The Clay County Fair is held every September in Spencer, Iowa, United States. It is the largest county fair in the state of Iowa. It has the largest agricultural exposition in North America. Bringing in over 310,000 visitors a year, Clay County Fair is one of the largest county fairs in the United States. 2011 set an attendance record of 328,000. [1] Beginning in 1918, the fair has grown considerably over the past century.
In its first year, Clay County Fair drew 30,000 guests. In 1936, the fair completed construction of its second grandstand, able to seat more than 7,500. It remains in use today. During the 1930s, the fair continued construction of agricultural buildings for livestock. Clay County Fair has firmly planted itself as the largest Midwest county fair.
The fair also hosts a carnival of at least 80 rides and attractions. There also are numerous businesses that have booths throughout the fairgrounds. It consists of more than 35 square city blocks of space, [2] and continues to fill up the space tighter and tighter every year.
Some familiar people/groups who have visited or performed at Clay County Fair are: Former President George W. Bush, Sen. John Kerry, former Vice President Al Gore, Bob Hope, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Johnny Cash, Tim McGraw, John Michael Montgomery, Kenny Rogers, Lee Ann Womack, Martina McBride, REO Speedwagon, The Righteous Brothers, Plus One, Clay Aiken, ZZ Top, LeAnn Rimes, Brad Paisley, Toby Keith, Chris LeDoux, Styx, Vanilla Ice, Jeff Foxworthy, Bryan White, Lee Greenwood, Bill Cosby, Red Skelton, Jim Nabors, Lonestar, Grand Funk Railroad, Garth Brooks, Survivor, Trisha Yearwood, Bill Engvall, Heart and Foreigner.
With completion of the Clay County Regional Events Center inside the fairground walls, new opportunities have opened. Some of these are indoor concerts. With seating up to 3,400 people, the events center has hosted The Barnum and Bailey Circus, and the Lipizzan Stallions. It also has a large ballroom/dining room capable of seating up to 400 people, just creating even more opportunities to flourish and grow.
The fair completed another project in 2007. The Race Track was modified into a 3/8 track. The previous track was a large, flat, half-mile oval that was generally used for horse racing. In order to host high-quality auto racing events, the fair deemed it necessary to construct a completely new racetrack. It was converted to a 3/8 mile clay track, with increased corner banking to adjust for the higher speeds of auto racing. Additionally, a state-of-the-art lighting system was installed to make the races more visible for both drivers and fans.
In 2008, the racing schedule featured the International Motor Contest Association (IMCA) hosting two classes of racing; Modifieds and Stock Cars. Those races also included Hobby Stocks and 360 Modifieds. July 4, the WorldDirt Racing League (WDRL) also hosted a Late Model Series and 360 Sprints on the track. The season rounded out with an appearance by the World of Outlaws during the 2008 Clay County Fair and another race with IMCA Modifieds and Stock Cars, with Hobby Stocks and 360 Modifieds.
In 2013 the Clay County Fair Association partnered with Iowa Lakes Community College to break the Guinness World Record for Largest Science Experiment. To achieve the record, Iowa Lakes Community College and the Clay County Fair had to get at least 750 people in the Grandstand and participating in a half-hour science lesson and experiment. The previous record was set in Oslo, Norway with 749 students in a junior high in November 2012. As part of the experiment, those in attendance participated in two experiments.
The first experiment, according to Mark Zabawa, associate professor of chemistry and biology at ILCC's Emmetsburg campus, included mixing potassium iodide and hydrogen peroxide with detergent to create a foam resembling "elephant toothpaste." The second included using leaf blowers to demonstrate kinetic energy. [3]
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, it was announced on Thursday, July 2, 2020, that the Clay County Fair was canceled for the 2020 season. The decision was announced following a vote by the Fair Executive Committee. After weeks of exploring various options, it became clear that it was simply impossible to maintain social distancing and protect the health and safety of fairgoers, staff, volunteers, 4-H/FFA youth, exhibitors, vendors, sponsors and entertainers during the nine-day event. Despite the cancelation, 4H and FFA livestock competitions were still held in the fall. The fair reopened for the 2021 season. This is only the fifth time the fair has been canceled in its history, and the first time the fair has been canceled since World War 2 (1942 through 1945).
The International Motor Contest Association (IMCA) was organized in 1915 by J. Alex Sloan, and is the oldest active auto racing sanctioning body in the United States. IMCA is headquartered in Vinton, Iowa, and features several classes and divisions of weekly racing in six geographical regions of the United States.
Boone Speedway, also known as “Iowa’s Action Track", is a 1/3-mile high-banked dirt oval raceway located in Boone, Iowa. Races are held on Saturday nights sanctioned by the IMCA. Regular events include IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA Northern Sport Modifieds, IMCA Hobby Stocks, and IMCA Mod Lites. The track's weekly races can be viewed on IMCA.tv streaming platform.
Knoxville Raceway is a semi-banked half-mile dirt oval raceway located at the Marion County Fairgrounds in Knoxville, Iowa. Races at the "Sprint Car Capital of the World" are held on Saturday nights from April through September each year. Some special events such as the Knoxville Nationals, 360 Knoxville Nationals and Late Model Knoxville Nationals are multi-day events. Weekly racing events at the track features multiple classes of sprint cars including 410 cubic inch, 360 cubic inch and Pro Sprints. Each August, the Raceway holds the paramount sprint car event in the United States, the Knoxville Nationals. The track is governed by the 24-member fair board elected by Marion County residents.
The Iowa State Fair is an annual state fair held in Des Moines, Iowa in August.
Eagle Raceway is a one-third mile dirt track located two miles (3 km) east of Eagle, Nebraska on U.S. Highway 34 in Cass County, Nebraska, often referred to by some as the "World's Fastest Third Mile" because of its speed. The track is located approximately fifteen miles east of Lincoln, Nebraska.
Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway is a 5/8 mile motorsport racetrack located at the Nashville Fairgrounds near downtown Nashville, Tennessee. The track is the second-oldest continually operating track in the United States. The track held NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup races from 1958 to 1984.
Concord Speedway was a motorsports facility located in the town of Midland, North Carolina, southeast of Concord, North Carolina. The complex featured a 1⁄2-mile asphalt tri-oval and a 1⁄4-mile asphalt oval.
Illinois State Fairgrounds Racetrack is a one mile long clay oval motor racetrack on the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, the state capital. It is frequently nicknamed The Springfield Mile. Constructed in the late 19th century and reconstructed in 1927, the track has hosted competitive auto racing since 1910, making it one of the oldest speedways in the United States. The original mile track utilized the current frontstretch and the other side was behind the current grandstands and the straightaways were connected by tight turns. It is the oldest track to continually host national championship dirt track racing, holding its first national championship race in 1934 under the American Automobile Association banner. It is the home of five world records for automobile racing, making it one of the fastest dirt tracks in the world. Since 1993, the venue is managed by Bob Sargent's Track Enterprises.
Evergreen Speedway is an automobile racetrack located within the confines of the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe, Washington. The stadium can accommodate up to 7500 spectators in the covered grandstand and an additional 7500 in the uncovered modular grandstands. The layout of the track is unique in that it incorporates an oversized 5/8-mile paved outer oval, a 3/8-mile paved inner oval, a 1/5-mile paved inner oval, a 1/8-mile dragstrip, and the #2 ranked figure-eight track in the United States. The track is the only sanctioned NASCAR track in Washington State. Evergreen Speedway hosts Formula D the third weekend in July every year. Along with NASCAR, the multi-purpose track can be configured to road courses with sanctioned SCCA, USAC, ASA and NSRA events. Under new ownership for the 2011 season and beyond, Evergreen Speedway has become a NASCAR Top Ten Short Track in North America from 2012 though 2016.
Delaware Speedway is a half-mile paved race track that is one of the oldest continuously operating tracks in Canada. It is located a few minutes west of London, Ontario northeast of Delaware, Ontario. It hosts stock car racing every Friday night during the summer. The track opened in 1952 as a quarter-mile dirt track that was paved in 1960. In August 1969, the track was expanded to a 1/2 mile paved oval and continues today.
The Big Fresno Fair, founded in 1884, is an annual fair held at the Fresno County Fairgrounds. The Big Fresno Fair is managed by the 21st District Agricultural Association, an entity of the California Department of Food and Agriculture Division of Fairs & Expositions. It is the largest annual event in the San Joaquin Valley, attracting around 600,000 people each October during its twelve-day run featuring exhibits, a livestock show, live horse racing, musical entertainment, educational programs and more. The Fair provides a link between urban and rural California, serving as a tool to educate visitors on the region's rich agricultural industry. The mission of The Big Fresno Fair is to "Educate, Celebrate and Have Fun".
Lakewood Speedway was a race track located south of Atlanta, Georgia, in Lakewood, just north of the eastern arm of Langford Parkway. The track held many kinds of races between 1919 and 1979, including events sanctioned by AAA/USAC, IMCA, and NASCAR. It was a one-mile (1.6 km) dirt track which was located adjacent to Lakewood Fairgrounds. Lakewood Speedway was considered the "Indianapolis of the South" as it was located in the largest city in the Southern United States and it held an annual race of the Indy cars.
The Cattaraugus County Fairgrounds is a multi-purpose venue based in the village of Little Valley, New York, United States. Constructed in 1931, the fairgrounds serve as the site of the Cattaraugus County Fair each August.
The Great Allentown Fair is an annual fair and agricultural show that is held at the Allentown Fairgrounds in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It is operated by the Lehigh County Agricultural Society. It is one of the oldest fairs in the United States, and one of the largest in the state of Pennsylvania.
Birmingham International Raceway, (BIR) was a 5/8-mile oval paved racetrack located at the Alabama State Fairgrounds in the Five Points West neighborhood of Birmingham, Alabama. It was used primarily for late-model automobile racing.
The La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway is a semi-banked asphalt oval racetrack in West Salem, Wisconsin. The outer track is 5/8 mile and the inner track is a 1/4 mile. The speedway has progressive banking in the corners, from 5 degrees on the bottom to 11 degrees on the top. The track was built at the fairgrounds for La Crosse County. It used to host an event on the American Speed Association (ASA) and the ASA Late Model Series before the demise of the series. It currently hosts annual touring events on the ARCA Midwest Tour and Mid American Stock Car Series. It hosts weekly stock car races which are sanctioned by the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series. It was the first NASCAR-sanctioned race track in Wisconsin.
The Syracuse Mile was a 1-mile (1.6 km) dirt oval raceway located at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse, New York. Originally built for harness racing in 1826, the first auto race was run in 1903, making it the second oldest auto racing facility in United States history. The racetrack was also nicknamed "The Moody Mile" after driver Wes Moody turned a 100-mile-per-hour lap in 1970. The track and grandstands were torn down in 2016 by state government officials with the plan to modernize facilities.
Ocean Speedway, formerly known as Watsonville Speedway, is a dirt oval located in Watsonville, California, United States, at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds.
Dirt track racing is the single most common form of auto racing in the United States. According to the National Speedway Directory there are over 700 dirt oval tracks in operation in the United States. The composition of the dirt on tracks has an effect on the amount of grip available. On many tracks people will find clay is used with a specific mixture of dirt. Tracks are sometimes banked in the turns and on the straights. This banking is utilized primarily to allow vehicles to carry more speed through the corners. However, some tracks prefer less banked turns. Each track surface will most often be different in one way or another. These tracks are commonly around 1/2 mile in distance, and races consist of only left turns.
The Belleville High Banks is a half mile dirt racing oval near Belleville, Kansas at the North Central Kansas Fairgrounds. The first recorded race happened at the track in 1910. It has held races on American Automobile Association (AAA), United States Auto Club (USAC), World of Outlaws Late Model Series and World of Outlaws Sprint cars circuits. The Belleville Midget Nationals and 305 Sprint Nationals races have been held at the track.