Cory Hedgecock pictured here with chassis builder Bruce Nunnally
Few who follow racing in the east Tennessee region would have ever doubted that Cory Hedgecock was bound for stardom in the Dirt Late Model ranks around this area. And in 2015, the Loudon, Tenn. driver went a long way toward proving that belief to be well founded as the young racer captured over 20 feature checkered flags in Super, Limited and Crate Late Model competition combined.
According to Hedgecock, the key to his success is rooted in making sure his car is there and in contention during the final laps of each race in which he is entered. And more than that, having a car that can be counted on to run near the front week in and week out is essential.
“Consistency is the main part of it,” the 23-year-old declared. “That’s what we had last year because we would just keep top-3’ing and top-5’ing them to death. When you can do that, the wins will just naturally come a lot easier than when you are running good one weekend and you can’t line up the next weekend.”
Hedgecock’s success in the Limited(Steelhead) Late Model ranks at places such as Smoky Mountain Speedway, I-75 Raceway and 411 Motor Speedway has been nothing short of astounding. The No. 23 Brucebilt Chassis machine has to be considered one of the favorites every time it makes its way through the pit gate at one of those tracks as well as any other facility around the area. At the same time, the rising star’s success in crates and supers has been remarkable as well.
Further, Hedgecock believes that his grueling schedule actually benefits his family owned team as he moves from one Late Model class to the next.
“The way it works for us is that supers are tough, but everything going down from there is not necessarily easier to win either because I think crates is the hardest deal to win in period,” Hedgecock explained. “The traction problems the turning problems and everything with the super, the power just enhances all those issues. You have to learn from that and then you can apply it to the crate and limited stuff. I think that’s where we might have a little bit of an advantage in the crate and steelhead stuff, just trial and error, we get so many laps per weekend like Jason Welshan or Ryan King who also make a lot of laps. When you get a lot of laps, you figure a lot of stuff out.”
Hedgecock and his family own and operate Eagle Racing Engines in Knoxville. Their shop is located adjacent to the Brucebilt Performance operation of longtime chassis builder Bruce Nunnally. As a result, a relationship between the two entities has led to success for each.
Eagle produces engines for all types of racing, including all Late Model classes on dirt as well as drag racing, while Brucebilt manufacturers its own brand of chassis for Late Model racing with Hedgecock serving as a key component for both companies.
Cory Hedgecock’s No. 23
“Honestly, it’s been awesome,” Hedgecock said of his role as driver, engine builder and test pilot in the new chassis. “We just ran the B1(Brucebilt) car for the first time with the super motor in it. He’s an awesome chassis builder and the simplicity of being able to walk next door and get the parts that you always end up needing just works out better. He’s super smart on the chassis stuff and my dad is tuning on everything. It’s all just jiving together.”
Even with all his success, Hedgecock believes in being cautious when setting goals for the coming season.
“It’s twofold,” he said. “I like to make goals for the year, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself either. We just try to go week-to-week as far as our plans go. It’s just like in the races, it always works out better for us if we race our own race and not worry about other people.”
The Hedgecock team has entertained thoughts of branching out to places outside of east Tennessee at some point. At the same time, they have been so successful in this region that travelling further away from home when good money is being paid close to their shop may not always make sense.
“It pays so good right here around east Tennessee that we don’t have to drive so far. But we will probably travel a little more. We tried to last year and that’s why we got the bigger truck and trailer because it helps with taking two cars. We did a lot of drag racing and drove everywhere, Oklahoma and Texas, we went everywhere for that stuff. For this stuff, if 411 is paying $4,000 and Phenix City(Alabama) is paying $4,000, 411 is less than an hour away from home. It’s all about economics. We feel like we’ve got our best shot of doing well around home.”
