By DAVID MILLER
Special to The Dispatch
For close to a year, Nick Deese sat idly in Tuscaloosa County, itching to race.
But as a regular in the Mini-Stocks division, Deese didn’t have many options. In fact, he didn’t have any options.
When Columbus Speedway closed for the 2015 season, Deese and others who competed in the division lost their hometown track. No other track in the state of Mississippi runs the division full-time, and the nearest for Deese in Alabama was Moulton, nearly two hours north of Tuscaloosa.
“It’s a time and money thing for me,” said Deese, who won a track championship at Magnolia in 2012. “There were about 10 or 12 of us who simply didn’t race last year.”
Deese, who has won four Mini Stocks features since he started racing in 2000, is par of a small group of drivers who’ve continued to compete in the division as its started to disappear from weekly competition across the state. He likened it to open-wheeled modifieds, which have all but disappeared from competition in the state over the last few years. Others who used to compete in Mini Stocks eventually moved up to other divisions, including the still young Factory Stocks division — considered a cost-conscious entry-level class — that Magnolia Motor Speedway and Whynot Motorsports Park added a couple of years ago.
So when news broke late in 2016 that Rod Taylor would begin promoting the track for the 2017 season, optimism grew. It was time to race again.
“I had guys like Mike Minor reach out to me to make sure we’d have the division,” Taylor said. “There are a lot of really good people who compete in the division, and there’s obviously an opportunity here.”
Columbus has hosted a pair races this year and will host its third tonight. Racing, which includes the first NeSmith points races at the track, begins at 8 p.m. NeSmith Late Models, Street Stocks, 602 Sportsman, Factory Stock and Mini-Stocks will compete.
It didn’t take much to convince Taylor to include the division in Columbus’ weekly lineup; Taylor’s son, Garrett is a former Mini-Stocks track champion at Columbus. His youngest son, 15-year-old Grant, will begin competing in the division in a couple of weeks once the family’s motors are built.
“I felt like it was a class that needed to be included for people who wanted to have a starting point,” Taylor said. “You can’t really say it’s a lower budget – anything that pertains to racing is expensive – but it’s an opportunity to get a younger generation into racing.”
The division also fits for older drivers who don’t have a lot of time to dedicate to setup or repairs during the week, like Deese, 55.
“I like to put the car on the trailer after a race with little to no work to do on it before the next one,” said Deese, who won his first feature race at Columbus in 2004 and has twice finished second in points. “And the time to get back and forth to other tracks can be issue because no where else runs the division.”
Though Columbus will be the only track to run Mini-Stocks full-time, it, along with Jackson and Whynot, will host Kajun Mini Stock Association races this season. Columbus’ first of two KMSA races will be held May 26. Deese looks forward to those races after a runner-up and third-place finish in the first two races. He used to compete in the division regularly when he drove for close friend Mike Minor, who took him to his first race in 1999.
“I can consistently run middle of the pack in the Kajun series,” Deese said. “I’m working to be more competitive in series races and go to more of them. But, honestly, it’s just a great opportunity to have a track to race at again.”
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.