Logan Martin was starting to get down on himself.
The West Plains, Missouri, driver hadn’t ended up in victory lane a single time in 20 COMP Cams Super Dirt Series races this year, and though he was first in the championship points standings, he wanted that elusive win.
So Martin put together perhaps the best weekend of his career and doubled up for two of them.
After posting the fastest time in qualifying, earning the poll and winning the feature race Saturday at Jackson Motor Speedway in Byram, Martin did the same Sunday at Magnolia Motor Speedway, capping off a dominant weekend of Super Late Models racing.
“The last couple nights, everything just went our way,” Martin said.
From the pole position in Sunday night’s CCSDS feature race, Martin shot out in front of Spencer Hughes of Meridian, led all 40 laps and walked away with the $3,000 first prize.
He also increased his lead in points over Hughes, currently second in the standings. Martin led Hughes by 62 points going into Saturday’s event and 158 heading into Sunday’s race; now, that margin has increased again.
Martin said his focus has been on winning races one at a time, but tuning out his position in the standings is easier said than done.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t look at them points,” he said.
Martin should be more than happy with his place after Sunday’s race, holding off Hughes by roughly 0.8 seconds to claim the win.
It wasn’t that close most of the time as Martin opened up a lead of multiple seconds over Timothy Culp early on. He lapped Joseph Long on the 14th lap before getting stuck behind Chad Mallett’s #92 car for several laps, allowing Hughes to pass Culp and gain ground on Martin.
Hughes got within about half a second of the lead before Martin went around Mallett and lapped him, and the Meridian driver never got as close again. He added a second-place finish to Saturday’s seventh-place run.
“All in all, it was a good night and not a bad weekend,” Hughes said.
It was an even better one for Martin, of course, as he won despite feeling his right rear tire wearing thin. Martin said that he was given the choice of hard or soft options for the tire prior to the race and chose the soft one to avoid getting stuck, but he burned up too much of the rubber in the first 20 to 25 laps.
But the tire hung on, and so did Martin with a win to cap off a weekend he won’t soon forget.
“Sometimes, it’s just about circumstances and letting that stuff fall in place,” Martin said. “Luckily, the last few nights, everything’s fallen in place.”
Late Models
Jeremy Shaw of Millport, Alabama, won again in the Crate Racin’ USA Late Models race Saturday night.
Randall Beckwith, Jamie Tollison, Ryan Colby and Sid Scarbrough rounded out the top five.
Jamie Pickard of Columbus was eighth, Mark Stokes of Steens was 18th, and Lance Johnson of Columbus was 26th.
Sportsman
Nick Thrash of Meridian won Sunday night’s Glenn’s BBQ and Fish Crate Racin’ USA Late Model Sportsman race.
Thrash beat out Brett White, who typically dominates in the division. Tony Shelton of Steens, Evan Ellis and Chance Inman rounded out the top five.
Colby Ponds of Caledonia was seventh, Mike Pickard of Steens was 10th, and TJ Davis of Caledonia was 18th.
Factory Stocks
Aidan Fletcher of Columbus won the Ranch House Diner Factory Stocks feature Sunday.
Charles Moudy, Nathan Page, Blake McNeill and Jarrett Jones rounded out the top five.
John A. Beard Jr. and Bobby Barksdale, both of Columbus, finished 10th and 11th, respectively.
Kevin McWilliams of Columbus was 13th, and JR Card of West Point was 22nd.
Street Stocks
Jason Hollis of Ethelsville, Alabama, edged two local racers to win Sunday night’s Three Star Tire and Auto Street Stocks race.
Shay Knight of Steens finished second, and Lee Ray of Columbus was third.
Dewayne Estes of Sturgis and Eddie Rickman of Columbus rounded out the top five, while TK King of Columbus was sixth.
Dustin Dupler of Columbus was 20th, and Michael Collums of West Point was 22nd.
Modifieds
Shane Stephens of Arlington, Tennessee, won Sunday’s The Eaton Clinic Modified Sportsman race.
Jason Byrd, Mike Langford, Tim Parker and Sam Hughes rounded out the top five.
Brent Burns of Steens was seventh, and Jimmy Anderson of Columbus was 15th.
Hot Shots
Isaac Gipson of Russellville, Alabama, won Sunday’s Hot Shots race.
Dale Johnson, Blake Lamberth, John Norris and Thomas Bynum rounded out the top five.
Ed Caulder of Columbus was 13th, and Judd Murphy of Columbus was 20th.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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