Drivers will be “hopping holes” or driving faster than ever this season at Magnolia Motor Speedway.
Track manager Johnny Stokes announced Saturday he resurfaced the track in the offseason, a decision that had been in the works for more than two years.
“We never could get the weather to cooperate,” Stokes said. “The Rickman clan (Brian and Rick Rickman, who also race at the track) have dumped more than 300 loads of dirt at the track.”
Stokes said he expects the track to “hook up well” and be faster this season; the surface at Magnolia has developed a reputation for being slick, especially on the back-end of race nights, earning the nickname “the black ice.”
But the spring is the wettest time of the race season; last year, 40 percent of races in the Golden Triangle in the first 60 days of the season were postponed or canceled. Weather might play the greatest role in how the track holds up over the first month of the season, which will include the USCS Frostbuster 150 and the Golden Egg Classic.
“From Eldora on down, with new dirt, there’s going to be a break-in period,” said Jeremy Shaw, NeSmith Late Model driver. “But with as early as (Stokes) got (the dirt) on, back in November, that’ll help a lot. Generally, when people put on new dirt, it’s in the middle of the season. It’ll then set up for three days before they have a race, but this will have more than 90 days and several cycles of rain to set up.
“When Magnolia first opened in 2004, this thing stayed rough every week when it first opened.”
Stokes said the extra dirt is the same as is currently on the surface, and that the track “never had enough dirt on it as far as I’m concerned.”
NeSmith Late Model driver Shay Knight said he looks for the track to be “fast” from the start of the season and that he’s confident in Stokes’ preparation.
“We just get a SPEC motor, a Super Late Model motor, and it’s a little bit of a smaller motor, but it’s open,” Knight said. “I’m hoping we’re not jumping holes and hammering down, but Johnny has been doing this long enough that he’ll have it set up right.
Magnolia to add “Possum Town Grand Prix”
With the uncertainty of Columbus Speedway, Magnolia Motor Speedway has added Columbus’ premier race to its 2016 schedule.
The Possum Town Grand Prix, held each Thanksgiving weekend at Columbus Speedway, will be moved to Magnolia Motor Speedway this season, where Stokes will have a $10,000-to-win NeSmith/Crate Late Model race. The race will be one of the NeSmith winter series races.
“I started the race at Columbus when I was there in 2005,” Stokes said. “It used to be a really great race. I’m not gonna have it with that many classes here at The Mag, but we’ll have it here.”
Stokes also quashed the rumor of the mini-stock division returning to Magnolia. Columbus Speedway, which is without a promoter and schedule, is the only track in the Golden Triangle that runs mini stocks. Magnolia disbanded the division after the 2014 season.
“We’re going to stick to four divisions,” Stokes said.
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