Hedgecock's brief run with Hicks ends
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Cory Hedgecock’s stint driving Billy Hick’s Mount Airy, N.C.-based car ended prematurely after Wednesday’s Wieland Winternationals opener at Golden Isles Speedway. The driver from Loudon, Tenn., and the veteran car owner mutually agreed to separate during a rough Georgia-Florida Speedweeks.
Hedgecock landed a ride for the remaining three nights at Golden Isles driving for Maryland’s Bruce Kane while Hicks has rehired Donald McIntosh of Dawsonville, Ga., who won last year’s Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Rookie of the Year honors with Hicks but left the team at the end of the season for a short-lived deal with Coltman Farms Racing.
“Things were just not working as smoothly as I thought it should and Cory didn’t think so either,” Hicks said in the Golden Isles pit area before the start of Thursday’s action. “It just wasn’t gelling, and I knew I always gelled with Donald so I called him up to hook up and see what we can do again.”
Hedgecock, 33, planned to chase the Lucas Oil Series rookie laurels this season with Hicks but has struggled through Speedweeks with two top-10 finishes — both at All-Tech Raceway in Ellisville, Fla., where he placed eighth and ninth — in eight starts, including a DNQ on Wednesday after he spun in a heat race. He sits 13th in the points standings.
According to Hedgecock, he will complete the weekend at Golden Isles running for Kane, who had his hauler in the pit area helping Cody Overton of Evans, Ga. He expects to enter his family-owned team in the next Lucas Oil Series events on March 27-28 at Atomic Speedway in Alma, Ohio, and Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway and then evaluate if continuing with the national tour is financially feasible.
Hicks, a former standout driver turned team owner, said he plans to continue racing this season with the 32-year-old McIntosh but will determine their schedule after finishing the weekend together at Golden Isles. McIntosh had planned to run the Lucas Oil Series with Coltman Farms Racing but their partnership ended in January after the World of Outlaws Late Model Series-sanctioned Sunshine Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla.
