Track records are shattered at Clay City Kart Speedway CLAY CITY, KY (June 28 & 29) - On a day that the temperatures went rising into the upper 90s, the kart speeds went soaring as tracks records were demolished in every class. Most classes were more than half a second faster than the previous marks. The fastest lap of the day was turned by Leo Patrick of South Webster, OH at a 11.693 seconds on his Prototype Engines/Badger Racing Chassis Limited Modified. That compares to a speed of over 60-mph at the end of the straights and an average lap speed of 52 mph. That put Leo on the pole of a twenty-kart field of roaring Limited Modifieds assembled from six states. Jim focht set the fasted, recorded lap of the afternoon with a Stock 5hp Briggs and Stratton engine at 12.159 seconds. Jim, who is from Boston, IN beat the previous mark of 12.615 seconds. All eleven classes from Rookie I to KT100 Yamaha saw drivers set track records that will not soon be broken. For a list of the records see the bottom of the page. Not only were the track records shattered in speed, the hot dog eating champ was dethroned as he watched across the table as a fellow put twelve dogs away in one minute! Believe me - don't try this at home! A special thanks goes to Rob Howden, editor and publisher of Speedway USA Magazine. His support of our racing program at Clay City made the weekends event possible and a great success. Wish he could of been on hand to enjoy the weekend, but a mix up in travel plans forced him to miss the event. Be sure that you find a copy of Speedway USA to catch the race coverage from the weekend. Also be sure to attend the 8th Annual Bluegrass Nationals on July 27th and 28th. Every entry will receive a free copy of the latest edition of Speedway USA Magazine. Rob - be sure to bring plenty with you!! There was excitement at every turn throughout the day at Clay City. If having 140 karts on hand for racing on the newly surface bowl-shaped design wasn't enough, there was the Kodak Chevrolet driven by Mike Skinner on the NASCAR series, on display in Victory Lane. Also a spectacular fireworks show was shared between the Mountain Park Dragway, which was hosting the National IHRA event during the weekend. And nothing was less exciting than the West Virginia Outlaws. Those guys and gals put it right on the edge and never lifted as the widened the sixteen foot blackened groove an additional five or six feet every time they took the green. The feature races started at 9:00 p.m. after the Kodak Chevrolet displayed the Stars and Stripes during the playing of the National Anthem while driving around the speedway. Shortly after, Darrell Johnson used his record setting lap and a good heat race to earn the lead position as the field headed to the start of an Allstar packed Stock Light Feature. Mike Dickerson wasted no time in assuming the lead, as it became apparant that he had found the right tire combination to make his SBR Power Plant/Phantom Nemisis Chassis the kart to beat. Jamie Barnhart, from Crosslanes, WV moved up to the second position by lap seven and held on to that spot until the end. Nick Higdon, from Big Clifty, KY moved steadily through the field showing his driving prowess at times to move pass Brandon Morris for third on lap twelve. Brandon and Darrell Johnson rounded out the top five. Summary of the rest of the field can be found at the bottom of the page. In the Rookie I class, Jeff Caudill took a hard fought victory over Dakota Roberts and Michael Collinsworth. Jeff has found success early this year in only his first full time season of competitive kart racing. The Rookie II Class became a two kart dual with Scott McCarus prevailing over Brandon Dunn in the end. Justin Cooper, Connor Brown and Justin Adkins battle throughout the race for the third position, with Justin Adkins taking the spot at the finish line. The Pro Stock Heavy Class had our only repeat winner of the event. Mike Dickerson lead the race from the Pole position to the end. Mike has just gotten everything back together after overcoming a wreck that wiped out his trailer on the way to the Clay City Kart Speedway back in May. Rodney Foley worked through the field to mount a charge toward the end, but couldn't get another caution to make it interesting. Rodney said after the race, "I knew I had something for Dickerson, I just wasn't in good enough position on that last restart." Nick Higdon again fought through the field to earn a much-deserved third place. Two other Kentucky natives rounded out the top five, they were Chris Terry, from Nancy and Brandon Morris, from Louisville. In Junior Stock, the #02 kart driven by Matt Napier was the man to beat. He had earned the pole position by virtue of winning his heat race. He assumed the lead early in the race and fought off a hard charging Dustin Painter throughout the entire race to take the victory. Matt said in Victory Lane, "I had a great time. What a great race and great place to race." Following Dustin in third place was Corey Smith, 4th - Corey Mills, and 5th - Chris Lawson. The Limited Modified class was again the most thrilling feature of the night. Leo Patrick lead the eighteen-kart field to the green, after turning the fastest lap ever recorded during qualifying at the Clay City Kart Speedway. On lap three, Chris Terry, driving his B & B Engines sponsored Rage Chassis, made a strong move to the low side to pull along side Leo. After battling for a lap, Chris pulled ahead to take the lead. Leo was not to be denied and moved to the low side to try and regain the lead. After taking a couple of looks and spinning a tire or two, Leo had to fall behind Chris in second. Chris lead the entire rest of the race by only a small margin to take the win. But, the action was most exciting through the field. Rodney Foley had his kart on a rail and came through the field like a bullet to fourth place. When pulling under Roger Lovett on lap #10, they crossed tires and went sliding over the bank. After both racers restarted on the tale, they made an impressive run back through the field to finish 8th and 9th in the last five laps. The Kemp brothers drove the wheels off their Badger Chassis to finish in the third fourth positions followed by Lester Newsome. Zeke Shell and James Shy made a late race charge to finish sixth and seventh. The Limited Modified races have been unmatched this season at Clay City. If you are looking for a place to drag that old Limited engine off the shelf and find some action, you can find it here. In KT 100 Yamaha, the feature races were narrowed to four participants through attrition in practice and heat racing. Chad Thompson drove his Thomson Racing Engines sponsored Vigilante Chassis to the win. He had a late race challenge from Rick Epley, but it was not enough. Rick finished in the second place followed by Danny Randall and Eric Irvine. In Champ Karts, Derek Riley of Calvert City, Kygot his Bager Racing Chassis hooked up in the feature and took the win over Jamie Manley of Clarksville, In and David Howard of Culloden, WV. The Super Heavy class had a strong field of karts. Trevor Ford of Louisville, KY lead every lap to record his second victory of the year at Clay City. Darwin Jenkins of Milton, WV fought off Scott Cassidy for a strong second place. Scott finished third followed by Timmy Jett and Mike Estes.This class is one that is really growing as the season progresses. If you have been lookig for a good group of Super Heavy karts to compete with, come check out this class. In the Semi Pro Heavy class, the #81 kart of Bill Byers from Belpre, OH drove his K-graphics/White cotten Racing Engines sponsored kart to a close win. Shane Ware continued to take the high groove throughout the race and kept knocking on the door (or the rear bumper). But he could never muster enough of a run to complete the pass. Shane was one of the many racers that found the higher groove as a place to keep the momentum up and make a run on the person in front of them. Darwin Jenkins raced his way into third holding off fourth place Jason Spillman and fifth place David King. Brian Mullins took the victory in the Semi Pro Light Class. He claimed that he is sponsored by "Me, Myself, and Nobody," on his drivers information card. I can relate to that! Ray Caskey, Jr. from Clay City finished second, followed by third place Jamie Manley, fourth place Justin Lewis, and fifth place Todd Laswell. July is an exciting month to be racing at Clay City. On July 12th - Friday night - you can come and enjoy regular racing and stay over for the Kentucky Karting Association which takes over the racing action on Saturday, July 13th. They will be holding the fourth race of the season of their series.