ADAIRSVILLE, Ga. — One of the year’s most anticipated events is about to head to the line at 3/8-mile Cochran Motor Speedway when the Crate Racin’ USA Street Stock World Championship hits the stage, and it’s potentially an all-out war for a $5,000 winner’s purse at the Chris and Joni Martin-owned oval that is affectionately known as “The Battlefield.”
The $5,000-to-win event was rained out previously for the third time in the past three years, and will now take place Saturday, March 13 at the newly-resurfaced facility, along with a $5,000-to-win Super Late Model event, a $2,000-to-win 604 Late Model feature, and races for 602 Late Models and Bombers.
It’s expected to draw the best shoes in the division for an annual shootout that has become a big part of the track’s annual schedule, and also an important part of the sanctioning body’s sure and steady growth.
Weekend Schedule
The Street Stock World Championship will actually be part of a huge weekend at the facility after last year’s Gobbler 100 Super Late Model event in November fell victim to rain. That event has now been rescheduled to Friday, March 12, and armbands from the rain-affected date will be exchanged at the gate. That Super Late Model event will pay a whopping $20,000 to the winner!
“We wanted to make it worthwhile for teams to come back for events that were lost due to weather,” track co-promoter Chris Martin said. “Weather wasn’t kind to us or the racers last fall and winter, so we decided to create a huge weekend allowing the drivers who were disappointed to come back and get two shots at racing for good money.”
The giant weekend starts with an open practice on Thursday, March 11. Drivers from any division may practice, and plenty of track time is promised.
World Champion Will be Crowned
One of the Adairsville, Ga-based organization’s most competitive divisions, Street Stocks have long provided multiple-grooved racing and side-by-side action across the Southeast region. The popular class was instituted during the 2013 season, and is entering its ninth campaign as one of five different Weekly Racing Series divisions competing under the banner of the Adam Stewart-managed sanctioning body.
Past national champions for the division include Trey Bright (2013), Jeremy Idom (2014), Richie Stephens (2015), Spencer Hughes (2016), Josh Tomlin (2017), Ricky Idom (2018, 2020) and Mike Lane (2019).
A large field is expected for the race, which annually draws in the range of 40-50 drivers who converge on the facility that’s located approximately 45 minutes from Macon, Ga.
“We’ve got 43 Street Stock drivers pre-entered from the rained-out weekend, and we’ve already got a bunch coming this time that weren’t already pre-entered from last time,” said Chance Smith, who often assists with publicity and promotions at the track. “From the Carolinas to Louisiana, we’ve got teams interested in this event, and that also includes a few from Illinois and Iowa. It’s a really good, diverse bunch of drivers that are coming to this event, and we’re looking for a pretty strong field of cars looking for that $5,000 first-place money.”
The History
The idea for the annual Street Stock World Championship kicked off in 2016 at Golden Isles Speedway in Brunswick, Ga., where Texas-based competitor Chris Brown earned a victory in the inaugural version of the event. A year later, Super Late Model veteran Johnny Stokes was the winner of the second version of the race, which was held at Needmore Speedway in Norman Park, Ga.
It’s being held in Cochran, Ga., for the third time in history after T.J. Herndon was the next driver to win the event. Local favorite Wil Herrington of Hawkinsville, Ga., charged up a hometown crowd last year with a victory.
Stokes gave an inkling of what the event means to the division’s competitors after taking the checkered flag in the 2018 version of the event on his 64th birthday [at Needmore Speedway], saying, “I’ve been fortunate to having a racing career that has lasted over 40 years, and this class has kept racing fun for me. It’s a race that all these drivers in this division want to win, and I’m honored to be one of the guys able to win it. I’m probably having as much fun driving these cars as I’ve ever had in the sport.”
The pit gates open March 13 (Saturday] for the Street Stock World Championship at noon. Grandstands swing wide for spectators at 2 p.m. The drivers meeting is set for 5 p.m., and hot laps at 5:30 p.m.
Additional information about the weekend, including grandstand and pit pass prices, can be accessed at www.cochranmotorspeedway.com on the web. The Crate Racing USA Street Stock Division can be followed on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Article Credit: Brian McLeod