Brian Rickman joked last week that of the three Mississippi tracks the COMP Cams Dirt series was set to visit this weekend, Magnolia Motor Speedway “hadn’t been good to him.”
“The Black Ice” is notoriously difficult to navigate, particularly for drivers who, like Rickman, prefer a hooked-up surface.
That sentiment was established before Rickman began piloting a Rocket XR1 chassis last month. The Columbus native was running in the top three of the Clash at The MAG before exiting early, which is why he was keen Sunday to cap another fast night at The MAG with a victory.
Rickman got it, and then some. He won his heat and led all 35 laps of the feature, opening a lead of more than five seconds at the halfway point en route to pocketing $2,000 for his second win since a State Series race June 10 at Whynot.
“I knew (Brian) was going to be something to deal with, starting on the outside up there after (track owner) Johnny (Stokes) put water on the track,” said Rick Rickman, Brian’s brother, who started on the pole and finished third. “I knew it’d be the place to be. I just didn’t really expect him to check out up there like he did. He was gone. There wasn’t anybody that could even play with him.”
Brian, along with COMP Cams points leader Jack Sullivan, entered the weekend as favorites in the three-race swing that saw Sullivan win Friday in Greenville and Saturday in Jackson. Brian finished sixth in Jackson and 20th in Greenville, where he set the second-fastest time and fastest time, respectively.
Sunday marked Brian’s first win at Magnolia in more than two years.
“We had the car set up the same way we did for the Lucas, so we knew we had a good car,” Brian said. “The track worked out for us, too. It came to my advantage when they watered the outside and gave me a little more moisture. If they wouldn’t have done that, it might have been a different outcome. I like to hammer the outside, and that helped out a lot. I knew if I could get by Rick on the first curve, we’d be all right.”
In victory lane, Brian said his throttle spring broke early in the feature and, despite having a fast car, he had to pull the pedal back up with his foot.
“It was far from easy,” he said.
Sullivan finished fourth, and Gavin Landers took fifth. Sullivan, who won the COMP Cams race at Magnolia earlier this year, became the series’ all-time leader in wins with 22 after winning Friday in Greenville. He has won six of the 10 races on the series this year.
Rick jockeyed with Sullivan for second for the first 15 laps.
“It was about like it was last night (at Jackson). I led him most of the race and we finished second to him,” Rick said. “We ran side by side and he got me with about three to go last night. We raced like that for two nights in a row and neither one of us touched, not even a scratch on the car. That makes it fun when you can race someone like that.”
In other race action, Spencer Hughes won the NeSmith Late Models feature. Brad Berry, Jeremy Shaw, Scott Dedwylder, and Bryant Marsh rounded out the top five. Jamie Pickard won the 602 Sportsman feature. Pickard also won Friday night at Columbus Speedway. Bill Moffett, Kyle Shaw, Zack Shelton, and Kley Clifton rounded out the top five. Logan Lux won the Factory Stock feature. Jason Byrd, Scooter Ware, John Beard, and Heath Beard rounded out the top five. Dewayne Estes won the Street Stock feature. Lee Ray, Rob Slott, Bryan Fortner, and Ben Keith rounded out the top five.
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