SOUTH BOSTON, Va. - Peyton Sellers scored his second win of the season at Virginia’s South Boston Speedway Saturday night and did it in a stirring fashion in the track’s biggest NASCAR Late Model Stock Car race of the season.
The Danville, Virginia resident fended off Philip Morris in a 17-lap sprint to the finish that followed the last of the race’s seven caution periods to win the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson NASCAR Late Model 200.
Sellers’ win was worth a total of $8,000. He picked up $6,500 for winning the race, scored a $1,000 prize from Sparks Oil Company for winning the pole and earned another $500 prize from Sparks Oil Company for leading the most laps.
Saturday night’s win was the second of the season for Sellers at the .4-mile oval. It was the first win for Sellers in South Boston Speedway’s premier mid-summer classic that serves as the first leg of the Virginia Late Model Triple Crown. The Hampton Heat at Langley Speedway later this month and the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway in late September comprise the other two legs. The driver with the best average finish in the three races earns a $10,000 prize at the conclusion of the race at Martinsville Speedway.
Morris, who entered the race having won six of the season’s first eight races at South Boston Speedway, finished second .064-second or about two car lengths behind Sellers. Tyler Hughes finished third, just over a second behind Sellers, with Brandon Pierce in fourth and Bobby McCarty in fifth.
C.E. Falk, Woody Howard, Justin Carroll, Mike Looney and Tim Phipps rounded out the top ten.
Sellers led four times for a total of 129 laps in the race that saw the lead swap hands 10 times among six different drivers. Morris led twice for a total of 25 laps. Eight of the lead changes occurred in the first half of the race.
Sellers caught two big breaks during the race, the first coming when he pitted on lap 53 during a caution period to have his team change a flat right rear tire. He raced his way back to sixth place by the mid-race break and restarted the race from fourth place after Morris, the halfway leader, drew a nine for the inverted restart, meaning the top nine drivers at the halfway break would be inverted for the start of the second half of the race.
He needed only three laps after the restart of the race to take the top spot. Once in front, Sellers never relinquished the lead, fending off challenges from Hughes and Morris to secure the win.
In other action, Jessica Dana, who wowed South Boston Speedway fans by winning a Limited Sportsman Division race at South Boston Speedway on June 16, did it again Saturday night, this time, winning South Boston Speedway’s longest and richest Limited Sportsman Division race of the season.
Dana muscled her way past Trey Crews on the 47th lap and edged Crews by .825-second to win the 75-lap race. With the win, Dana became the first female driver to win the track’s biggest Limited Sportsman Division race of the season.
Karl Budzevski finished third, with Jacob Borst in fourth and Daniel Moss in fifth.
Greg Autry grabbed the lead on the opening lap and sped to victory in the 40-lap Budweiser Pure Stock Division race. Jarrett Milam, Jordan Pickrel, Kenny Mills and Daniel Shelton rounded out the top five.
Cameron Jarrell picked up his third Budweiser Hornets feature win of the season. Tyler Crute finished second, followed by with Kevin Currin in third, Kenny Daniel in fourth and Joey Clay in fifth.
NASCAR racing action returns to South Boston Speedway on Saturday, July 14 with the running of the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center NASCAR Late Model Twin 75s racing program.
For more information, visit SouthBostonSpeedway.com.
South Boston Speedway – South Boston, VA
Race Results – June 30, 2018
NASCAR Whelen Late Model
1. Peyton Sellers
2. Philip Morris
3. Tyler Hughes
4. Brandon Pierce
5. Bobby McCarty
6. C.E. Falk
7. Woody Howard
8. Justin Carroll
9. Mike Looney
10. Tim Phipps
11. Nathan Crews
12. Terry Carroll
13. Eric Winslow
14. Grayson Cullather
15. Charles Barnes
16. Matt Bowling
17. Thomas Scott
18. Austin Thaxton
19. Dusty Ellington
20. Mason Diaz
21. Jason Barnes
22. Josh Oakley
23. Quincy Adkins
24. Thomas Beane
25. Timothy Peters
26. Bruce Anderson
27. Justin Carroll
28. Mark Wertz
29. Mark Keessee, Jr.
30. Colin Garrett
31. Brenden Queen
32. Stacy Puryear
33. Trevor Noles
34. Ty Gibbs
35. Stuart Crews
Limited Sportsman
1. Jessica Dana
2. Trey Crews
3. Karl Budzevski
4. Jacob Borst
5. Daniel Moss
6. Jason Myers
7. Barry Beggarly, Jr.
8. Ross Dalton
9. Bob Davis
10. Kirstin Simmons
11. Brandon Jones
12. Drew Dawson
Pure Stock
1. Greg Autry
2. Jared Milam
3. Jordan Pickrel
4. Kenny Mills
5. Daniel Shelton
6. Bruce Mayo
7. Randy Hupp
8. Jimmy Wade
9. Scott Phillips
10. Harrison Walker
11. Justin Dawson
12. Johnny Layne
13. Matt Epps
14. Tyler Conner
Hornets
1. Cameron Jarrell
2. Tyler Crute
3. Kevin Currin
4. Kenny Daniel
5. Joey Clay
6. Aaron Cash
7. Jared Dawson
8. Cliff Mullins
9. Tim Smith
10. Ty Stanley
11. Josh Dawson
