7/20/24

Everson, WA – The 41st edition of the Clay Cup Nationals is in the books at Deming Speedway after a fantastic night of racing. Triumph and heartbreak ran wild on the night, as the packed house saw Levi Hillier win the Speedmart 600 Main, Kyle Mitchell win the Shots 2 Go Espresso 1200 Main, Clayton Jalakas win the Doyle Guffie Rallye Auto Sales Main and Hudson Johnson take the main event win in the Capstone Plastering JR Sprints. 

40 laps were all that separated Levi Hillier from owning another piece of Deming Speedway history, as no other driver had ever won the 600 Restricted and 600 Open Clay Cup mains. And after forty furious laps, that piece of history was his as the 14 year old led the whole way with little challenge in topping the 600 division. The action behind Hillier was wild, with Jared Peterson racing from seventh to an eventual runner up and Cash Lovenburg coming from 11th to score third. 

Kyle Mitchell’s drive to victory in the 1200 class looked similar to Hillier’s as the young British Columbia driver cut his way through traffic and never took on a close challenge as he won his first Clay Cup aboard Brock Lemley’s car. Also similar to the 600 race, the action behind Mitchell was intense as Seth Hespe battled his way to second and Nate Vaughn earned a hard fought third. 

Heartbreak for one driver became great joy for another in the 600 Restricted class. Colton Knapp led the first 21 laps of the Clay Cup Main Event with Clayton Jalakas and Dustin Ramsey running second and third. Ramsey had just snuck past Jalakas when disaster hit your race leader, as Knapp was unable to avoid a spinning slower car, colliding into him and stopping on the track. Going back to the last completed lap, Jalakas took the lead with Ramsey right on his tail. Dustin tried a massive slidejob on the restart but Clayton was ready with a crossover move that kept him in the top spot. Jalakas then made a line adjustment from the top to the bottom that would keep Ramsey at bay for the rest of the race, securing his first Clay Cup win. Ramsey was second and Sawyer Baxter was third. 

It was one of the wildest JR Sprint main events in the history of Clay Cup, After the initial start was called back for a yellow flag, Drake Wiersma set out to the early lead with Madi Hoppe chasing him and Hudson Johnson in third. Hoppe would follow Wiersma for the first seven laps before making a move for the lead on lap eight. Hoppe would lead until lap 13 when lapped traffic cost Madi speed down the back stretch, allowing Wiersma to power back by for the top spot. Hoppe looked like she had retaken the lead in further traffic, but a yellow flag came out before lap 16 could be completed, giving the top spot back to Drake. Wiersma started rebuilding an advantage as the race went back to green but Hoppe closed to his back bumper with just a handful of laps to go. As the pair came to the white flag, contact occurred between Hoppe and Wiersma, bringing both to a stop and sending the pair to the back, handing the lead to Johnson. With the top spot in hand, Johnson rolled the final two laps for the win, with Savanna Hillier and Owen Hill rounding out the podium. 

JR Sprint

B Main – Ryan Cannon, Titus Daigan, Kellen Vonthenen, Logan Williams, Amelia Rudeen, Delilah Stermer, Mary Jane Merrill, Blake Wade, Teegan O’Neil, Autumn Little

A Main – Hudson Johnson, Savanna Hillier, Owen Hill, Jordan Devries, Aiden Stone, Ryan Cannon, James Drury, Lucas Fisher, Kole Campbell, Samantha Dozier, Logan Williams, Madi Hoppe, Hayden Cook, Drake Wiersma, Kellen Vonthenen, Titus Daigan, Lennen Peters, Kayson Sargent

Lap Leaders – Wiersma 1-7 Hoppe 8-12 Wiersma 13-23 Johnson 24-25

600 Restricted

B Main – Brayden Danielson, Grace Matier, Zack Hilder, Jayce Medcalf, Autumn Holden, Maya Mauldin, Trystan Potter, Cole Butenschoen, Nicholas Wade, Raelyn White, Peyton Potter, Brodie Wade, Sarenna Sweeney, Jennifer Owens, Bailey Bundy, Mallory Holmkvist, Brooklyn Bracy, Chris Dalhuisen

A Main – Clayton Jalakas, Dustin Ramsey, Sawyer Baxter, McKenna Morgan, Hudson Little, Emma Chorney, Cruz Kentch, Austin Held, Jayce Medcalf, Grace Matier, Colton Knapp, Avery Askvig, Chloe Danielson, Autumn Holden, Samantha Fraser, Zack Hilder, Brayden Danielson, Chase Jensen, Cole Croft, Jailynn Serrano

Lap Leaders – Knapp 1-21 Jalakas 22-30

1200

Main – Kyle Mitchell, Seth Hespe, Nate Vaughn, Derek Holmwood, Alex Lewis, Tanner Holm, Jacob Buckenmeyer, Parker Hadlock, Terry Lewis, Jaden Thomas, Tyson Lemley, Jared Gundersen, Peyton Drake, Dakota Drake, Clennon Holloway, Jesse Branham, Haylee Bloodgood, Jared Alseth, Steven Hendrickson, Sidney McMeekin, Tyson Cross, Jason Schapansky, Austin Edson

Lap Leaders – Mitchell 1-40

600

B Main 1 – Lucas Mauldin, Cody Christensen, Corbin Ramsey, Tyler McLeod, Tristin Thomas, Carson Guffie, Tank Chorney, Ceil Howe, Alex Gouy, Rylee Kentch, Jarrett Heimlich, Dash Duinkerken, Zoey Tupper, Mallory Fisher, Rachel Westmoreland

B Main 2 – Cody Key, Macie Logsdon, Raio Salmon, TJ Smith, Ryley Mayer, Dominic White, Jake Trueman, Elijah Elder, Cody Frerichs, Cole Frerichs, Keaton Martella, Mickelina Monico, Cole Curry, Travis Hart, Brody Ferguson

A Main – Levi Hillier, Jared Peterson, Cash Lovenburg, Jesse Schlotfeldt, Dalton Parreira, Colton Key, Dominic Carter, Kyle Mitchell, Mattix Salmon, Cole Schroeder, Keegan Osantowski, Austin Torgerson, Corbin Ramsey, David Greene, Cody Christensen, Tanner Holm, Raio Salmon, Cody Key, Lucas Mauldin, Macie Logsdon, Spencer Constance, Colin Mackey

Lap Leaders – Hillier 1-40