Berry Jr as they left the corner, pulling back into the lead and maintaining that small margin to the line for the win.
Ethan Braaksma, who quietly moved to the front after starting fifteenth, drove past Ward on the final lap to get third and Tripp Gaylord did the same thing to Beckendorf to round out the top five. Only five drivers didn't finish and everyone was on the lead lap.
The final checkers waved at just about 9:40 pm so it was both a good and quick night of racing. It's hard to believe but only the two Fair races in September remain on the Clay County Fair Speedway schedule for 2024. Where has the Summer gone?
I arrived quite late into town on Wednesday and didn't have time to do any "scouting around" to see what Spencer looked like but the huge pile of debris across the street in a parking lot attests to the damage done to the folks of this city.
Early on, it was hard to focus on the racing action as there was a crop duster zooming around in front of us and dropping to tree top level to deposit some kind of chemical, I assume, on the crop planted just North of the fairgrounds. They always make me nervous.
They did something tonight that I really appreciated. One gripe I've always had about Spencer is that the grandstand is so dark that it's almost impossible to see once the sun sets and I have to take a flashlight into the grandstand with me to see to write once it gets dark. But tonight, for some reason, they turned on the overhead lights in the grandstand and while they didn't seem to bother the vision of the track at all, I could see to write without using the flashlight while the folks moving around the grandstand could also do so without falling over their neighbors! It was great. Thanks for doing that and I hope it continues and my question is, why did it take so many years for this to happen?
Although I didn't get to say hello, thanks as always to Trent Chinn and Chinn Promotions, along with all his staff for their help and for putting on a good midweek show. Here's hoping the weather for the Clay County Fair is spectacular.
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