Mountain Valley Raceway Keeps Racing Alive In Hayfork

Hayfork, CA...When Clyde Cordell had the vision of auto racing at the Trinity County Fairgrounds in Hayfork, California, there might have been some skepticism. After all, there really hadn't been much auto racing at that facility in years. Where are you going to get your cars from? However, Cordell and the track crew had the dream. They weren't going to give up until racing began. After a couple of years of work, the dream became reality. Hayfork Speedway was born.

Change in racing is inevitable. During the offseason, the association in charge ran into some financial instability issues, and the future became uncertain despite a 10 race schedule that had been booked for the season. Could racing even happen this year was the big question. However, there were others who wanted to keep Clyde's dream of racing in Hayfork alive. Therefore, Mountain Valley Raceway has risen from the ashes of Hayork Speedway.

On Saturday night, there will be a practice session for all divisions. Many people are chomping at the bit to get back out on the speedway again, and there's more reason to be excited. On July 14th, the speedway is having its first race of the season, featuring the popular Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks, Enduros and the Modified division. The event is being sponsored by the Trinity County Fairgrounds, and there will also be a Fireworks Display after the races.

Sadly, Clyde passed away before he got to see much racing, but he'd have been happy to know that they've held many races here during the past six years. Such top notch talent as Josh Smith, Bill Kasper, William Kasper, Burl Richardson and Russ "The Newmanator" Newman have competed in the Hobby Stock division and brought home the winner's trophy.

Young William Kasper followed up his grandfather Bill Kasper's championship from the year prior by winning the 2017 Hobby Stock crown. The track also features a Mini Stock division that has been competitive and was starting to see an increase in car count last season. And Blackburn won the championship last season, following up on a title earned by Orland long tow Ross Vige from the year before.

The track has also held the wild in Crazy Enduro division, which has featured such stars as Tim Kasper, JD Hudman, Bryan Gummerus and William Young. The concept is simple. The track gets watered down at the end of the night and they turn these drivers loose. There were over a dozen different competitors to compete in the Enduro class last season.

It may not be the most glamorous place for auto racing, but the people in Hayfork, California are proud of their race track. Fortunately, because people don't want to let Clyde Cordell's dream die, racing will continue this season. After Saturday night's practice, racing will happen on July 14th.   For further information, go to the newly created Mountain Valley Raceway Face-book page.