Columbus, MS - Saturday night, May 21st, Magnolia Motor Speedway would roar to life once again as the Mississippi State Championship Challenge pulled into town. The event would feature a 50-lap, $3,000-to-win Super Late Model show as well as all local divisions at the sparkling Johnny Stokes-prepped 3/8 mile oval. 115 racecars including 31 MSCCS Super Late Models would be on hand.
Scott Dedwylder would top Pole Qualifying (group format) with a 14.847-second lap, blistering fast for "The Mag", while Mike Boland would top the second group with a 14.895. David Breazeale, the current runner-up in MSCCS points, would qualifying second to Boland in the first group, but would have to change cars and start on the rear of the feature race. MSCCS points leader David Earl Gentry would originally be slated to start 14th, making the field through a B-Main.
Boland would jump to the lead at the start of the feature race, with Marty Hardy, Jason Smith, and Jay Blair all going for second place on the tail of the #222. Blair would come out of the three-wide group in second place as Breazeale began to tear through the pack from the rear in a frantic manner. A race for third place between Smith and Dedwylder soon became a three-wide fight as Rodney Wing jumped in, taking over the spot just before a lap 4 caution for Bo Shirley paused the action. Boland, Blair, Wing, Smith, and Dedwylder would make up the top five for the restart.
Wing would go outside Blair as action resumed and grab second, but all eyes would be directed further back in the pack as Breazeale moved into 6th place on lap 5, then took over 5th on lap 6. Breazeale had picked up 17 positions in 6 laps, and would gain another spot as he moved around Smith into 4th on lap 8. Meanwhile Blair had reclaimed second place, Wing moved back in on the bottom, and the two continued to race door-to-door until a lap 10 caution for Ronny Lee Hollingsworth once again broke up the early action with Boland, Wing, Blair, Breazeale, and Chris Wall in the top five.
As Boland continued to hold the point with action back underway, Wing and Breazeale would get by Blair, and Breazeale would challenge Wing for second place. As Boland ran the top of the track out front, Breazeale and Wing both fought on the bottom, with Breazeale taking second place in turns 3 and 4. Wing would charge back in and retake the spot on lap 13 as David Earl Gentry quietly moved into 6th place. Wall and Blair would race side-by-side for 4th place, with Wall taking the position on lap 16 as Boland moved into lapped traffic. The third and final caution would fall on lap 26 for Jay Blair as the leaders blasted through lapped cars. At this point the top five would read as a "who's who" of regional racing stars - Boland, Wing, Breazeale, Wall, and Gentry.
When MSCCS flagman Kevin Thrash dropped the green flag for the event's final restart, it was as if a dam burst up front. As Wing raced under Boland side-by-side on the super-fast racing surface, Breazeale shot off of turn 2 like a top-fuel dragster and parted the pair. The trio would go three-wide into turn three, on to the front stretch, and back around the track they would race until Gentry also appeared in the picture, breaking up the action and going outside Breazeale. Wing would hold second place as Gentry raced the top of the track to get around Breazeale and take third on lap 30. Breazeale would drive back by on lap 31.
Up front, Wing had caught Boland, both drivers on the hub of the speedway. Wall would go under Gentry and take over 4th place, then challenge Breazeale for third as Ronny Lee Hollingsworth picked up the battle with Gentry for 5th. Boland had shrugged off Wing briefly and had reached traffic on lap 35, and Wing would be back on the leader's tail by lap 38. Wing would make a serious albeit unsuccessful challenge for the lead on lap 42, and then the pair would blast through turns 3 and 4 door-to-door as the laps quickly ticked away and the #54 of Breazeale quickly closed in. The checkered flag would fall on Boland, followed by Wing, Breazeale, Wall, and Gentry in the top five. Blair rebounded to finish 6th, with Hollingsworth, Neil Baggett, Jason Smith, and Marlon Wild earning top-ten honors.
Jeremy Shaw would claim the early lead in Modified action as Jason Hollis and Brian Rickman raced side-by-side lap after lap for second place on his tail. A three-wide race for 4th between Lee Ray, Bryan Brock, and Shay Knight provided another thrill show as Shaw led the dueling Hollis and Rickman around as the laps wore on. Shaw would go on to take the win, with Rickman finally besting Hollis late in the race and going on to take second place. Knight and Brock would complete the top five.
Judson Littlejohn would race hard with Johnny Smith in the early stages of Late Model Stock action, but would soon hold the lead alone as famed engine builder Jay Dickens moved up to challenge Smith for second place. Dickens would take over for good on lap 9, then catch Littlejohn in the later stages, but Littlejohn would hold on for the win. Dickens, Smith, Billy Franklin, and Ruble Maxey would round out the top five.
Richard West would beat Scott Stripling and Trey Bright in a three-wide finish at the line in Street Stock action. Steve Bryan, Mike Minor, and Michael Pendley made up the top three in the Mini Stock feature, and Wayne & Jamie Sudduth took the Two-Person Cruiser win.
The next racing event in Columbus, MS will be held at Columbus Speedway on June 4th as the USCS Winged Outlaw Sprints once again bring high speeds and daredevil-style racing action to the high banks of "The Baddest Bullring in the South". Event information can be found at www.ColumbusSpeedway.net .
MSCCS SUPER LATE MODELS
50 LAPS - $3,000-TO-WIN
Pos. Car# Driver Started
1ST 222 MIKE BOLAND (2)
2ND 10 RODNEY WING (9)
3RD 54 DAVID BREAZEALE (22)
4TH 71 CHRIS WALL (7)
5TH 56 DAVID GENTRY (13)
6TH 2X JAY BLAIR (6)
7TH 18 RONNY LEE HOLLINGSWORTH (4)
8TH 21 NEIL BAGGETT (10)
9TH 12 JASON SMITH (3)
10TH 48 MARLON WILD (16)
11TH M6 MARTY HARDY (5)
12TH 111 BO SHIRLEY (19)
13TH 6 SCOTT SLAY (8)
14TH 1C CHAD THRASH (15)
15TH 7 MARCUS MINGA (7)
16TH 9 CLINT LOGAN (17)
17TH 514 DAVID MOLPUS (20)
18TH D65 DWIGHT FALCON (18)
19TH 33 SCOTT DEDWYLDER (1)
20TH 8 DENNIS DUNCAN (12)
21ST 68 EDDIE RICKMAN (11)
22ND 86 RICK RICKMAN (14)
OPEN-WHEEL MODIFIED - TOP 10
1ST 1S JEREMY SHAW
2ND 90 BRIAN RICKMAN
3RD 5 JASON HOLLIS
4TH 3 SHAY KNIGHT
5TH 8 BRYAN BROCK
6TH 2 LEE RAY
7TH 31 BLAKE KOENIGSBERGER
8TH 7 TODD GRAY
9TH 11 JIMMY BRASFIELD
10TH 25 JAY BURCHFIELD
LATE MODEL STOCK - TOP 10
1ST 3 JUDSON LITTLEJOHN
2ND 1 JAY DICKENS
3RD 39 JOHNNY SMITH
4TH 65 BILLY FRANKLIN
5TH 75M RUBLE MAXEY
6TH 22 MIKE LANGFORD
7TH 18 CHRIS JIMERSON
8TH 82 JASON SANDERFORD
9TH 7 JEREMY GLASGOW
10TH 76 DAVID MCGARY
STREET STOCK - TOP 5
1ST 4 RICHARD WEST
2ND 10 SCOTT STRIPLING
3RD 82 TREY BRIGHT
4TH 7X KYLE RUTLEDGE
5TH 11 BENJI JONES
MINI STOCK - TOP 5
1ST 10 STEVE BRYAN
2ND 2 MIKE MINOR
3RD 57 MICHAEL PENDLEY
4TH 77 AUSTIN BROADWAY
5TH 6 STANLEY BUSBIN
TWO-PERSON CRUISER - TOP 5
1ST 11 WAYNE & JAMIE SUDDUTH
2ND 71 KEITH & KEVIN MONAHAN
3RD 14 KRIS & AUDREY MONAHAN
4TH K6 BENJI JONES & CURT SMITH
5TH 272 STEVE PRINCE & DJ JENNINGS
