KING OF THE SOUTH

King of the South promoter, Corey Stamper

Piloting his Harts Charger-equipped’ 66 Chevy II, Larson defeated Zach Houser in round one and Kyle Canion in round two. Defending the crown wouldn’ t have been an easy task, however, as heavy hitters like Ryan Martin, Scott Taylor, Kye Kelley, Cory Reed, and Todd Spiers were among the other competitors still remaining.

Martin took out the crowd-favorite Junkyard Studebaker, driven by Brandon Sandlian, in his first-round matchup, then outran Joey Rabiola in the Boost12 Mustang in round two. Despite not having a chance to take home the full $ 75,000 payday, Martin had nothing but praise for everyone involved.

“ King of the South is one of the biggest smalltire races of the year,” Martin says.“ Every fast small-tire guy wants to be there and most of us test for this throughout the year. As usual, the race was stacked with heavy hitters, but the rain just kept coming every day. Corey and the crew at Shadyside tried their best to make it work, but in the end, Mother Nature was the winner.”

Scott Taylor, who defeated Colton Sauls and Dustin Mewbourn in the first two rounds, echoed Martin’ s sentiment.

“ Most racetracks would have canceled the race before it ever started, but not Corey and Shadyside,” says Taylor.“ They stuck their neck out and refused to give up no matter how much it rained. We made it down to 16 before they had to call it, but they almost pulled off a miracle. We are just as hardheaded as they are and we weren’ t leaving until they called it or the winner was crowned. They were gangsters and refused to give up. I loved it.”

Not to be lost among the unfortunate weather is the incredible amount of effort Stamper and the entire team at Shadyside put in throughout the weekend. It wasn’ t lost on the teams or the fans, who almost unanimously praised the event even in the worst of circumstances. It’ s a testament to how much everyone at King of the South cares about their racers and fans, something Stamper is especially proud of.

“ Some people say that we put in 150 %, but we really put in 200 %,” Stamper says.“ The whole plan, the whole objective was to get the race in because we wanted to have that race. We’ re fans of this sport first and promoters second. We’ re wanting to see crazy passes and big upsets as much as anybody else. We were doing everything we could. We were beat up, mentally and physically drained, but the crew just never threw in the towel.

“ I always compare it to being on a roller coaster,” adds Stamper.“ You’ re going to the highest of the highs, you’ re at the peak, and all of a sudden, boom, you’ re right back down on the bottom. It just fell down on us. When we started getting splits together, the one thing I made sure to do was personally speak with every single racer who came to get their money. I shook their hand, fist bumped them, and thanked them for sticking it out with us because without them, there’ s no show.”

That kind of mindset goes a long way, and as Stamper begins planning for the 2027 edition of King of the South, fans can rest assured it will be back bigger and better than ever. DI

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