5/30/2017
Five Flags Speedway
Plott Kyle 0602.jpg (1.4 MB) Plott Twist: As Kyle Enjoys Breakout Season, Younger Brother Kason Makes SLM Debut at Summer Sizzler
By Chuck Corder
There’s nothing like good, old-fashioned sibling rivalry.
From Quarter Midgets to Legends cars and now all the way up to Super Late Models, Kyle and Kason Plott could pen a series of books about some of the battles they’ve waged in racecars over the years.
The brothers — Kyle, 21 and Kason, 19 — will write another chapter in their storied competition Friday night at Five Flags Speedway when they’ll both hop in a Super Late Model and compete in the SERF 100.
“Five Flags is by far one of my favorite tracks,� Kyle Plott said. “It’s always an honor. For two years now, going down there, it’s always completely different. It’s really hard, but the same thing every time: Keep the rear tires on the car. That’s the name of the game because it’s such an abrasive track.�
The SERF 100 is the second Deep South Cranes Blizzard Series race of the season and officially marks the halfway point in the 12-race Southern Super Series schedule, a SLM tour that competes at the southeast’s most iconic tracks.
A jam-packed evening awaits at the famed half-mile asphalt oval Friday. Dubbed the “Summer Sizzler,� the evening will see a whopping five feature races for the biggest race night of the summer. The Faith Chapel Outlaw Stocks (35 laps), the Pro Trucks (30), The Dock on Pensacola Beach Sportsmen (25) and the Lloyd’s Glass Pure Stocks (20) also share the marquee when the gates open at 4 p.m. Friday.
Admission is $15 for adults; $12 for seniors, military and students; $5 for children ages 6 to 11; free for kids 5 and under.
After a banner career racing Quarter Midgets and Legends, Kyle Plott is in just his second season racing SLMs full-time.
The elder Plott scored a huge win earlier this year when he took home a $10,000 check for capturing the Greenville Meltdown at the Greenville-Pickens Speedway in Easley, S.C. He backed up that performance with a podium finish in April during the Blizzard opener in Pensacola when he led the first 50 laps before giving way to a dominant run from eventual race winner Bubba Pollard.
“The car was really fast on short runs, but I was worried about it on long runs,� said Kyle Plott, who sits third in the season Southern Super Series standings, 29 shy of leader Stephen Nasse. “I knew we had pretty good speed, but at the end I just couldn’t get off the corners with my tires. We’ll definitely be a lot better this time.�
Kason Plott’s SLM debut will come Friday at Pensacola’s high banks. Like his big brother, Kason Plott enjoyed a decorated Legends career before he and Alan Plott, the boys’ father, decided it was time for a change.
Kason Plott has tested and practiced in a SLM before, and he’ll do so again this Thursday at Five Flags, but he hasn’t competed in a race yet.
“I told him the other day, he’s starting out with a lot nicer equipment than I did,� Kyle Plott said. “I’m so happy for him. He’ll struggle in his first few races because these things are different animals. They’re not like anything else.
“Mom (Donna Plott) is gonna probably stroke out with both of us in the same race again. I’m excited to get out there and coach him around. I’ll help him out as much as I can. I can’t tell him all my secrets.�
Those competitive juices between brothers, and siblings in general for that matter, never seem to dissipate. They always seem to be nearing a rolling boil.
They were there when the Plott boys battled at a young age when both were competing in Quarter Midgets—Kyle was 6, Kason 4.
“I remember one race where I came from dead last, and Kason was leading the race,� Kyle Plott recalled. “I spun him out on the last lap to win. My dad wasn’t too happy with me. And Kason was mad at me, too.
“I just shoved the trophy in his face. He’ll probably get me back at some point.�
Kyle Plott just hopes it doesn’t come Friday night at Five Flags.