Back on Thursday night (Sept 16), I made my only trip of the season up to the Clay County fairgrounds in Spencer to take in their finale of a three-race series. The Clay County Fair, dubbed as "the world's largest fair", was also going on that weekend. Upon arrival I saw some friends from central Iowa that I hadn't expected to see, but had fun catching up with them and chatting about racing. IMCA hobby stocks, sportmods, stock cars, and modifieds were on the lineup and promoter Joe Ringsdorf ran an efficient show once again.
The IMCA hobby stocks were first to take the track for their feature event. Twenty-two cars took the green flag with Darin Johnson snatching the lead after starting on the pole. Devin Smith, who started outside row seven, had found the quick way around the clay oval and advanced to the fourth position at the halfway point of the race. He would power by Ernie Dailey on the next circuit before the caution waved with four laps remaining. Smith dove to the inside on the restart and grabbed the lead away from Johnson exiting turn two as he picked up the win. Darin Johnson finished second, Jerry Gronewald was third, Chad Krug fourth, and Brandon Nielsen rounded out the top five.
Up next would be the twenty-car starting field of IMCA sportmods. Matt Looft and Tyler Heetland started on the front row with Heetland getting the advantage at the start. During the first caution Dylan Book and Zach Norgaard made contact with each driver suffering flat tires. When racing resumed Jake Simpson used the high side to make the pass on Matt Looft for the runner up spot. Simpson was closing in on Heetland's lead when the final caution of the race came out. From that point on Tyler Heetland was able to hold off Jake Simpson for the win with Matt Looft finishing third, Jesse Sobbing fourth, and Tony Pogeler finishing fifth.
A good field of twenty-two IMCA stock cars then made their way to the track for their feature. David Wickman and Chad Palmer paced the field to the green flag with Palmer getting the edge off the cushion to take the lead. Randy Brands made up a lot of ground in the early going as he advanced from tenth up to fifth in just two laps. Jake Masters used the outside line to get by Bruce Wickman for third, with Brands following to fourth. Following a lap four restart, Masters again utilized the cushion to get by David Wickman to snare the second spot away. Brands snuck under Wickman to take the third spot while Masters continued to run the high side and overtook Palmer for the lead. Brands would again take to the inside and also make the pass on Palmer. Palmer would battle back on the outside as the two raced fender to fender for a couple laps before the caution waved again with David Wickman lost a motor. Jake Masters take the win from there with Randy Brands following him across the line in second. Chad Palmer, Roger Verdoorn, and Bruce Wickman rounded out the top five.
The finale of the night was the sixteen-car field of IMCA modifieds. Jeremy Mills and Chris Abelson sat on the front row with Abelson getting the advantage on the start. He quickly built up a sizable lead before Mills closed back in a handful of laps later. Jay Noteboom went to work on Ryan Watnem for the third position with Noteboom securing the spot. As the leaders caught lapped traffic, Abelson was able to open up his lead once again until the only caution of the race came out with two laps to go. Chris Abelson was able to hold off Jeremy Mills at the line to take the win. Jay Noteboom would finish third, Ryan Watnem was fourth, and Ricky Stephan rounded out the top five.
The show was moved along at a quick pace as promoter Joe Ringsdorf typically does not have an intermission at his shows. The only pauses in the action were for feature win photos and overall champion photos.
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!
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