Rain, postponements shuffle March schedule
Postponements and cancellations have shuffled the schedule of Dirt Late Model special events for the second weekend in March.
Two of the weekend's richest races, the Southern All Star-sanctioned Shamrock at Cleveland (Tenn.) Speedway and the unsanctioned Pelican 100 at ArkLaTex Speedway in Vivian, La., have been rescheduled and a $5,000-to-win event at Boyd's Speedway in Ringgold, Ga., was scratched altogether because of rain. | March schedule
Still on tap as of early Friday afternoon was the 12th annual Skyler Trull Memorial at Carolina Speedway in Gastonia, N.C., which features a $3,000-to-win event for NDRA Crates (March 9-10) and a $4,000-to-win event for the Carolina Clash Super Late Model Series (March 10). Toccoa (Ga.) Speedway is running the $5,000-to-win Georgia Winter Nationals for Fastrak-sanctioned Crate Late Models.
Details of the cancelled and postponed races:
Pelican 100: ArkLaTex Speedway officials faced wet weather forecasts all week for the March 9-10 event, first canceling Thursday's practice, then announcing it would be held as a single-day show on Saturday. But nearly 2 inches of rain that fell by early Friday forced the event to be postponed to March 16-17. Ray Moore of Haughton, La., won the inaugural event last year and is expected to be among drivers entering at the quarter-mile oval.
Shamrock: At Cleveland, rain wasn't the issue as much as a shuffling of track ownership and management that has lingered throughout the off-season. A Dec. 16 bankruptcy filing delayed a scheduled auction and the new management said the racetrack wasn't ready for on-track action. The race was rescheduled for April 7 and will still open the 30th season on the Southern All Star tour.
Boyd's Speedway: Rain that soaked the track heading into Friday's scheduled $5,000-to-win event forced the cancellation. The track's next major special is March 30, a $4,000-to-win event for the Ultimate Super Late Model Series.
