Moulton Speedway
Alabama Crate racer goes from crash to cash
By Brian McLeod
Crate Racin’ USA
Seth McCormack's April 2 wreck. (Zackary Washington/Simple Moments Photography)
Every driver who straps into a race car knows the sport can provide a roller coaster of emotions and experiences, and Seth McCormack of Muscle Shoals, Ala., recently went through an up-and-down streak over a seven-day period while competing in Crate Racin’ USA Weekly Racing Series events at Moulton (Ala.) Speedway.
McCormack ended up in a multicar crash during the April 2 program at the 3/8-mile oval, nearly sending his machine into a flip during the night’s 604 Late Model feature. A week later, he was celebrating a victory in the same division after tallying his first victory of the season.
“Yeah, that was a pretty rough ride last week,” McCormack said in a phone interview a few days after posting his early-April victory. “It was only the third race this season that we’d run the car, and we started from the pole, but the front row got together at the start and we got shuffled back to fourth. The track was dominant on the bottom that night, and we were all running low. Cars got together ahead of me, and when I tried to avoid getting involved, someone came in behind me and hit me in the left rear. It sent us up into the air, and I thought I was going over.”
He was slightly airborne and part of an incident involving at least four cars, but fortunately did not flip. The accident did remind him of a humorous career detail that he might not have otherwise considered.
“I was joking with my dad because the last time I had a new helmet, we about turned the car over and I almost landed my car on its lid that night,” McCormack said. “Since this is a new season, I had another new helmet, and what happens? We nearly flipped again. I told my Dad that I think it might be a long time before we bring out another helmet!”
New helmet or not, McCormack’s string of early-season bad luck might have changed for the better. Not only did he rebound from the wreck at Moulton to reach victory lane at the same facility eight days later, but he added another victory in the 604 Late Model division the following weekend at Duck River Raceway Park in Wheel, Tenn.
That established a two-in-a-row streak for his team, which receives sponsorship help from Long-Lewis Ford of The Shoals, Imperial Poured Concrete Walls, United Lumber, Posey Farms LLC, Singing River Dentistry, Ford City Pharmacy, River Road Cafe, McKleroy Motorsports, www.kruznforakurefoundation.org, Cory Hedgecock Motorsports, VooDoo Shock Technology, Eagle Race Engines, McCormack Marine Construction and GBC Hunting Camp.
“We found a problem we’d been having with the left-front brake caliper,” McCormack said. “Basically we had the wrong caliper in the wrong place, so hopefully we’ve corrected that issue and two wins in a row is a good sign for us. That win at Moulton after the wreck was our first of the year in our new Rocket Chassis XR1, so we’re pretty happy to break out a new car and now have two wins this early in the season.”
