Aaron Marrant has never had much problem transitioning from one division to another as he’s climbed the ladder of dirt track racing over the past 15 years. While working his way up from stock cars to modifieds to Limited Late Models and other divisions in between, the 35-year-old racer from Richmond, Mo., has always been a quick study when it comes to advancing through the ranks.

So when he and car owner Michael Meise decided to make the move to Super Late Models in 2020, Marrant thought he’d be able to make another smooth transition. With two Lucas Cattle Company United Late Model Association weekly racing titles and two track championships at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo., during his four-year stint in Limited Late Models surely Marrant would quickly find success in his jump to open-engine Late Model competition.

While Marrant did literally find immediate success by winning a Malvern Bank Series event at his home track of Central Missouri Speedway in Warrensburg, Mo., in his first race of the season, much of the rest of his rookie Super Late Model year hasn’t been so kind. Instead, Marrant struggled for much of the season as he attempted to adjust to tougher competition while traveling to many tracks he had never previously visited.

“We had lot of success in ULMA over a few years, so we got this bright idea we were going to go Super Late Model racing this year,” said Marrant, who was the 2017 and 2019 champion for the Limited Late Model organization that sanctions weekly racing at a handful of Missouri tracks. “We were thinking we could step up with these guys and be pretty good. It didn’t quite work out that way.

“The thing that’s made it even harder for us this year is we came out in the very for race of the season and got a W. We got a brand new Capital car this year and was racing at our home track. We got the win and that got our confidence up thinking it was going to be an easy transition. Then we started going to all these tracks we’d never been to and started struggling. We figured out really quick we still have a lot to learn.”

Marrant did indeed branch out away from his home track following his season-opening win as he entered nearly 20 races throughout the year with most of them split between the Lucas Oil Midwest LateModel Racing Association, the Malvern Bank Series and the Hoker Trucking Series. The jump from weekly Limited Late Model racer to regional traveler has been tough, but Marrant has started to show that he’s capable of making the adjustment.

With his performance on the upswing in recent events, Marrant has plans for two late-season trips starting with this weekend’s Lucas Oil MLRA doubleheader at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Ill. The event features a $5,000-to-win program Friday and a $7,000-to-win event Saturday.

“It’s been tough because we’re really hard on ourselves and expect to run well,” said Marrant, who along with this weekend’s MLRA action at Tri-City plans to travel to Federated Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo., on Oct. 24 for a World of Outlaws Late Model Series event. “It’s a struggle for us to go out and run midpack or worse sometimes, but we’re learning and we’re going to have live with that sometimes because it takes that to get better. That’s why we’re making trips like this. I know it won’t be easy, but it’s trips like this that’s making us better and better.

“It’s strange being a rookie again. We had a lot of success in modifieds and success in the Limited Late Model, and you’re moving up and you think you can keep moving up and be right there with them. But I don’t think you can imagine the difference in competition level until you get in there and race with these guys. I thought with longer races, you kind of would just ride a minute. No. If you ride you get run over. It’s all out, nonstop. That’s a learning curve for me because I always thought I was pretty aggressive. No, I’m not compared to these guys.”

Marrant was especially aware of the division’s strong competition during last weekend’s MLRA doubleheader at Lucas Oil Speedway when he found himself racing with regional standouts Ryan Gustin, Payton Looney and Chad Simpson even while running midpack.

“It’s crazy how good these guys are and how much being just a little bit off makes a huge difference,” said Marrant, who earned finishes of 17th and 14th in the two MLRA events. “Gustin won the Friday night feature and Payton Looney and Chad Simpson are in the (MLRA) points battle. Saturday night, I’m back there racing those guys for 13th, 14th, 15th, and not slow doing it. The competition level in this is ridiculous. You miss just a little bit and instead of running third, you’re running 15th.”

While his two midpack finishes in last weekend’s MLRA events weren’t thrilling, Marrant has had some impressive runs in recent weeks as well. On Sept. 5, he scored his first top five with the MLRA tour with a fifth-place finish at Lucas Oil Speedway. A week later, he scored his second Super Late Model win in his first ever trip to Federated Raceway at I-55. The victory came in a weekly event, but it was against a solid field that included area standout Tim Manville, who finished second.

“We were just going down there and just trying to get some laps at a new track and trying to get better, and we ended up winning,” Marrant said of his victory at I-55. “We were pretty excited about that one. We weren’t expecting that all pulling in the gate somewhere like that where we had never been to.”

With his performance showing signs of improvement late in the year, Marrant is looking forward to the opportunity to finish the season strong with his trips to Tri-City and I-55. He hopes the experience will position him for strong start to the 2021 season, when Marrant plans to follow a similar schedule to his rookie season with perhaps a few more big races.

“I feel like I’m getting more comfortable going back to places where I have some experience now. I’m so much more comfortable today than we were when we first started the year,” Marrant said. “Our biggest thing is keeping up with the track and keeping the car the same speed throughout the night. Right now, we’ve got a lot of speed. We qualify really well every night. Keeping up with it is the problem.

“We’re hoping to finish out this year on a positive note. Then we’ll regroup and get our stuff all ready and hopefully come out next year way more prepared and ready to go back to all these racetracks that we had never been to before and maybe some new tracks too. Next year we’re going to be way more prepared. I really think we’ll have a better year and really run well with these guys and hopefully knock off more wins and have some good runs in bigger races.”

Marrant is particularly excited for this weekend’s trip to Tri-City. He made his first visit to the St. Louis-area track for its three-race Mod Mania weekend in September. While that trip produced disappointing results — Marrant was plagued by mechanical woes all weekend and only made one feature start — he’s looking forward to heading back to a track where he’s made some laps.

“At least I know what shape the track is,” Marrant said. “That’s more than I knew about a lot of the places we’ve gone to this year. If we can just go out there and run well in the feature, I would be really happy with that. I’ve realized that winning these races is tough. If we go out there and we’re competitive and look like we belong, that’s a good trip for us.”