Post by LMR on 06/17/11 at 2:22am
MAGNOLIA-MOULTON-ENGINES
Late Model Mark
Pinson, Alabama (June 15, 2011)
The racing season sure has warmed up along the weather down here in Late Model country, this round of the Red Clay Report I will talk about recent trips to Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, Mississippi, a trip up to Moulton Speedway and a little jib-jab about a particular engine that sure seems to raise folks blood pressure.
Early this month I made the 130 mile trip over to the "Mag" for the $5000-to win Governors Cup. Once again I had the opportunity to help announce the race with "Big" Ross Tingle and it was once again a load of fun.I have talked in the past about how good this track is, from the facilty to the people running the track, same story, these folks are so cool to be with. One thing for sure that is a departure from most southern tracks is this place can and frequently does get that black ice that Late Models excell on. A track that is raceable from top to bottom yet be slick as a hockey rink. This night, the track came around so well. While the heats were fairly good, the main events were sweet. Johnny Stokes, known around here as "Dr.Dirt," sure has this thing right. Just before the feature he was up in the tower and said to Ross and I, "she's about right, I am going to squirt the top groove." The track was so nice, black ice from the bottom to the fence. What a main event with Late Models all over the track racing, 10th starting Ronnie Johnson came from mid-pack and won a fantastic thriller with his old ride with the CT 525 under the hood. The night before he had called me and told me he found something the week before while racing the Southern All Star race, he sure did. I must mention that it was so dang hot this night, temps in the high 90s' with mucky conditions of a swamp, welcome to summer in the South.
The next Saturday night I was scheduled to hit a Pro Series race at Talladega, I had not been to Talladega since the Ice Bowl in January so I was ready for some action at the hornets nest. There had been some scattered thunderstorms predicted but I thought we would be ok, nope. Shortly after getting on the road to TST I decided to call the track just to see what was up. Races were called due to a gulleywasher. What to do? I called a few other racechasers and we decided to buzz up to Moulton for a weekly show, good decision. We all hightailed it up I-65 and then off on Hwy 157 to the track, got there as things were getting underway. A number of racers who got wet at TST went to Moulton, I really like this track as the Crumb family and track staff are all so nice and sweet. Since the weather had been dry at Moulton for weeks, the track decided to act different, it acted for the good as Moulton slicked over real nice and got some rare black ice, racy from the fence to the bottom. The street stock and mini stock races were great, the Late Model main was pretty good too. Mark Mears won a good one beating invader Ross Martin who made a very rare appearance outside of Talladega. Had a chance to help regular track announcer Robert "Catsvoice" Bradford call the Super feature, that was fun. Oh yea, Moulton has been consistently drawing the most Late Models in the state as of late. Always enjoy the track, one last tidbit, there are two ladys who handscore the races, old school style.
Engines, I'll be somewhat short on this, a load of folks are way to hostile in their thoughts of the GM CT525 engine. The engine builders are livid, teams that do not have 'em hate 'em. yet many teams use them and like them. When a car wins with the 525 the usual suspects snivel, oh, they are "cheated-up engines." Who is checking them? When you can buy a reliable bullet like the 525 for around 11k, ain't that good? Yea, they might be out to lunch at Eldora, Bellville, or Knoxville, but let's face it folks, most tracks are bullrings these days. I like the engine, Ronnie Johnson has 9 wins so far with the 525, on hooked up tracks and some slick ones too. Ole Rj has won a $10,000, $5000, $4000, and a slew of $3-granders with that Vette engine that runs on pump gas, nuff said. Till next time, go see some Dirt Late Model racing, easily the best on dirt and you'll see no dang push trucks either!!