After a year-long closure in 2016 and an early season schedule of NeSmith-sanctioned Crate and Street Stocks races, the state’s top division has been absent from the state’s oldest dirt track, and arguably most unique, with its signature high banks and red clay surface.
For the first time since 2015, Super Late Models will race tonight at Columbus Speedway when the track plays host to the Mississippi State Championship Challenge Series.
“There’s really not a track in the state you can compare it to,” said Brian Rickman, New Hope native and Super Late Model driver. “You just don’t see that combination of the banks, configuration, and surface.”
Tonight’s 40-lap, $2,000-to-win feature will headline the usual lineup of Crates, Street Stocks, 602 Sportsman, Factory Stocks, and Mini-Stocks. Racing begins at 8 p.m.
Rick and Brian Rickman are eager to return to The Bullring, particularly after watching a race there last Friday and walking away impressed by the race surface. Earlier in the year, the surface was hit-or-miss as first-time Columbus promoter Rod Taylor was working through bugs in prepping the track.
“(Last Friday), that’s as good as I’ve seen it in a while,” Rick said. “I’ve talked to some of the guys out there racing, like Chase Washington and Hunter Carroll, and they also said that’s the best it’s been all year.
“If he can have it the same as last week, it should be a very good show.”
Brian, the reigning State Series points champion, said he likes the track rough and “hammered down.” He expects it to be a two-groove track tonight. Fans can expect to see the blue No. 86 pinned to the wall around the corners.
“I give Rod props for sticking his neck out and taking a chance to get the track back open,” Rick said. “With it being the first Super Late Model race in a couple of years, I really hope the fans turn out and support us.”
Rick and Brian finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the State Series race at Magnolia Motor Speedway last Saturday. Brian is third in points, while Rick is fourth. Tyler Erb and Dane Dacus finished first and second at Magnolia. They said after the race that they might return this week to The Bullring.
While neither Dacus nor Erb will chase points in the series in the full 25-race schedule, this weekend’s race could reduce the number of drivers that will commit to the full slate, Brian said.
“I figure this weekend or next it’ll really determine who’ll stay with it,” he said. “The top five will stick with it and the others will bounce around. Most of the time, once you get so far back, it’s just too hard to try and make up those points, unless you win several races in a row. I had a DNF at Jackson, which killed me a bit, but we’ve otherwise run in the top five every week.”
The State Series schedule has expanded significantly in the last three years. The series ran 14 races in 2014 and 2015 before growing to 22 last year and 25 this year. Rick said opportunities to run Super Late Models have started to dry up in the state as the Crate division has continued to grow.
“If it wasn’t for the Thrash family doing this State Series, late model racers wouldn’t hardly have anywhere to race locally and in the state,” Rick said. “We now have two races in Alabama, so Charles (Thrash) is doing his best to add more races. The more we run, the more that goes to the points fund, which helps us all in the end.”
Rick said he hopes the division doesn’t not fade like the Sprint Modifieds division did 10 years ago, when the Crate division started to gain momentum.
“The open-wheels got really popular around here, Whynot and Jackson, which still runs them,” Rick said. “But when NeSmith Crates came about, it was a cheaper form of racing Late Models, and guys who ran open-wheels and always wanted run Late Models jumped on it. The open-wheels soon died out, and only a few would show up to the tracks each week.”
Rick said mandates for tire sizes and compounds have helped drive down the cost for racing Super Late Models, but addressing the increasing expense of shocks could help steer some drivers back into Super Late Models and help sustain the division.
“If you run competitively, you have to have high-dollar shocks,” Rick said. “The spec shock could help drive down costs, but in racing, if there’s a way to cheat, someone will figure it out and take the shock apart. Then you’d have to have to a tech man at the tracks to inspect the shocks. It’s a tough call.
“But the Series continuing to add more tracks and races is a good sign. Promoters won’t the Super Late Models at their tracks because we put on a good show and the fans like it.”
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