Chris Ferguson
Chris Ferguson’s 2015 has not gotten off to the start he was hoping for. The Mt. Holly, NC resident scored an impressive $10,000 win at Virginia Motor Speedway last May along with a victory at the end of the 2014 season against a stellar Southern Nationals Bonus Series field at Cherokee Speedway and was looking for that momentum to carry over into this year. Unfortunately for the 25-year-old driver, that has not been the case.
A strong qualifying effort was lost on the first night of Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series competition in Georgia at Golden Isles Speedway in February when his car suffered engine issues during a heat race. That same scenario repeated itself just weeks later when Ferguson set fast time in a Carolina Clash race at Fayetteville(NC) Motor Speedway but had to load the car onto the trailer before the feature even began due to more trouble with the power plant.
A promising run in the Southern All Stars event earlier this year at Cherokee Speedway went awry when the No. 22 machine was involved in an early race crash that did significant damage to the car.
“It’s been really frustrating for me, my dad, and my crew because we’ve been really busting our butts this year getting everything ready and not only tearing the car up but having motor issues along with that puts you behind,” Ferguson explained in an interview with InsideDirtRacing.com. “You don’t get to focus on the car as much because you’re focused more or less on fixing everything rather than making it faster. It’s been frustrating because I feel like we could have won two races at least so far this year and we’ve honestly had a shot at winning four or five.”
But the former Ultimate Super Late Model Series champion isn’t completely disheartened. The car has shown speed and has demonstrated the potential to run well, even among stiff competition.
“As far as performance, we’re pretty happy,” he insisted. “We ran 9th in that big race last weekend at Virginia Motor Speedway after we qualified second overall. I think after we get some races under our belt, we can get some wins and hopefully get all the gremlins out of here.”
As frustrating as the numerous rain outs have been for most racers this spring, the postponements have actually benefited the Ferguson team by providing additional time to overcome those gremlins.
“It’s actually been kind of nice because there have been some races that we wanted to go to but we weren’t going to get to go because of the motor or the car,” the driver explained. “It’s kind of played into our favor so hopefully our luck has changed and we’ll get more races in with the weather. I’d love to see us get to go run more. There’s a lot of guys we race against that have already run ten or twelve races this year and I’m still on number five.”
Ferguson posted a 6th place qualifying effort in this past weekend’s Carolina Clash event at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap then went on to finish 8th in the feature after contact with another car at the start of the 50-lap affair.
Ferguson’s #22 Longhorn
Midway through the 2014 campaign, Ferguson switched to Longhorn Chassis. So far, he has been very pleased with the move.
“It’s been really good,” he declared. “The amount of races we could have won with that car have been a little frustrating because of other problems knocking us out. It’s been really good this year. About every race in that car I’ve had a legitimate shot of running either in the top-3 or having a shot at winning. I’ve loved it so far.
“I think it really fits my driving style. It’s just one of those cars that’s been fast when we unload and that’s all I can ask. I don’t have to change anything on it and I’ve stayed pretty standard with it.”
Ferguson tentatively plans to compete again this weekend in east Tennessee at Smoky Mountain Speedway. The Maryville track will host a doubleheader of events that will feature the Southern All Stars Dirt Racing Series on Friday night in a $5,000-to-win main event then a Spring Nationals race on Saturday evening that will pay $6,000 to the winner.
“I definitely enjoy racing there because of how fast it is,” Ferguson said of SMS. “It’s in Tennessee but it more or less fits the type of tracks we have in South Carolina where we’ve got big half-miles that are fast. I love racing there and I’ve had a lot of good runs there even though I’ve never been able to win. But I have been close a few times. As long as we get everything going in the right direction and I do my job, I think we have a good shot at winning there. It’s just one of those tracks that’s always fun to go to.”
