Drake Troutman and his G.R. Smith Motorsports team announced they will no longer compete with the Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series this weekend at Needmore Speedway due to the extreme cold.

The G.R. Smith Motorsports team made the announcement on Facebook, “Due to the extreme cold, Drake Troutman and G.R. Smith Motorsports have decided NOT to race Needmore this weekend!”

While they won’t be at Needmore, the team did share that it still plans to race with the series at Swainsboro at the beginning of next week, “We are still hopeful for Swainsboro and Screven!”

In the comments of the post GR Smith explained, “We love to race but it’s to cold this weekend for these engines and team members! Hopefully Swainsboro & Screven get in and it warms up”

Troutman shared more information in a video post as well, “We are going to take and skip out on Needmore this weekend with the weather. … It’s hard on motors. So the plan is right now be at Swainsboro on Monday and Tuesday. Hopefully, the weather looks a little bit better for up there. It’s going to be pretty cold up there too. Definitely be at Screven. Head back to Volusia.”

He then shared that he will compete in the first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series race at All-Tech before heading back down to Hendry Country Motorsports Park for the World of Outlaws’ Swamp Cabbage 100 weekend. Following the Outlaw races at Hendry County, he indicated he would go back and compete with Lucas Oil at Ocala and Golden Isles.

The Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series announced earlier this week that the races at Needmore and Swainsboro would no longer be points paying races due to the weather. The series explained, “Due to the weather concerns facing the event, the South Georgia Showdown will be contested as a non-points event for the Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series.”

“Instead of being points races, a paid provisional starting spot will be added to the first points race of the season and will be awarded to the HTF Series Loyalty Program driver with the best finishing position in any of the completed South Georgia Showdown races who does not qualify for the feature lineup,” the series elaborated. “The HTF Series championship chase will now officially begin Sunday, March 22, at Talladega Short Track’s $12,000-to-win Bama Bash.”

Additionally, the series adjusted its Saturday race at Needmore to begin hot laps at 1 pm with racing starting at 2 pm.

🚨 𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗛 𝗚𝗘𝗢𝗥𝗚𝗜𝗔 𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗪𝗗𝗢𝗪𝗡 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘
The South Georgia Showdown is ON as planned and will kick off at Needmore Speedway with practice on Thursday followed by $10,000-to-win Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series races Friday and Saturday. Both nights will also… pic.twitter.com/1p46fIYRf0

— Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series (@HuntTheFrontSDS) January 28, 2026

While Troutman will not be competing at Needmore, the track has revealed that Dan Ebert, Blair Nothdurft, and Brandon Overton have pulled in and are ready to compete. Luke Morey, Josh Rice, and Mark Whitener also announced they would be at Needmore earlier this week. Joseph Joiner is also expected to be there.

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