(Words and photos by Doug Gregory) – My coverage of this event isn’t going to be a recap of events.  That’s already been done.  I’m also not going to spew out details on these cars as I have in the past.  These articles will be a pictorial of our day there and some lines about the events that took place.  I consider Clay City to be my ‘home track’ since I’ve been coming here for over 20 years, have made more passes here than anywhere else, and have likely taken more photos here than just about any other venue I’ve visited in my life.  I can also get to Mt. Park from my home quicker than to any other facility.

If you haven’t been, I suggest you put it on your list because since legendary racer Scotty Richardson assumed the helm the track has risen to heights I haven’t seen since I first started going there.  A diehard racer making it great again for racers and fans.  The track crew had their hands full because the torrents came Saturday and didn’t let up until daybreak Sunday morning.  We rolled in right when the gates opened and Quain stated ‘we won’t have any fans, but we’re racing’.  I was certain he was wrong about the fan thing.  Typically postponements dampen chances of a decent crowd.  Some of the racers couldn’t stay and that diminished the class numbers, but enough remained to make it a great event – with the stands near full and the fences lined.  Photo one is a testament to the dedicated SEGA fans.  This crew drove this rig all the way from Canada to catch the action.  Hardcore.

A/Gas is the pinnacle of SEGA classes with the quickest cars that have a mind to be unruly.  Qualifying for all classes went from both lanes to the right lane only when water kept seeping up from around 400ft on.  Staff kept after it and did a commendable job considering how persistent the moisture proved to be.  I walked up and down the right lane wall all day and it never stopped squishing beneath my shoes.  Lotta Watta.  One story out of this event was Shannon Smith’s ’55, Pale Rider, returning to Clay City with a fresh engine competitor Donovan Stott helped fetch and install.  No lane-swapping on this visit, but in the final everyone saw the car get squirrelly and lots of water sprayed while he kept the hammer down for the win.  Well done.

Another cool story was Gabriel Burrell got to face friend and rival Donovan Stott in eliminations.  Gabriel doesn’t’ exactly have a good record against Mr. Stott so when he pulled out the win you’d thought he won the lottery and the whole event at the same time.  As I’m told….he said ‘three years I’ve been wanting to beat him and I finally did it’.  Great racing.

Side note – yes, we did see what was happening on the hill behind Tony Turner’s Quick & Dirty.

Most of the images are in the order they were shot and we got multiple angles due to my son Taylor helping snap photos.

Hope you enjoyed and come back for the rest of our coverage.