Published: May 12, 2006 12:18 am            

Swogetinsky Column: Races to hopefully begin at Whynot this weekend

Rain, rain, go away.

After bad weather spoiled last Saturday’s grand re-opening of the Whynot Speedway, local dirt track fans and drivers are hoping the rain will move on out of the area before race time this Saturday night.

The gates open at 4 p.m. and the first race starts shortly after the 6:30 p.m. drivers meeting.

Track owner Rodney Wing has promised to get the show over with by 10:30 p.m. or 11 p.m., if at all possible. For those who spent many a long evening at Whynot in the past, that would be impressive.

“I’m not going to be happy if we don’t,” Wing said.

The rain also canceled Saturday’s go-kart races at the Causeyville Raceway. Promoter Randy Rawson said the track will be closed this weekend for Mothers’ Day and will hold its next racing action May 20 with a full slate of action.

 

Ready to roll

at Whynot

Herman Reynolds started racing Late Models in 1993 and won plenty of races at Whynot before it closed several years ago.

Reynolds, who started drag racing in 1969, is returning to Whynot this weekend but this time, he will be racing

“I didn’t come to Whynot last weekend because I figured they would be rained out,” the Laurel resident said. “But I wish I had. I went to Pike County and got put in a wall. It tore my car up.”

Reynolds is racing in the Stormpay.com crate motor series this season and won seven races in a row at Hattiesburg and Pike County before losing the last two.

“Unless the track is slick, the crate motors don’t race as fast as the Late Model engines,” Reynolds said. “But it is still good racing. The cars are the same and it is competitive. The setups are similar.”

Reynolds noted that last week at Pike County, there were six cars in the Late Model division and 12 in the crate motor division.

“It is just more economical,” Reynolds said. “The Late Model engines cost some much more than the crate motors. You should see about 15 crate motor cars at Whynot this weekend.”

Reynolds added that he was pleased that the Whynot dirt track is reopening under Wing. And he has a prediction.

“I believe there is a place for the crate motors and there is a place for the Super Late Models,” Reynolds said. “Maybe both will be running at Whynot by next year.

“Rodney is a driver and he knows what a driver is expecting out of a track. I believe in a few months, Whynot will be come the premier dirt tracks in Mississippi. It always was before and with Rodney running it, there is not reason why it won’t be again.”



Elsewhere ...

• Racing returns at the Magnolia Motor Speedway Saturday in Columbus with the third Southern Showdown Championships.

Part of that will be the Topless Twin 25’s races for the Super Late Model Division. In these races, the Late Model cars will be without their roofs and fans will get a chance to see the work that it takes the drivers to keep those big cars in the groove. Whynot owner Rodney Wing and David Breazeale were the winners last year.

It is also possible for a driver to win both races and to take home $3,500 in winnings.

Other divisions include the Open Wheel Modifieds, Late Model Stocks competing in 20-lap Southern Showdown Championship events, along with the Stormpay.com Late Models, Street Stocks, Mini Stocks, and Cruiser.

• Chris “The Intimigator” Walls took the lead in the Mississippi State Championship Challenge Series this past weekend when he scored victories at the North Alabama Speedway and the Pine Ridge Speedway in Baldwyn, Mississippi.

Walls, an alligator farmer the Gulf Coast, leads the MSCCS standings with 873 points, followed by Jay Blair with 834, Breazeale with 825, Scott Slay with 764 and Bub McCool with 556 points.

The MSCCS will continue May 20 at the South Mississippi Speedway, which is near Pass Christian. It will be a 50 lap race with $2,500 to win.

Steve Swogetinsky writes a weekly racing column for The Meridian Star. If you have something to contribute that you think may be of interest, please email him at swog@hotmail.com.

        

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