Super Late Model drivers are in the middle of “Money Month.”
Three of the biggest money races in the state are this month. This weekend, the Magnolia State Cotton Pickin’ 100 at Magnolia Motor Speedway is sandwiched in between last week’s Gumbo Nationals at Greenville and next week’s Fall Classic at Whynot Motorsports Park.
Three races in three weeks with winner’s purses increasing each week from $10,000 to $20,000 to $25,000 makes for the most lucrative in-state Super Late Model slate of the year. The purses come at a time when all drivers should be operating at peak form.
Timothy Culp won the Gumbo Nationals last week for the second-straight year, and with the likes of national drivers Scott Bloomquist, Jimmy Owens, and Jonathan Davenport likely opting to run a race with a comparable purse up North, the Cotton Pickin’ should see its first winner outside of that trio since 2010, when Brian Birkhoffer snapped Billy Moyer’s bid at a three-peat.
“National and regional boys come down for this race, usually, but I think this race may be more of a regional race, more drivers from Mississippi and Alabama,” said Brian Rickman, driver of the No. 86 car. “You won’t have the Lucas Oil guys here like in the past. But you really won’t know who all is going to be here until you pull in.”
Rickman enters the weekend third in the Mississippi State Championship Challenge Series points standings. Outside of a 14th-place finish at Greenville last week, he hasn’t finished outside of the top five in the past two months.
“We were fastest overall, won heat, ran outside pole,” Rickman said. “I got passed, drove under (Culp). Got sent to the back. It was a bad deal, bad weekend. But we’re running really good.”
Despite preparing for a 100-lap race this week — Super Late Model races are typically 50 laps — Rickman said his game plan won’t change.
“Same as always,” he said. “We prep every week like we are going to a big show. Nothing really special. You just have to make sure everything with the car is right. You just keep on digging and preparing better, just like anything else you do. It’s the end of the year, but you work to get better like it’s early in the year.”
Other area drivers looking to make Saturday’s feature are Rick Rickman, Neil Baggett, Chad Thrash, MSCCS points leader Bub McCool, and Cotton Pickin’ winners Moyer and Jason Cliburn.
Thrash, who is second in MSCCS points, has had a string of recent top-five finishes. He finished 19th at the Lucas Oil race at Magnolia earlier this year, in part because he had to take the hard way into the feature through B-mains.
“Your main thing for Saturday is you want to get in the race Friday so all you’re worried about is getting ready for feature,” said Thrash, of Meridian. “If you can get to where you can relax on Saturday, you’ll have a chance.
“As long as we keep these top 10s going … the Bubs and the Rickmans have been the guys to beat, but the second half of the year, I think they know I’m here every week,” Thrash said. “I look forward to the fans coming out. It’s been around the longest in the state. Haven’t made it the last couple of years. The way we’ve been running lately, I feel like we can make it. The way we’ve been running lately, I feel like we can go anywhere in the country and make it.”
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