Story by: Langley Austin ~ [email protected]
Photo Supplied by: Mark Simpson

Moseley, VA(January 24, 2011) — Recently Frank Deiny, Jr. announced his plans to race at South Boston Speedway and rumors abound about Philip Morris racing there full time this season.

But, not all the news and rumors we’ve been hearing from South Boston Speedway is about Late Models as we’ve been hearing a bunch about the Limited division over there too. One of the pieces of news we’ve been hearing is about Southside Speedway Grand Stock racer, Mark Simpson. Simpson has been rumored to be heading to South Boston in the Limited Late Model division.

Recently we caught up with Simpson, who has some big plans for this next season that includes the help of the son of one of Virginia’s short track racing legends.

“We’re coming to South Boston to run a full season of Limited Late Models,” Simpson said recently in an interview.

Simpson has been racing for the last three seasons mostly at Southside Speedway in the Grand Stock division and over that time he’s won about eight races on the tight Richmond, VA area track. He also picked up what was probably his biggest career win in the Grand Stock division at Southern National Raceway Park in the 2008 version of the Thanksgiving Classic.

Many of you may have heard of his crew chief, Roy Hendrick. Yes, “Rapid” Roy Hendrick, who dominated Southside Speedway for years and is who is the son of Legendary Modified racer, Ray Hendrick. Hendrick has spent the last few seasons as a mentor to Simpson while racing at Southside Speedway.

“We bought a new car from the Late Model stables of Dale(Earnhardt) Jr’s, JR Motorsports and we’re ready to run Limiteds at South Boston,” continued Simpson. “I couldn’t do any of this without the help of Roy Hendrick, he’s been with me the last couple of years.”

It’s certain that in his first attempt at Limited Late Model racing that Simpson has aquired top notch equipment, has paid his dues in the Grand Stock division and has some great help from a driver who from childhood has been around winning racers. He has all the pieces in place to have a great rookie season at South Boston and against some of the best Limited Late Model races anywhere, he might look like a seasoned veteran instead of a rookie.