By DAVID MILLER
Special to The Dispatch
When the chaos of the first Super Late Models race at Columbus Speedway in two years ended Friday night, the consensus was clear: what a workout.
“I don’t think I’ve ever worked that hard for two-grand,” said Billy Moyer, Jr., who won the 40-lapper and his second Mississippi State Championship Challenge Series event of the year.
Moyer, Jr., of Batesville, Arkansas, started on the outside of row 1, and led the first dozen laps before Neil Baggett, who drove for Jamie Tollison, passed him along the bottom of turns 1 and 2. Moyer regained the lead on a re-start on lap 25.
Moyer primarily ran the middle and top lines while the rest of the field, including Baggett, fought for space at the bottom of the track, where drivers routinely flattened out along the apron in both corners.
“I couldn’t run along the bottom for the whole night,” Moyer, Jr. said. “I knew on the re-start, I’d probably have a chance at [Baggett], and that’s the whole thing … I could get up top, bank that cushion and get off the corner. Maybe some of those guys’ cars couldn’t get up there, or they didn’t want to beat the heck out of it.”
Since finishing first in the State Series race at Jackson on March 18, Moyer, Jr.’s average finish over the last six races has been 10th. His win Friday was the first of his career at The Bullring.
“We’ve been struggling with this car, and this is a good track to come and learn a few things,” Moyer, Jr. said.
Baggett, who hadn’t raced a Super Late Model in more than a year, said Tollison wasn’t feeling well and asked him to drive his car. Baggett pulled double-duty Friday and also raced his Crate Late Model for a second-place finish.
“That horsepower and the way the cars act … it took a few laps to get settled back in to a Late Model,” Baggett said. “But once we got going, it felt like old times. The racing we had was unreal; it was wild. I got out of the car and my arms felt like mush.”
Baggett said the combination of lap traffic and the transition of the race surface forced drivers to find a balance between hitting marks consistently and strategizing ways to move through the field.
“There were a lot of crumbs being thrown up to the middle, and we’d each lose the front end and slide a bit,” Baggett said. “At one time, I felt like were behind the same lap cars for seven or eight laps – guys were just all over the place – but that made the racing good.”
Baggett said the bottom of the track cleaned out once he took the lead, but it dirtied back up under caution. He remained committed to the middle and bottom because that where “the race would be won.”
“I thought we’d be fine after we got the lead, but when we got that caution, it seemed like it took a few laps for my car to get back going,” Baggett said. “When it did, we’d start running Billy back down, but got caught back up in lap cars.”
Baggett said he misses competing in Super Late Models, but with two young boys, he can’t create the time required to maintain and prep the car throughout the week.
“To be competitive with those guys, you gotta leave work, go and work on your car for five six hours every night,” Baggett said. “At times, I want to go out and buy one, but I have a seven-month old now and my priorities have changed. These boys will here forever.”
Michael Arnold, Chad Thrash and Dean Carpenter rounded out the top 5.
In other race action
n Jeremy Shaw won his second consecutive NeSmith Crate Late Model race. Neil Baggett, Hunter Carroll, Marcus Minga and Justin Carter rounded out the top 5.
n Wesley Green won the 602 Late Model feature. Tony Shelton finished second, while Jonathan Pridmore, John Johnson and Zack Shelton rounded out the top 5.
n Jason Byrd won the Factory Stocks feature. John Beard, Brandon Whitley, Nathan Page and Bill Sudduth rounded out the top 5.
n Garrett Taylor won the Late Model Stock feature. Daniel Gann and Bill Spann finished second and third, respectively.
n Heath Minor won the Mini Stocks feature. Matt Meadows, Carl Gray, Ronnie Guin and Toby Yarbrough rounded out the top 5.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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