Everything that could have gone wrong for Shay Knight in the first race of his full-time return to Super Late Model competition did, but the payoff was sweet.
A spark-plug wire came loose during qualifying and the front bumper was digging into the dirt for Knight, who started seventh on Feb. 27 at Magnolia Motor Speedway. Knight and his team changed springs before the start of the feature.
“New car bugs,” Knight said.
Knight tinkered with his car nearly every day of the offseason after updating his Bob Pierce chassis and installing a larger motor so he could make the jump from Crate/Limited Late Model to Super Late Model. The Frostbuster 250 presented a gauntlet of pre-feature challenges, but the feature race proved to be the smoothest period of the night, as the Columbus native quickly moved to the top three and held of Brian Rickman for his first feature win in a Super Late Model race.
“I’ve won a lot bigger races, but that meant so much for me with it being my first Super Late win, having new equipment and all the troubles we had to overcome to win the race,” Knight said. “Brian and Rick (Rickman) are really good friends of mine, too. It’s fun racing friends.”
Knight will look to make it two in a row when Magnolia plays host to its first weekly series of the season on Saturday. The lineup will include RockAuto.com Super Late Models, NeSmith Late Models, NeSmith Street Stocks, and Factory Stocks. Racing will begin at 7 p.m. Practice laps are scheduled to begin at 7 tonight.
Knight has competed in Crate, Street Stock, and Super Late Models. He has focused primarily on Crate races since 2012, the last year he competed heavily in Super Late Models. But finances and race resources were different then, and his results showed it: two blown motors and a prompt move back to Crate competition.
“We just didn’t have the equipment,” Knight said. “It takes everything from shocks, tires … you can’t run old stuff. We went a few years on older equipment, and it wasn’t smart to do it.”
Knight secured new sponsorship from R and R Autos in Alabama for this season. Partnered with Can Am Olive Branch, the sponsorships have helped Knight rebuild his car, which includes an updated 2016 Bob Pierce chassis that was completed in Illinois during the winter and a new shocks system by PRP Racing Suspension out of Louisiana.
“The technical support we’ve had from PRP and Bob Pierce have been invaluable,” Knight said. “To pick up the phone and have help immediately really helps move things ahead. I’m very grateful to R and R Autos for coming on board and PRP Racing Suspension, and, of course, my family.”
Knight will compete in the Mississippi State Championship Challenge Series this season when he doesn’t race at Magnolia. He will travel to border states for Super Late Model races as well as compete in a half-dozen Crate races.
“We’ll pick and choose and go to places like Talladega because there’s just a lot more options (in Super Late Models) as far as better paying money,” Knight said. “When you drive two or three hours, it’s smarter that way with your potential payout. They just don’t have the bigger paying Crate races every weekend.”
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