COCHRAN, Ga. — Richie Stephens (00) of Phenix City, Ala., will lead the charge into Cochran Motor Speedway tonight [April 13] as the Rogers-Dabbs Performance Parts Crate Racin’ USA Dirt Late Model Series visits the 3/8-mile oval for a $10,000-to-win event at the Chris Martin-promoted oval. It’ll be the second event of the season for the Eastaboga, Ala-based traveling circuit that is currently in its 20th season of competition.
Also on the program are events for Late Model Sportsman ($1,000 to win), Bombers ($1,000 to win), 602 Chargers, Street Stocks, Pro Crown Vic, and Jr. Crown Vic divisions. Gates open at 4 p.m., and hot laps start at 6:30 p.m., with racing to follow.
Pit passes for the night’s activities are $45, and kids (ages 6-10) are $25. Grandstand tickets are $25, and kids (ages 6-10) are $10. Five and under are admitted free.
Stephens opened the ’24 campaign with an emotional flag-to-flag victory March 30 in the Southern Heritage Classic at Needmore Speedway in Norman Park, Ga., and although it’s a bit early to be counting points with just a single event in the record books, he leads the series points standings for the first time in his racing career while making sporadic appearances on the traveling series.
“That’s actually pretty cool to think about that,” Stephens said. “It’s the first time I’ve ever led ‘em. It’s way early to be thinking about points, but this win tonight has me thinking we might try to run the full schedule. We had talked about it and considered it, but we weren’t sure until tonight. Now we’re thinking it might be worth making the effort.”
The victory provided an emotional moment for Stephens, who buried his face in his hands and shed a few tears before climbing from his car and heading to the roof of his winning machine to stage a raucous steering wheel-waving celebration in front of a huge crowd. It was the inaugural version of the Chance Smith-founded event that took a solid first step towards becoming an early-season major event for the region, drawing 249 cars in eight different divisions.
“Yeah, it was a pretty emotional moment for me,” Stephens said. “It’s been a long time coming, my first-ever win on the actual series, and the first time I’ve ever won $10,000. I’ve won a few shows that paid good, but never that much. That race was the first time it’d been held, and I’ve known Chance [Smith] for a long time before he ever started doing the promotional stuff. Seeing him have such a successful weekend the first time they staged this race…it’s just an honor to win it, and it’s just great to see it happen for him.”
Stephens was the organization’s 2015 Street Stock National Champion, and as his career has advanced over the years since that time period, he has become a frequent competitor in both 602 Late Model Sportsman and 604 Late Model events.
As a matter of fact, he’s also among the points leaders in the organization’s newly-established Rogers-Dabbs Performance Parts Crate Racin’ USA Late Model Sportsman Tour for 602 Chevrolet Performance Circle Track Engines-powered Late Models, which has already staged its first two events during the ’24 season.
Chase Giddens currently leads the chase for that championship over Logan Bradford and Caleb Ashby, while Stephens and Jason Garver are tied for fifth. Stephens has indicated he’ll likely run several of the races on that new series during the season, and he claimed a victory in the fledgling circuit’s most recent event at North Alabama Speedway in Tuscumbia, Ala.
Entering Cochran, Stephens holds the points lead on the Crate Racin’ USA Dirt Late Model Series over Jimmy Thomas [96], Caleb Gay [94], Hunter Peacock [92] and reigning series champion Mark Whitener [90].
Rounding out the top 10 are Clay Harris [88], Hayden Cardwell [86], Kyle Bridges [84], Jose Parga [ 82] and Trynt Lloyd [80].
After Cochran’s event is completed, the next events for both the Crate Racin’ USA Dirt Late Model Series and the Crate Racin’ USA Late Model Sportsman Tour will be April 20 at I-75 Raceway in Niota, Tenn.