SOUTH BOSTON, Va. - Austin Thaxton scored his first win of the season Saturday night, slipping past Mike Jones on lap 46 following a restart and fending off a late bid from Trey Crews to win the Whelen NASCAR Late Model 100 at Virginia’s South Boston Speedway.
The win, Thaxton’s 10th career NASCAR Whelen All American Series Late Model Stock Car Division victory at South Boston, came by a margin of 1.429-second.
With the victory, the South Boston native became the fifth different winner in the division this season.
Crews finished second, with Thomas Scott in third, Chad McCumbee in fourth and Stuart Crews in fifth.
There were five lead changes among four different drivers in the 100-lap race that was punctuated by eight caution periods and some intense there-wide racing among the race leaders twice during the first half of the race.
Thaxton saw a relatively comfortable lead over Crews evaporate with the race’s final caution flag with 12 laps left. Thaxton chose to restart the race on the outside of the front row, got a good start, and quickly pulled away from Crews to seal the win.
Former NASCAR national champions Lee Pulliam and Peyton Sellers were in the hunt early, but incidents in the race took them out of contention for the win. Sellers hung on to finish seventh. Pulliam finished last in the 16-car field.
In other action, Jacob Borst and Daniel Moss split wins in Saturday night’s twin 25-lap Limited Sportsman features.
Borst earned his second victory of the season with a flag-to-flag win in the opening race. Danny Willis, Jr. finished in second, with Moss in third, Eric Winslow in fourth and Drew Dawson in fifth.
Moss picked up his fourth win of the season in the second feature, and like Borst did in the opener, earned the win by going flag-to-flag.
Moss pulled away from Winslow in a 10-lap dash to the finish following the last of the race’s three caution periods, winning by almost a full second. Willis, Dawson, and Landon Pembelton rounded out the top five.
Nathan Crews continued his winning ways in the Budweiser Pure Stock Division by sweeping the night’s pair of 15-lap races.
The two wins by Crews gives him five wins in the eight races that have been run in the division thus far this season.
Crews went flag-to-flag in both races, edging Jordan Pickrel in the opener. Randy Hupp finished third, with Bruce Mayo fourth and Scott Phillips fifth.
In the second feature, Crews drove to a 2.6-second win over Mayo, with Pickrel in third, Hupp in fourth and Phillips in fifth.
Steven Layne grabbed the lead from Donald Clay on the second lap of the Budweiser Hornets feature and drove to his third victory of the season.
Justin Dawson finished second, with Josh Dawson third, Virginia, Kevin Currin fourth and Aaron Cash fifth.
South Boston Speedway will host the annual Pre-Fourth of July extravaganza on Saturday night, June 29. Visit SouthBostonSpeedway.com for more details.
South Boston Speedway – South Boston, VA
Race Results – June 15, 2019
Late Model Stock Car
1. Austin Thaxton
2. Trey Crews
3. Thomas Scott
4. Chad McCumbee
5. Stuart Crews
6. Ryan Millington
7. Peyton Sellers
8. Mike Jones
9. Stacy Puryear
10. Raymond Pittman III
11. Bob Saville
12. Dusty Ellington
13. Craig Moore
14. Daniel Silvestri
15. Jordan Pickrel
16. Lee Pulliam
Limited Sportsman
Race 1
1. Jacob Borst
2. Danny Willis, Jr.
3. Daniel Moss
4. Eric Winslow
5. Drew Dawson
6. Landon Pembelton
7. Jason Myers
8. Brent Younger
9. Kenny Daniel
Race 2
1. Daniel Moss
2. Eric Winslow
3. Danny Willis, Jr.
4. Drew Dawson
5. Landon Pembelton
6. Brent Younger
7. Kenny Daniel
8. Jason Myers
9. Jacob Borst
Pure Stock
Race 1
1. Nathan Crews
2. Jordan Pickrel
3. Randy Hupp
4. Bruce Mayo
5. Scott Phillips
6. Jimmy Wade
7. Jarrett Milam
Race 2
1. Nathan Crews
2. Bruce Mayo
3. Jordan Pickrel
4. Randy Hupp
5. Scott Phillips
6. Jarrett Milam
7. Jimmy Wade
Hornets
1. Steven Layne
2. Justin Dawson
3. Josh Dawson
4. Kevin Currin
5. Aaron Cash
6. Donald Clay
7. Andrea Ruotolo
8. Ty Stanley
9. Micah Pacifico
