It’s February, and by this time of the year managers of dirt tracks around the state have finalized schedules for the 2016 calendar year.
Save for Columbus Speedway.
The “Baddest Bullring in the South,” the oldest active dirt track in the Golden Triangle, is currently without a track manager roughly 30 days before racing typically begins.
Jerry Nickoles, who, along with brother Gary, owns the track and leases it to promoters each year, said Columbus Speedway is not closed. But without a lessee races won’t happen.
“We don’t go out and advertise to rent the track…we’re not car salesmen,” Nickoles said. “Word of mouth does that enough…but as of now, we do not have anyone interested in leasing the track.”
Joe Ables managed the track for the last two years. Ables said he “turned over the keys” at the end of last season after moving to Bruce. The decision was solidified, he said, because he learned of a potential lessee, one “with money,” who was interested in running the track.
“I got word at the end of last year, and I thought, ‘What would be better, someone with money or to keep it clicking like it was?'” Ables said. “I handed (the Nickoles’) the keys, and after I did, the other people backed out.
“I’m disappointed, to say the least,” Ables added. “Not having any races this year will affect a lot of people.”
Nickoles said there’s “some truth” to the rumor that he and his brother were in talks with a potential successor to Ables. He said the sponsor of a race team approached them in September, but they never finalized a deal.
“We tried to keep that information quiet because it wasn’t finalized,” Nickoles said. “But somehow, that information got to Joe, and he decided it’d be best for the track to let someone who has money run it.”
Impact on drivers
Columbus Speedway is one of two tracks in Lowndes County. The other track — Magnolia Motor Speedway — has set its schedule and will begin racing Feb. 26. Racers from West Alabama to Chickasaw County often remark that having two tracks roughly 20 minutes from one another offers more chances to race on lower budgets, vitally important for a sport in which the majority of drivers put nearly all of their disposable income back into their race programs.
Allen Simmons, West Point native and driver of the M50 late model car, has been associated with Columbus Speedway most of his life. His father, C.A. Simmons, was a three-time points champion at the track in the 1980s.
Allen Simmons currently races in the 602 Late Model division at Columbus Speedway, a division that isn’t sanctioned by NeSmith and isn’t offered at Magnolia and other tracks throughout the state. While 602 drivers can still run their cars in Super Late Model races at Magnolia — and compete at a similar pace because of the layout of the track and surface — that isn’t the case at every track around the state. The 602 drivers won’t be the only ones affected by a potential closure — the mini-stock division won’t have an option in the Golden Triangle. Magnolia axed the division from its lineups after the 2014 season.
“I’m disappointed, mainly because I’ve been associated with the track all my life,” Simmons said. “And the 602 class, which was developed by Joe, created more opportunities for guys like me. I know guys from Corinth that come down here to run that class.
“I hope someone comes along and does open it. We need The Bullring open. Not just for me, but for everybody. I run at the Bullring and Magnolia because I don’t have the funds to go around the state.”
Improving Columbus Speedway
While Columbus Speedway offers a style of racing that most flat-banked tracks — like Magnolia — doesn’t offer, it has inherent disadvantages in marketability.
First, the location, nestled in a county subdivision off Lacy Road, is obscured from those passersby on Highway 82. There’s no signage for the track at the Stokes Road exit, and one can’t hear the action or see the lights from the highway. Magnolia, on the other hand, is visible from the highway and is located just over the Tenn-Tom River.
Columbus Speedway is also in need of upgrades to its grandstands and fan amenities.
“It’s hard to beat the racing at Columbus,” Ables said. “The facility needs updating, though.”
Nickoles said the track has never been a moneymaker for him or his brother; his mother, the late Alice Nickoles, owned the track that her husband, James, built in 1962. Still, it’s a legacy the Nickoles brothers want to see continue.
“Economics has a lot to do with it,” Nickoles said. “Ninety percent of your money goes back to drivers, if not 100 percent. It’s something you gotta love to be in and keep going. The drivers are the same way — they’re in it because of the rush and the love of the sport.
“Tracks can pull fans depending on what they have. That said, it’s still for lease. If someone’s interested, we’ll get the track ready for them.”
The rumor mill
The location of Columbus Speedway is peculiar. It’s as if an entire residential community decided to build a racetrack in a shared green space.
But it didn’t always look like that, Nickoles said. The track was there before the majority of the homes were built.
There’s a rumor that when the subdivisions were being built around the track, the developers and residents wanted to shut it down. But the county allowed the track to continue to operate because it was already established. Part of the agreement was that track would remain if it ran at least one race a year. The track has been in operation for each of the last 53 years.
“That’s been said, but I have no idea,” Nickoles said. “That may have been a rumor that got started…that the community could shut the track down if some activity is done out there. I certainly wouldn’t fight my community over it, though, if that were the case. I’m 58 years old — I’ve been around it for 54 years. I don’t anticipate people wanting to do that, because if they did, it might hurt the economy of Columbus.
“I’d love to see it continue. There’s so much history.”
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