By Jeff Pederson
Pedal Down Promotions
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) May 27, 2022 – Marking a decade in the driver’s seat during the 2022 Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Car campaign, Waldo’s Chris Clayton has been busy turning heads, while displaying some exceptional speed through the first three weeks of the 2022 Plymouth Dirt Track Racing 360 Sprint Car season at The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wis.
To date, Clayton has posted a pair of top-10 A-main showings, including a fifth-place main event run in the season-opener on Saturday, May 7, to sit 10th in the season point standings through PDTR 360 Sprint Car action on May 21.
In the two PDTR A-mains he has competed in during the 2022 campaign, Clayton has been locked in, while improving his starting position by a total of 15 spots, including an impressive 16th to fifth run on May 7 and an 11th to seventh improvement in the 25-lap main event on May 21.
“Obviously, a main goal for us would be to win a feature, or two, since I haven’t done that yet,” Clayton said. “Outside of that, consistency is a big one, between the driver and the finishes. Finishing in the top 10 in points is a big one too.”
Clayton was introduced to the sport of dirt track racing as youngster attending races at The Plymouth Dirt Track with his family.
“Growing up in the Plymouth area, my parents would take the family to the races almost every Saturday night during the summer,” Clayton said. “During the 1990s, they would have to put blankets out to save our seats. Basically, I’ve been hooked on it since as long as I can remember. I always liked watching guys like Pete Ostrowski, Barry Maas and Billy Hafemann race in the Winged Super Modifieds at Plymouth when I was a kid.”
It didn’t take long for Clayton to make the transition from being a fan in the stands to an active pit crew helper.
“In 2002, I started scraping mud for Wayne Goetsch and Chad Kistner,” Clayton said. “Listening to the older guys telling stories about racing is something I’ll never forget. In 2008, I started turning wrenches on Josh Walter’s 360 Sprint Car. I’ve been hooked on the idea of racing a Sprint Car ever since.”
With visions of competing in a 360 Sprint Car dancing in his head for several years, Clayton finally seized the opportunity to live out his dirt track racing dreams during the 2013 season.
“I bought my first Sprint Car at the end of 2012 to race during the 2013 season,” Clayton said. “I bought a used trailer and had to borrow a friend’s truck for the first couple weeks. That first season was a huge learning curve.”
“I’ve never raced anything other than a 360 Sprint Car,” he said. “However, Wayne Goetsch let me hot lap a Winged Super Modified once. I always wanted to end up in a Sprint Car, so that’s where I started.”
While a 360 Sprint Car A-main victory has eluded him so far, Clayton has certainly made his presence felt in the division over the past nine seasons.
“I have several accomplishments that I would consider career highlights, from being a two-time Most Improved Driver at PDTR, to leading my first laps in a feature, along with multiple top-five A-main finishes and a career-best second-place A-main finish twice,” Clayton said.
As far as memorable races go, Clayton says one of his fondest memories involves battling two of the most accomplished drivers in the history of the PDTR 360 Sprint Car division for an A-main victory in 2014.
“I’d say the best race I can remember is leading 22 out of 25 laps in the A main, during my second year racing,” Clayton said. “I eventually finished third in that race behind Donny Goeden and Danny Schlafer for my first-ever top-five A-main finish.
“The cool thing was I think both of those guys were more excited than me,” he said. “I didn’t even have my helmet off and Danny was already over by me congratulating me. And I still remember the smile on my dad’s face after that race. That’s why racing with the 360 Sprint Car guys is so cool. Most of the time, it’s just one big family.”
The 2022 sponsors for the Chris Clayton Racing Team include Greg’s Tap in Adell; City Club in Plymouth; Cornwell Tools, Paul Epping in Plymouth; Paint Creek Logistics in Plymouth; Doug’s Quality Beef in Adell; VanWyks Inc. in Waldo; Jensen Sales and Service in Cascade; Pit Stop Pizza in Sheboygan Falls; Terrys Lincoln Avenue Tap in Sheboygan; TD Graphics in Kewaskum and HRP Wings in Hartford.
The members of the 2022 Chris Clayton Racing Team crew include Bill Clayton, Paul Epping, Ryan Valleskey, Will Schmidt, Mike Sielaff, Travis Sielaff and Matt VanWyk.
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This week’s Plymouth Dirt Track Racing Military Night program will feature free admission for all U.S. Military members with valid identification in honor of Memorial Day weekend.
In addition, Kindred Hearts families will hand out American flags to kids courtesy of B93 Sheboygan’s Country. Kindred Hearts is a non-profit that helps out family members that are taking care of children of other family members who are unable to do so. For example, grandparents who are raising their own grandchildren.
The trophy sponsor for the racing program on Saturday, May 28 is Pedal Down Promotions.
Spectator gates open at 4:30 p.m. with 360 Sprint Car hot laps/group qualifying at 5:30 p.m. and racing to begin at 6 p.m.
The Plymouth Dirt Track at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds is located at 229 Fairview Drive in Plymouth, Wis. For more information, visit www.plymouthdtr.com or check out Plymouth Dirt Track Racing on Facebook.
Pedal Down Promotions is a full-service public relations and media services company devoted to helping clients effectively communicate with targeted audiences through a diverse array of promotional strategies and methods, including press releases, newsletters, profile and feature articles, website and social media content development, printed media, editing and layout, graphic design and book publishing services.
For more information on Pedal Down Promotions, email pedaldownpromotions@gmail.com, visit www.pedaldownpromotions.com or call 920-323-7970.
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