VIDEO: Bob Sargent Talks SpeedFest on Bullring Hot Lap

The latest edition of "The Bullring Hot Lap" features Track Enterprises' Bob Sargent, as he details the process of adjusting the schedule for this weekend's Protect Your Melon - Buckle Up SpeedFest at Cordele Motor Speedway.

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Originally, SpeedFest's schedule featured qualifying on Friday, January 17 with racing on Saturday, January 18. However, a significant chance of rain on Saturday, as well as a suspect forecast for Sunday, led to ASA officials and Cordele Motor Speedway to move up the entire program to Friday.

RELATED: Protect Your Melon - Buckle Up SpeedFest Features Moved to Friday, January 17

“Mother Nature has dealt us a pretty bad forecast for the weekend," explained Sargent. "We look at this with every event we do. We sure don’t want to deal with these problems, but we have to make the best decisions early.

“We have to be conscious of the weather and teams traveling so far, hotels, budgets, employees. We’re very conscious of that with all of the racing we do throughout the summer. With SpeedFest, we were dealt a very bad forecast, 80, 90 percent chance of rain all day Saturday, strong chances on Sunday.

“We thought, let’s try it for Friday. We have all the teams in town, they will be practicing and time trialing anyways on Friday. We’ve put all this together quickly with our internal people in our organization, and it’s been met with a great response to keep these teams from being having to gamble on being stuck in Cordele for the entire weekend.”

While teams were quickly made aware of the change thanks to the communication systems in place with the series, now Sargent is urging fans to help spread the word for those planning to attend the event.

“Getting this word out is paramount to letting the fans know. Just really, everyone. The fans know, we’re in direct communication with them, but we need everyone’s help and assistance in getting the word out to the fans.

"Even the major sports, we’ve noticed them moving and shifting events that years ago, they would have never shifted. Even if it’s by one hour, or changing venues because of a wildfire, there are all kinds of things going on nowadays. We’re trying to be modern enough and be able to adapt in the same nature as the rest of the sports, and society in general, are doing."

Sargent also discusses the upcoming ASA STARS National Tour season, which kicks off on February 11 at New Smyrna Speedway with the Clyde Hart Memorial.

This year's edition of SpeedFest sees NASCAR Cup Series stars Chase Elliott and Ross Chastain take on some of the best in Late Model racing, including four-time SpeedFest winner Bubba Pollard, Stephen Nasse, Cole Butcher and more.

Qualifying and racing will all take place on Friday, January 17 for all divisions, including the Super Late Model race co-sanctioned by the ASA/CRA Super Series and ASA Southern Super Series. The JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Pro Late Models will also be in action, along with Cordele's Legends and Bandoleros.

Grandstands open at Noon ET on Friday, with qualifying at 4:30 p.m. and racing at 6 p.m. Advance tickets are on sale at bit.ly/SpeedFest2025Tix.

Fans can also watch SpeedFest live on RacingAmerica.TV. Click here to subscribe today and tune in Friday at 5 p.m. ET for live coverage from SpeedFest at Cordele.