SPENCER, Iowa – The guy who delivered the trophies to Clay County Fair Speedway on Monday afternoon took the big one home that evening.
Kelly Shryock topped the $5,000-to-win Clay County Classic main event for IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, out-running Brandon Beckendorf following a restart late in the 30-lapper.
“It was a way good night. We’ve got a new car and have been super busy,” said Shryock. “We started up toward the front (fourth) and didn’t know for sure where to run. We had a pretty good race with the 9 car (pole starter Eric Mahlik) and the 21 car (Beckendorf) before we got to the lead five or seven laps in.
“I figured out where I needed to go, got there and got the lead,” he continued. “We had that late yellow but I was able to hold on.”
Rounding out the top five was Dylan Thornton, Chanse Hollatz and Damon Murty. Hard-charger Murty advanced 11 spots to fifth.
The victory guarantees Shryock a starting spot in the field to defend the B & B Racing Chassis All-Star Invitational title he won last September at Boone.
He also got to bring home one of the trophies he’d brought to the track earlier that day.
“The guys who make the trophies are from this way,” explained Shryock, who also finished fourth in the Modified feature Monday night. “We had the trophies in our hauler on the way over and I was hoping I could bring at least one of them back home.
“They’re beautiful trophies. We’re going to treasure this one for a long time.”
One hundred and forty-eight entries, including 64 Stock Cars from six states, saw action in the Masters Manufacturing Classic.
Pacing $1,000-to-win features were Cody Thompson in the Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds, 10th-starting Dylan Nelson in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks and Alec Fett in the Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods.
Thompson was already eligible to qualify for the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational. Jaedon Erickson was the $500 Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compact winner.