Brian Campbell is making the trip from the Wolverine State to the Peach State for CRA SpeedFest this weekend with one goal in mind: Winning. Campbell made that clear during his interview with Bob Dillner and Casey LaJoie on Speed51.com’s “The Morning Bullring” talk show Monday.
“We’re not going to any race track any more that we don’t feel we can win,” Campbell said in the interview. “We’re going to have fun, we’re going to win, and we’re going to take some money home. That’s why we’re going.”
SpeedFest will open the season for Super Late Model competitors in the Eastern United States, and already boasts a star-studded entry list. Along with Late Model standouts such as Bubba Pollard, Casey Roderick, and Stephen Nasse, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch will be in the field.
For Campbell, all those names are just other drivers he needs to beat to prove he belongs in their conversation, just like he did when he beat Busch and others at the Money in the Bank 150 at Berlin Raceway (MI) last year.
“We have won races against caliber of drivers and teams like that,” Campbell said. “When we beat them, we know we’re doing something right. We want the opportunity to go do that, to race the NASCAR engineers and NASCAR drivers. When they come down to Super Late Models, they’re doing it for fun, but they’re also doing it to win. This is his relaxing winter time. When we beat him, it’s going to be a little more sweet.”
The trek to Georgia will not be a quick one for the Michigan native.
“It depends on the weather, I guess,” Campbell said. “It’s probably going to be about 15 hours. We’ll hop in Wednesday morning and just tear down the road.”
Campbell has competed in SpeedFest before, but not since 2011, when the event was contested at Lanier National Speedway. This weekend will be his first trip to Crisp Motorsports Park.
“Lanier is the last time I’ve been to Georgia, however many years ago,” Campbell said. “A lot of videos, a lot of talking to people. It looks comparable to most race tracks up here. It looks like the backstretch is kinda round, and the frontstretch is real straight. Most race tracks in Michigan are like that.”
Campbell is unfazed by the lack of an outside wall around the majority of Crisp Motorsports Park, a trait it shares with many of the places he competes up north such as Berlin.
“All these race tracks up here don’t have walls, so that’s fine,” Campbell said. “I heard they put up a tire barrier so people can’t get all the way to the creek and people don’t have to spray the cars.
“Glenn Luckett told me the story down at the banquet, [Spencer Davis] made it all the way to the creek,” Campbell added. “It wasn’t good. They had to spray the blessed car off before they pulled it across the race track because it was full of mud and everything.”
If you can’t make it to Cordele, Georgia to see Campbell and the rest of the star-studded field for CRA SpeedFest, you can watch live on Speed51.com this weekend. Click here to order your pay-per-view ticket to see the event, including the 125-lap JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Pro Late Model race and the 200-lap ARCA/CRA Super Series event.
Fans who missed Campbell’s interview can watch an on-demand replay of “The Morning Bullring” by clicking here. Along with full interviews with Campbell and Busch, other guests on the show included Chili Bowl winner Christopher Bell, Carolina Clash 2018 Champion Ross Bailes, and 2018 Kulwicki Driver Development Champion Brett Yackey.
-Story by: Zach Evans, Speed51.com Southeast Editor – Twitter: @ztevans
-Photo credit: Speed51.com
