Overdrive

54 | Overdrive | December 2017 Custom Rigs D espite car- rying a 192-point lead in the overall Minimizer Bandit Big Rig Series standings into the final race in late October, Ricky "Rude" Proffitt still had to sweat out the final moments before he was an- nounced as the champion of the series' inaugural season. At Crisp Motorsports Park in Cordele, Georgia, a nearly perfect weekend for Tommy Boileau – and one that Proffitt called his "worst weekend race-wise of the year" – ended with Proffitt barely holding on to his points lead to claim the championship. "I made some changes to the truck before this race, even though I knew better, and it almost cost me," Proffitt said. He started the race in second place and was able to stay in the top four until a caution came out with just two laps remaining. On the restart, Proffitt lost ninth gear, which is his normal racing gear, and fell back to finish in ninth. Boileau raced to victory in Cordele, but when the final full-season points were tallied, Proffitt was still ahead of Boileau by 12 points. Both racers ended the season with five wins each. "This championship is what I wanted from day one," Proffitt said. "We had a great year." Behind Proffitt and Boileau in the points stand- ings, "88 Mike" Morgan and Justin Ball tied for third place, and Allen Boles finished fifth. Other season awards for the series were for Rookie of the Year, which went to Travis Buckner, and Most Improved, which went to Craig Kruckeberg. Proffitt holds on to claim Bandit Series title BY MATT COLE Ricky "Rude" Proffitt was crowned the Minimizer Bandit Big Rig Series' first champion. Great American Chrome_OVD1214_PG071.indd 1 11/10/14 10:04 AM

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