Can Ford And Hicks Apply The Lessons Learned At Screven This Summer?

Both Hicks and Ford experienced trouble at Screven Motor Complex this July. The championship will boil down to who learned the most.

Nov 14, 2017 by Dan Beaver

Can Ford And Hicks Apply The Lessons Learned At Screven This Summer?

When the Fastrak series rolled into Screven Motor Complex in Sylvania, GA, this July, Benji Hicks and Jensen Ford were tied at the top of the points standings. Entering this weekend’s Georgia State Outlaw Championships, Hicks has secured a 22-point lead, but there is still a lot of racing remaining with back-to-back shows on Friday and Saturday — and fans can follow along as those races stream LIVE on FloRacing.

The tight points battle has been going on ever since the checkers waved over Screven this summer. Hicks beat Ford to the line by one position and gained just one point over his rival. However, that finish gave Ford hope of actually being able to take over the lead in the final two races.

Thirteen cars completed all 40 laps of the Rebel Yell, but both Hicks in 15th and Ford in 16th experienced trouble and fell off the pace to earn 21 and 20 points, respectively. The winner of a Fastrak race gets 35 points, and that is more than enough ground to make these races interesting.

Ford needs to finish about 12 positions ahead of Hicks in both remaining events to grab the lead.

It can be done, but Ford has to rely on the leader experiencing trouble, which just has not been the case recently. Hicks has finished better than fifth on average in his last five races.

Anything is possible in Dirt Late Model racing — occasionally the strangest things contribute to a DNF. This summer, Travis Pennington led the first 30 laps at Screven until his roof collapsed — sending him to the pits and out of the race in 17th, one position behind Ford and 16 points behind the leader. Cla Knight inherited the top spot in the Rebel Yell 40 and won over Matthew Nance.

When Fastrak visited Screven for the first of three races, Hicks was the only repeat winner in the series having taken the checkers in the season opener at Toccoa (GA) Raceway and at Virginia Motor Speedway in Jamaica, VA. When the series returned to Toccoa in June, Ford applied the lessons he learned earlier and won his first — and so far only — Fastrak race of 2017.

Hicks has added two more victories at 311 Motor Speedway in Pine Hall, NC, and at Princeton (WV) Speedway.