There’s a good reason Neil Baggett has forgotten about the 2015 season.
The Super Late Model racer experienced more valleys than peaks last year. At one point, Baggett took a few weeks off from running weekly shows and State Series races due to chronic misfortune and mechanical issues.
He still marvels at the randomness of and the uniqueness of everything that went wrong.
“I felt like it was the worst season for us since 2010,” Baggett said. “Crazy things happened. I had a brake bracket break four times on the right rear — in one season. I was leading a race at Whynot … and there it goes. You might break one once in three or four years, normally.
“One race we’d be up front one week, and next we’d be at back. That car was bad luck, so we got rid of it and put last year behind us.”
Baggett sold his No. 21 Bob Pierce car and is racing one of the Rickman-Jeremy Harris cars, the No. 86xxx. Earlier this season, Baggett finished fourth in a State Series race at Whynot Motorsports Park and fourth at Magnolia Motor Speedway, where he and other Super Late Model drivers will compete Saturday in the second State Series race of the season.
The early results have been positive. Baggett expects better returns after ordering a new shocks package.
“These last couple of weeks, we’ve changed up a ton,” Baggett said. “If the (Magnolia) isn’t necessarily wide open — we don’t have the biggest motor — I feel confident we can run up front.”
Baggett expects to buy a new Longhorn car in the next couple of months. He’s still undecided on how many State Series races he’ll run this year.
“I’m gonna race with the Rickmans and Jeremy Harris, who has done a lot for me in racing,” Baggett said. “We plan on getting us another car and going at it, but it’s still about three months out on getting another car.”
There’s another opportunity for Baggett, but it’s not in Super Late Models, a division he said will “always be his first love.” Baggett has competed in a pair of modified races for Corky Garrett, of Jackson, winning a $1,500 race. Baggett plans to run several modified races in Texas later this month.
“In June, we’ll be back out there for a $10,000-to-win race,” Baggett said. “Modifieds aren’t big around here, but it’s huge around other parts. Late models are the top class around our area and in Carolinas. But starting in Arkansas and Texas, all those places, it’s modifieds.
“Garrett has known me throughout the race world, so there was some familiarity. He had a late model back in the day, and Rodney Wing used to race for him a bit. I’ve always known him. He called my daddy in law and got my phone number, and we decided to do it.”
Prior to his first modified race this season, Baggett had never competed in the division. He said the said the chassis setup is similar, but traction is harder to gain.
“It’s more difficult with the hard, narrow tires,” Baggett said. “It’s harder to get a hold of the race track. They flex a lot more, too. You have to have more finesse with your foot on the pedal.”
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