Riley Hickman
With one race still remaining on the Southern All Stars Dirt Racing Series schedule, Riley Hickman has already clinched his third consecutive title for that regional touring series. And in doing so, the Cleveland, Tenn. driver has also made a bit of history.
A number of drivers have won the Southern All Stars championship in back-to-back campaigns. Among those winning consecutive titles are some of the top names in the sport of Dirt Late Model racing such as Ronnie Johnson, Clint Smith, Chris Madden, Ivedent Lloyd, Jr., Roger Best and Randy Weaver. However, no driver had ever compiled three consecutive SAS title efforts…until this year.
Still, Hickman remains humble when considering the feat.
“I guess it’s pretty cool,” Hickman declared in an interview with InsideDirtRacing.com. “I hadn’t really thought a whole lot about it to be honest. We kind of take this deal one race at a time and these points just end up however they end up. We haven’t ever tried to just points race it in terms of just going in to get show up points or just be a field filler. We try to go win these races and that’s more important to me than the points deal.”
The 37-year-old racer who also serves as proprietor in his family’s Hickman Manufacturing Co. business is thankful for a regional series that allows him to race for wins and championships while remaining reasonably close to home.
“This points deal is cool and all and I appreciate Southern All Stars for having a series where we can go and do this deal,” Hickman said. “There’s not many series where I can go and race and never have to be more than four or five hours from home. This points deal pays pretty good and come December or January when they pay out the check it’s nice because you don’t have a lot going on then.”
The pilot of the No. R1 machine appreciates his new found place in the racing history books as well.
“I’m humbled to be included with some of those names that have come before us like Randy, Clint, Ronnie and Chris,” Hickman insisted. “When you take on all those guys it’s a tough gig every week because you may not see the same guys every week but you have pieces of them everywhere. Any time you can accomplish some kind of championship, it’s big.”
Hickman points out that his success has not come from working alone. A dedicated crew member has been by his side during this recent run of success.
“This is a good deal for a working class guy, and that’s what I am,” he explained. “I’ve got Urkel(Brad Carvin) who works for me, but he doesn’t work all week long. He comes in on Wednesday night and stays through the weekend. We may disagree sometimes about stuff while we’re going up and down the road and doing this deal, but for the most part we work real good together.”
Hickman’s #R1 machine
And the champ also has a good support network at home as well.
“I work a pretty good bit because I’ve got a wife and family,” he said. “My boys are doing a bunch of karate stuff right now so we’re doing a lot with them. My boys have stuff they want to do and I’ve gotten to the point that I want to watch them a lot and be more of a family person. My boys were up in the shop with us all day long before we left today and we’ve been riding motorcycles out cutting trails. Things like that they’ll remember.”
Hickman hopes that someday in the future he will be able to watch his boys compete in the sport he has enjoyed so much.
“At some point in time we’re going to have to give this deal up and I hope that my kids want to do this. That’s where I’m headed with all this. They tell me one day I’m just going to be a truck driver, and that will be fine. A couple of weeks ago I got to watch Jerry Rice with his kids, Josh and James, being parked next to them at Eldora and that was really cool. It’s the same deal with Wade Knowles and Jake. My dad and I didn’t get to race together a lot, we did some with the motor stuff together. It’s cool to think ahead that I might get to do that one day.”
