Greenville Pickens Speedway is set to begin their 2018 season this Saturday, March 3rd. Kimberly Austin Photo

Greenville Pickens Speedway is entering its fourth season with former track champion and former NASCAR Whelen All-American Series National Champion, Anthony Anders at the helm and it’s shaping up to be his best one yet.

Anders has been leading Greenville Pickens since leasing the facility in 2015 from owner Kevin Whitaker. He’s increased purses and made upgrades to the facility to make it one of the best in the region to race at. This season his love for his home track is about to pay off.

The season starts this Saturday, March 3rd with twin 50-lap Late Model Stock Car races highlighting the event. The field for this race might be one of the best seen at Greenville Pickens Speedway in years. Part-time NASCAR Xfinity racer Kyle Benjamin will be joining the local Late Model Stock Car racers and he’ll have his hands full with a lot of local UpState South Carolina talent.

Benjamin will be fresh off of an eighth place NASCAR Xfinity Series finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway driving for Joe Gibbs Racing. This weekend he’ll be behind the wheel of the Elite Performance Motorsports house car. While Benjamin is one of the big names making a rare Late Model Stock Car start at his home track, the local talent in this race will likely be stacked.

Defending Greenville Pickens Speedway Late Model Stock Car track champion, Will Burns will be back in his championship winning ride for Hawk-McCall Motorsports. Burns will be looking to pick up where he left off with a solid run in the season opener. He will be running the opener in the HMM car but says he may run his own car more once it’s ready but he’d like to repeat as champion.

Another guy who will be looking to win the championship is the driver who’s finished runner-up three times. Trey Gibson is hoping to get his championship hopes off to a good start this weekend as well. He’s been one of the drivers to beat pretty much every season lately but hasn’t been able to seal the deal and add his name to the wall at Greenville-Pickens Speedway.

2017 SouthEast Limited Late Model champion Tasha Kummer will also be competing in the Late Model twins. She’s coming off a great season on the Limited tour and will be looking to make her mark on the Late Model Stock Car division this season. She’s been one of the Limited drivers to beat over the last couple of seasons and she could well be one of the drivers contending for wins this season.

Another female who expects to be in the hunt this season at Greenville-Pickens Speedway is Lexi Gay. She will be filling the full-time seat at Hawk-McCall Motorsports, the team that has won several track championships including last season with Burns. Gay has been racing Limited Late Models for the past two seasons and with her step up to HMM, she should be one of the cars to beat everywhere they travel.

Other drivers expected to compete this weekend include Ryan Walker, Taylor Satterfield, Ralph Carnes and a host of other UpState South Carolina talents.

RACE22.com will have RACEDAY LIVE Coverage from Greenville-Pickens Speedway on Saturday presented by Allen’s Racing Experience and Elite Performance Motorsports. Coverage will start at 10:45am and will run through practice, qualifying and until the final checkered flag falls for the evening. The race is set for 5:00pm.