Over the past four years, the Southern Super Series has intended to invite many of the best Super Late Model teams and drivers in the country to the Deep South to participate in some of the most storied short track events in the nation.

That tradition will continue in 2016 with a 12-event schedule that spans six tracks in four different states.

The season will begin on March 20 with the Rattler 250 at South Alabama Speedway and will end on October 1 at Five Flags Speedway — home of the recently completed Snowball Derby. As has become tradition, the Southern Super Series champion will also earn a guaranteed spot into the Super Bowl of Short Track Racing.

Tour director Tim Bryant says he and his official partners are looking forward to the continued growth of the fourth-year tour over the next 12 months.

“With 2015 in the rear view and Texan Casey Smith joining Daniel Hemric and Bubba Pollard as Southern Super Series Champions, we’re excited to look ahead towards the 2016 season,” Bryant said on Wednesday in a news release.  “With the help of a great marketing partner in Green Oil and the Sunoco brand, along with a host of others, we’ll be offering some even more exciting things to a group of the best Super Late Model teams in the country.”

Q&A: Tim Bryant

The Rattler 250 will open the season on the weekend of March 20. The event will run three days and also include Pro Late Models, Southern Modifieds and a host of local divisions.

For the second season in a row, the SSS will return to Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville in conjunction with the ARCA Racing Series on the weekend of April 8 and 9. The newly christened North/South Super Late Model Challenge will be a co-sanctioned event with the CRA Super Series with a unique set of rules and schedule.

It will feature a 125-lap points race for each series on Friday, April 8 and then a combination race between drivers of both tours on Saturday, April 9.

At the end of April, the Southern Super Series will make its traditional trip to the Gulf Coast for its only doubleheader weekend at Five Flags Speedway and Mobile International Speedway in Alabama. The tour will compete on Friday, April 29 at Five Flags and then the next day at Mobile.

The series will return to Five Flags on Friday, May 27 for a 100-lap feature.  A week later, on June 4, the SSS will return to Watermelon Capital Speedway in Central Georgia.

The tour will make two stops at Montgomery Motor Speedway twice in 2016. First up will be the Rumble by the River 100 on June 18 and the famed Alabama 200 on the weekend of September 11.

All told, the schedule offers great diversity and a peppering of prestigious events.

“Our schedule will offer diversity in tracks, distance and even formats,” Bryant said.  “We’ve worked hard to schedule with other major touring groups, to ensure that racers would be able to run multiple series if they choose to.”

The complete 2016 Southern Super Series schedule can be found below.

March 20    Rattler 250 at South Alabama Speedway    Opp, AL
April 8    Nashville 125 at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville    Nashville, TN
April 9    Combination Race with CRA at Nashville    Nashville, TN
April 29    SSS 100 at Five Flags Speedway    Pensacola, FL
April 30    SSS 100 Mobile International Speedway    Irvington, AL
May 27    SSS 100 at Five Flags Speedway    Pensacola, FL
June 4    SSS 100 at Crisp Motorsports Park    Cordele, GA
June 18    Rumble by the River at Montgomery Motor Speedway    Montgomery, AL
July 9    SSS 100 at South Alabama Speedway    Opp, AL
July 22    SSS 100 at Five Flags Speedway    Pensacola, FL
August 20    Lee Fields Memorial 150 at Mobile International Speedway    Irvington, AL
September 11    Alabama 200 at Montgomery    Montgomery, AL
October 1    SSS 150 at Five Flags Speedway    Pensacola, FL