Columbus, MS - The Summer Racing Series returned to action Saturday night at the "Baddest Bullring in the South" along with O'Reilly Mini Sprints and Quad races. A healthy 104 race cars filled the pits for the weekly series event including 18 Commercial Dispatch Rebel Challenge Racing Series Super Late Models, a division which has had no repeat winners for 2007.

Rick Rickman would be the only driver to break into the 13-second range in Super Late Model qualifying, earning the pole of the feature event. Rickman would fight of Dean Carpenter on the bottom early on for the lead while Chris Ragan joined the battle using the top of the track. While Ragan's best runs were broken up by a few untimely cautions, Carpenter would challenge each lap as Rickman searched high and low for a line to help him distance himself, even running "see-saw" at times - riding the rim in turns 1 and 2, and diving to the hub in turns 3 and 4.

As the fight for the lead between Rickman and Carpenter raged on, Ragan would fall back briefly to take part in a 3-way battle for third place that also included Shawn Edwards and Jason Sanderford. Ragan would rebound to engage Rickman and Carpenter once again until fading on the final two laps as Rickman took the victory. Carpenter would earn a solid second place while Edwards slipped by Ragan to take third. Ragan led top-ten finishers Sanderford, Clint Logan, Jerry Inmon, Kurt Radojcsics, Bradley Price, and Charlie Gardener across the line.

With his win, Rickman becomes the 12th different feature winner in 12 Super Late Model events on the year. As many out-of-town competitors are expect for this Friday and Saturday's 4-series doubleheader, the streak could easily reach 14 at the end of next weekend.

In O'Reilly Mini Sprint action, Travis Senter would show considerable driving skill as he worked his way to a win. Senter would take the point late in the race, then drive under the checkers ahead of Bobby Ziance, Rick Barrygare, Josh Clark, and Jim Tsokatos in the top five.

Brian Rickman collected a win in a spectacular Open Wheel Modified event, following the hard-racing Lee Ray and Blake Koenisgberger until pouncing on the pair and taking the lead with only a few laps remaining. Ray would take second over Koenigsberger, followed by Jay Burchfield and Chris Glenn in the top five.

Jamie Pickard would collect another Stormpay.com Crate Late Model feature win over Caleb Myers and Mark Stokes. TK King would best Eric Cooley and Ray Paul in Late Model Stock action, while Mike Barton beat Marvin Beard and Trey Bright in the Street Stock feature. Aaron Peay took the Mini Stock main event win, and Josh Dodd would collect the Quad victory.

Next weekend features an unprecedented 4 racing series in two nights of action. Friday night, the Mississippi State Championship Challenge Series goes head-to-head with the Southern Regional Racing Series in a 40-lap, $2,500-to-win main event. Saturday night the O'Reilly SUPR series tackles the storied O'Reilly Southern All Star racing series in a $5,000-to-win affair. Stop by www.ColumbusSpeedway.net for more details.

Click On Images For Larger Versions (All Photos by Scott Oglesby)

Upcoming Events at Columbus Speedway:

*August 3rd - 8th Annual John L Cliett Tribute Weekend Night #1 - MSCCS vs. SRRS 40 laps $2,500 to win plus local divisions
*August 4th - 8th John L. Cliett Tribute Weekend Night #2. The O’Reilly Super Late Model Shootout: O’Reilly Southern All Stars vs. O’Reilly SUPR 59 laps $5,000 to win plus local divisions

July 29 Results

SUPER LATE MODEL

1ST 68 RICK RICKMAN
2ND 51 DEAN CARPENTER
3RD 5 SHAWN EDWARDS
4TH C16 CHRIS RAGAN
5TH 82 JASON SANDERFORD
6TH 9 CLINT LOGAN
7TH D7 JERRY INMON
8TH 43 KURT RADOJCSICS
9TH 28 BRADLEY PRICE
10TH 75 CHARLIE GARDNER
11TH 14 CHANCE INMAN
12TH 5 MARTY HOLTMAN
13TH R1 GREG RUFFIN
14TH 22 KEITH HOUSE
15TH 85 RAY MOTTZ
16TH 8 TIM TURNER
17TH 86 TERRELL STRIPLING
DNS 10 DANIEL BROWN