Rickman Brothers trade shots, as Rick wins at Whynot
by Bryan Wimberley
Mississippi State Championship Challenge Series' correspondent

MERIDIAN, Miss. (March 29)
- In what turned out to be a band of brothers, Rick Rickman of Columbus, Miss., outlasted younger brother, Brian, to nailed down a $2,500 payday, in the first race of the season for the Mississippi State Championship Challenge Series at Whynot Motorsports Park, near Meridian.

"It was good out-running my brother (Brian), he had a heck of a run himself! I just happened to get him in lap traffic, then he passed me back in lap traffic, before catching another group of cars, enabling me to get back around him," said Rick Rickman.

Late race lap traffic became a key factor for the older Rickman, scoring his second career State Series win in the 50-lap feature. Rickman had the only Bob Pierce Late Model in the field of 32 entries, gaining him the checkered flags in his third appearance in the chassis.

"It was out-of-the-box fast when we pulled it out. We did tweaked and tuned a few odd and in things on the car, every time we came off the racetrack. We are still learning this new Bob Pierce Late Model, it's only the third race in it so far. We were a little off the first couple of races and still learning about it, because it is totally different from our MasterSbilt that we ran. We were looking at buying new cars and didn't know which route we wanted to take, when Bob (Pierce) came down to The Mag (Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, MS) that last race of the season (Cotton Pickin' in October), we talked to him since Bobby (Pierce) had a heck of a run there. Afterwards, we decided that is the direction we were going to take and now I am glad we did -the car was real good! They are finicky, but they are good!" explained Rickman.

He added, "I like a tighter race car than one may normally set up and we ventured a little bit towards that tighter side than his (Pierce) normal set up is -I prefer a wet and rough track. It was like that tonight here at Whynot because of the rain we've had, so between tightened the car up and the track being in the condition it was in, everything fell together for us, plus that hog of a motor that Jay Dickens built, that is in our car. It done an excellent job, we have got a good combination right now."

Since Neil Baggett has joined the Rickman Racing shop in Columbus, since coming over from Shannon, Miss., the stable went 1-2-3 at the flagstand.

"It just says a lot about our racing shop, to come out here and go top 3, with Baggett grabbing third and us all having three different brand chassis (Brian Rickman in a MasterSbilt, Neil Baggett in a Barry Wright). We all work together real well, we help him and he helps us -it's a great mix," says Rick.

Chad Thrash of Meridian and front-row starter, Chris Smith of Brewton, Ala., would round out the top five.

Dane Dacus of Lakeland, Tenn., led lap one out of the gate, with Thrash and Smith trailing behind.
A brief pause in the action happened after the first completed lap for a spun Jeremy Broadus of Biloxi. 

Dacus would give up the point to Brian Rickman on the backstretch and would take command on lap 4. Rick Rickman eased into the picture with Dacus for second, as the two rubbed door-to-door on the eighth circuit. 

Brian Rickman encountered traffic at lap 10, stretching to a two-second advantage on brother, Rick. But by midway of the main, both Rickmans had pulled away from the rest of the competitors.

With no pressure from behind, the family battle was reaching nose-to-tail, as Rick drew to Brian's decklid on lap 29, with heavy traffic coming into play. Making his move, Rick goes side-by-side to secure first on lap 31. Expanding to a half-straightaway lead on the bumpy track, Rick sliced through traffic, putting cars between him and Brian Rickman, at a torrid pace. 

Low-running Neil Baggett cut into the second-place deficit and shaped it into a three-horse race. 
Some lapped cars were racing hard with the leaders, enabling Brian to peek a nose under Rick, for the top spot with nine laps to go.

The war raged on for two more laps, before Rick Rickman was able to get a one-car cushion on his brother. It would turn out to be enough breathing room for a one-second triumph at the flags, capturing Rick's first victory since September of last season (at Columbus Speedway).

NOTES: Rickman's Bob Pierce Race Car is powered by a Jay Dickens Racing Engine and sponsored by Goat Farm Posse, Advanced Logistics, 1250 Package Store, Rickman Brothers Trucking and Advanced Racing Suspension.

Rick Rickman became the 15th different winner in (29) series' events at Whynot Motorsports Park.

The older Rickman projected the team's future plans for their 2014 campaign.

"We are gunning for the Mississippi State Series again this year, which this start gives us some momentum towards the championship, but we are going to Jackson next weekend (for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series). We are talking about trying ArkLaTex again (on Saturday), we were off on our chassis set-up at The Pelican (two weeks ago) and it was the first night out in this car. We found some things wrong with it, that we didn't do right. We did get better as the program went on, we were in the show, but had a caution and lost the transfer spot in the end -a Pierce car won that race too. If we get through Jackson good on Saturday, then we will probably go back down there."

The 17-minute feature ended at 10:30 pm and was slowed by a single caution, with only five cars on the lead lap.

Ronny Lee Hollingsworth of Northport, Ala., still holds the track record at Whynot, with a 12.43 second lap.

David Breazeale of Four Corners, Miss., was the top 10 hard charger of the feature, going from 15th-starting position to finish seventh.

Brian Rickman advanced four spots to become the next highest top 10 mover of the main event, going from 6th-to-second. Brian's lone Whynot win in the MSCC Series, came in September 2012.

Mechanical failures were aplenty at Whynot, with Jimmy Cliburn stepping into a No. 18 race car, from his familiar 88. A strong qualifying effort put Cliburn in the top eight for the dash, but motor difficulties would conquer his evening and scratching him from the feature.

The 2012 MSCC Series Champion, Scott Dedwylder of Vossburg, Miss., went up in a puff of smoke as he was taking the green flag to start qualifying.

Motor issues also claimed George Paul of Star, Miss. as an early night victim, never able to lay down a qualifying time.

Keith Miller of Sumerall, Miss., changed carburetors which caused him to miss qualifying, but the No. 291 crew could never straightened out the problem, scratching them from the program.

Drivers not making the feature included, Jamey Boland, Scott Dedwylder, Clint Logan, Taylor Jarvis, Chris Jimerson, Joseph Joiner, Keith Miller, George Paul, Jason Taylor and Frank Wilson.

The next stop for the Mississippi State Series will be at the "Baddest Bullring in the South" on Saturday, April 12th, at Columbus Speedway.

MSCCS AT WHYNOT: (1) Rick Rickman, (2) Brian Rickman, (3) Neil Baggett, (4) Chad Thrash, (5) Chris Smith, (6) Chase Washington, (7) David Breazeale, (8) Ross Camponovo, (9) Henry Cooper, (10) Shep Lucas, (11) Leon Henderson, (12) Kody Barber, (13) Mark Dodson, (14) Tody Ratcliff, (15) Jamie Elam, (16) Ray McElhiney, (17) Greg Fore, (18) Dane Dacus, (19) Jason Cliburn, (20) Jeremy Broadus, (21) Jamie Tollison, (SCR) Jimmy Cliburn.

FASTEST QUALIFIER (among 32 cars)
Dacus at 12.811 seconds.

DASH WINNER: Dacus

CONSOLATION WINNERS: Cooper, Washington.

PROVISIONAL STARTERS: Dodson, Ratcliff.

MSCC Series' Point Standings:
(Top 15 after March 29th at Whynot)

1. Rick Rickman - 145
2. Brian Rickman - 140
3. Neil Baggett - 135
4. Chad Thrash - 130
5. Chris Smith - 125
6. Chase Washington - 120
7. David Breazeale - 115
8. Ross Camponovo - 110
9. Henry Cooper - 105
10. Shep Lucas - 100
11. Leon Henderson - 95
12. Kody Barber - 90
13. Mark Dodson - 85
14. Tody Ratcliff - 80
15. Jamie Elam - 75

2014 Sponsors for the Mississippi State Championship Challenge Series include:
All-Star Performance, ASI Wear, Base Fuel, Beyea Headers, B-Line Fabricators, Braswell Carburetors, Fast Shafts, Five Star Bodies, Four Seasons Racing Products, GRT Race Cars, Hoosier Tire South, Jay Dickens Racing Engines, L&D Trucking,
midsouthracing.com, Out-Pace Products, Rocket Chassis, Schoenfeld Headers, Scott Performance Wires, Trak-Star Race Cars, TWM Racing and X-Treme Graphics by J-Rod.

For more information about the Mississippi State Championship Challenge Series, contact Charles Thrash anytime at 601-917-2335 or visit our website at 'http://www.stateseries.com '.

Also follow us on social media, catch us on Twitter @msstartseries or at this link 'https://twitter.com/msstateseries ' and find us on Facebook at MS State Championship Challenge Series or at this link ' https://www.facebook.com/pages/MS-State-Championship-Challenge-Series/283102553631 ' . For any other media relations, contact Bryan Wimberley at 318-348-3129 or via email at 'bwimberley71291@gmail.com '.