The Southern Super Series is returning to Music City USA.
The Southern Super Series will return to Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville in conjunction with the ARCA Racing Series for a single-day doubleheader on April 11 according to joint press release issued by the SSS and Track Enterprises — the promoters of the ARCA Nashville 200.
The SSS event at Nashville now becomes the second of a 13-race schedule following the Rattler 250 at South Alabama Speedway on March 14. The event will mark the first time that the tour will run alongside the ARCA Racing Series in one of the most appealing single-day tickets in recent short track history.
Bob Sargent, President of Track Enterprises, offered great praise for SSS Director Tim Bryant in adding his tour to the event.
“Tim Bryant is a great promoter and a great individual and his series has been building momentum for a while, so we are proud to have them be a part of the ARCA event at Nashville,” Sargent said. “The great Super Late Model drivers from the Nashville area, from all around the Southeast and beyond will only add to the already-great event we are hosting at Nashville with the ARCA Racing Series.
The ARCA Series will headline the card with a 200-lapper with the Southern Super Series serving as a 100-lap warm-up. Bryant called the event a “race fan’s dream” in the announcement.
“It’s a one-day show with some of the best short track racing a fan will ever see, all at a destination track,” Bryant said. “I know our racers love going to Nashville and we’re excited to make that happen again on April 11.”
Donnie Wilson won the most recent SSS Super Late Model event at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville, earning the storied guitar trophy when initial winner John Hunter Nemechek was disqualified in post-race technical inspection.
Wilson was one of the numerous Super Late Model contenders that opted not to go to the All-American 400 when FGS officials broke away from the SSS last summer and reformatted its signature event into a 300-lap Pro Late Model showcase. He was thrilled to learn that he now has the opportunity to go back.
“I love Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville,” Wilson told Race22.com. “I feel like all of us in Super Late Model racing do. As you know, we were disappointed that we didn’t get to run the All-American 400 in October but I’ll go to that track for any Super Late Model race.
“It’s an historic place and an awesome facility and I’m just happy to be going back there to race.”
The event does create a conflict on the larger Super Late Model calendar however, as April 11 is also the season-opening event for the CRA Super Series at Toledo Speedway in Ohio.
Bryant and Sargent both recognized the conflict and said conversations have taken place between them and CRA officials RJ Scott and Glenn Luckett.
“Tim and I both have great relationships with the ARCA/CRA Super Series,” Sargent said in the release. “We are aware that they have a big race scheduled for the same day in Toledo so we have been in communication with RJ and Glenn about our Nashville event. Our collective discussions have already opened the door to perhaps working together on more marquee short track events as early as 2016.”
Practice, qualifying and feature events for both the SSS and ARCA will all take place on Saturday, April 11. Additional information about the Southern Super Series portion of the event will be announced soon.
It’s also worth noting that the announcement has little to nothing to do with Fairground Speedway officials or the All-American 400. Track Enterprises has rented the track for this event.
