DEMING — In last week’s final warm-up for the Nooksack River Casino Clay Cup Nationals, Jason Bloodgood held off Derek Holmwood in the 1200 A Main at Deming Speedway.

Bloodgood and Holmwood, who occupy two of the top spots in the track’s 1200 points standings, battled for nearly the entire race. Bloodgood held a slim advantage from the first lap, but Holmwood never strayed far from Bloodgood’s back tires.

Holmwood attempted to pass high, low, on the turns and straightaways, but Bloodgood never relinquished the lead.

Bloodgood, 26, of Burlington, who currently stands third in Deming’s 1,200 standings, said he and his team think they’ve found a successful formula.

“I’m probably having the best year I’ve ever had, going into the Clay Cup,” Bloodgood said. “We’ve never looked this good. We’ve worked our way up in the points at Deming, so it’s looking really good for us.”

The Clay Cup represents the biggest week of the season for Deming Speedway, which is hosting the event for the 25th year.

The event runs Thursday, July 17 through Saturday, July 19 at the track; organizers anticipate another solid group of competitors to come to town for this year’s races.

Competition will be limited to the 1200cc and 600cc classes this week, but there will be no shortage of excitement, as drivers are expected from throughout the country, with a large local contingent and competitors from Canada, Washington, Idaho, California and points beyond.

Deming Speedway owner/manager Paul Lemley said he expects about 70-75 racers. That’s about 10 less than a year ago — he attributes that to high fuel prices — but he’s far from discouraged.

“We’re still going to have to put on a good show,” said Lemley, who said Wednesday drivers and crews were starting to trickle in. “It’s getting fairly crowded around here already.”

Qualifying races will be held Thursday, July 17 and Friday, July 18; drivers who emerge with the most points from those first two days move on to Saturday, July 19’s mainevent races. On the line is more than $35,000 in prize money; Saturday, July 19’s A Main winners in both the 1200 and 600 will pocket $5,000.

“This is one of the biggest sprint car races in the country, in terms of prize money,” Lemley said.

“It’s getting pretty big,” said Bloodgood, who will be running his eighth Clay Cup. “Five grand to win makes it a bigger thing all around.”

Bloodgood said that even though the Clay Cup represents a jump in terms of competition, his approach and preparation won’t change.

“It will be mostly be the same stuff we do every week,” Bloodgood said. “We don’t want to change (the routine) too much when things are going well.”

Bloodgood counts Deming as his home track, and admits he feels more and more comfortable there. He also competes for weekly points at Skagit Speedway, and “wherever we can go before and after” those two tracks, he said.

“We’ve been around this long enough that we like to run with the best of the best,” Bloodgood said.

Craig Parrish can be reached at craig.parrish@bellinghamherald.com or 715-2279.