It came down to the final points night and the last two races of the season on Saturday night at Virginia’s South Boston Speedway.
When all was done, Layne Riggs emerged with his first career South Boston NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Late Model Stock Car Division championship.
Meanwhile, Peyton Sellers gained ground on Riggs in the quest for the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national championship.
Riggs finished second to Sellers, the defending South Boston and NASCAR national champion, twice as Sellers swept the twin 65-lap NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Late Model Stock Car Division races that headlined Saturday night’s action.
Riggs entered Saturday night’s twinbill with a 20-point lead over Sellers and a 22-point edge over Jacob Borst. The pair of runner-up finishes was more enough to give Riggs, a 10-time winner at the speedway this season, the track championship.
“It feels great to win this championship,” Riggs said. “At the beginning of the year I didn’t expect it would happen. But wins started coming, and I felt we were a dominant enough car to win every weekend. We deserved to win this championship. I really hate that we couldn’t seal it with a win.”
The magic Sellers has known at South Boston Speedway in recent seasons returned over the final two nights of the season. He won three of the season’s final four races to cap his season at the .4-mile oval with four victories.
It wasn’t enough for Sellers to claim a record-tying seventh career NASCAR track championship and a fifth consecutive South Boston Speedway title.
“Man, this was an amazing night,” Sellers said of the sweep. “We executed perfectly. Everybody said you’re worried about points, and I said all we can do is go win the race. Everything else would have to fall into place. We came up a little short.”
While Sellers lost the battle for the South Boston Speedway championship, he was able to further close the gap on Riggs in the chase for the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national championship.
Riggs, entered Saturday night’s event leading Sellers by just eight points in the NASCAR national standings and leading Sellers by just two points in the Virginia NASCAR state standings.
“We gained some good points tonight,” Sellers pointed out. “We’ve just got to go out and do what we know to do and that’s just stay focused and try to win races.”
Sellers dominated Saturday night’s pair of 65-lap NASCAR Late Model races. He led flag-to-flag in winning the opening race as he sped across the finish line six seconds ahead Riggs. Landon Pembelton finished third with Borst fourth and Parker Eatmon fifth.
With an inverted start among the top 10 finishers of the first race, Sellers started 10th in the nightcap but needed only nine laps to get to the front of the field, Once Sellers passed Borst for the lead on the ninth circuit he never relinquished the lead, finishing 1.6 seconds ahead of Riggs in taking the win and the sweep.
Borst finished third with Thomas Scott of Efland, North Carolina and Chris Denny of Timberlake, North Carolina completing the top five finishers.
For the night, Sellers led 122 of the total 130 laps.
Kyle Barnes Takes Home Limited Sportsman Title With Pair Of Third-Place Finishes
Kyle Barnes would have liked a better result in Saturday night’s twin 30-lap Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division races, but a pair of third-place efforts allowed him to win his first career division championship.
Barnes entered Saturday night’s twin 30-lap races having won eight of his 11 starts at South Boston and holding a 30-point lead over Jason Myers.
Myers finished second in both races, cutting into Barnes’ final margin, but it was not enough to prevent Barnes from winning the championship.
The night belonged to Eric Winslow. Competing in the division for the first time this season, Winslow swept the twinbill, with Myers taking second place in both races and Barnes finishing third in both races.
Zach Peregoy finished fourth in both races. Tristen Barnes came home in fifth in the first race and Andrew Amos finished fifth in the second race.
Winslow started on the pole and led the entire distance in the first race and led all but one lap in the second race.
Scott Phillips Lands First Career Pure Stock Division Championship
Scott Phillips has been trying for several years to win the South Boston Speedway Southside Disposal Pure Stock Division championship. Saturday night Phillips landed the big prize.
Entering Saturday night’s 25-lap race, Phillips had finished second six times and was still looking for his first win of the season. He started the night with 10 top-five finishes and held an eight-point edge over Johnny Layne, who entered the event with four wins this season.
Layne finished second to winner Nathan Crews and Phillips finished fourth. Despite Layne finishing two positions in front of him, Phillips did enough to win his first South Boston title.
Crews, running a partial schedule of races this season, earned his seventh victory in eight starts. He passed Layne, the pole winner, on the opening lap and never lost the lead. He sped across the finish line 1.822 seconds ahead of Layne in taking the win.
Layne claimed the runner-up spot, with Bruce Mayo third, Phillips fourth, and B.J. Reaves fifth.
Jason DeCarlo Hangs On To Capture Hornets Title
Jason DeCarlo knew he needed to either finish in front of two-time former division champion Kevin Currin or right behind Currin in Saturday night’s 20-lap Virginia State Police HEAT Hornets race if he was to lock up his first career divison championship.
DeCarlo did not have the best performance Saturday night, but it was good enough as he finished fourth while Currin finished fifth, a result that earned him the title.
Steven Layne took the checkered flag first in the 20-lap race, but his car failed a post-race inspection by track NASCAR officials, resulting in disqualification.
That turn of events gave apparent runner-up Kendall Milam his second win of the season
Dillon Davis was listed as the runner-up in the final results, with Landon Milam, DeCarlo, and Currin rounding out the top five.
Tyler Wray Speeds To Victory In Mills Family Practice Champ Karts Race
Tyler Wray edged runner-up Dustin Phillips at the finish line to win the 20-lap race for the Mills Family Practice Champ Karts.
Wray, the pole winner, wrestled the lead away from Trey Masengill on the second lap and held on to edge Phillips for the win.
Tony Arnold finished in third, with Danny Willis, Jr. in fourth, and Tommy Elliott in fifth.
Coming Up At South Boston Speedway
The Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour will make its annual stop at South Boston Speedway on Saturday, October 22 for what will be the speedway’s final racing event of the 2022 season. For more information, visit SouthBostonSpeedway.com.
South Boston Speedway – South Boston, VA
Race Results – September 3, 2022
Late Model Stock Car Race 1
1. 26 Peyton Sellers
2. 99 Layne Riggs
3. 0 Landon Pembleton
4. 25 Jacob Borst
5. 4 Parker Eatmon
6. 01 Camden Gullie
7. 8 Thomas Scott
8. 2 Chris Denny
9. 15 Logan Clark
10. 58 John Aramemba
11. 57 Eddie Johnson
12. 50 Raymond Pittman III
13. 38 Mark Keessee
14. 14 Dusty Ellington
15. 59 Blake Lothian
16. 04 Larry Barrett
17. 91 Chris Elliott
18. 31 Aaron Donnelly
19. 06 Terry Dease
20. 8 Josh Oakley
Late Model Stock Car Race 2
1. 26 Peyton Sellers
2. 99 Layne Riggs
3. 25 Jacob Borst
4. 8 Thomas Scott
5. 2 Chris Denny
6. 4 Parker Eatmon
7. 01 Camden Gullie
8. 91 Chris Elliott
9. 57 Eddie Johnson
10. 50 Raymond Pittman III
11. 58 John Aramemba
12. 14 Dusty Ellington
13. 04 Larry Barrett
14. 06 Terry Dease
15. 15 Logan Clark
16. 38 Mark Keessee
17. 0 Landon Pembleton
18. 59 Blake Lothian
Limited Sportsman Race 1
1. 22 Eric Winslow
2. 17 Jason Myers
3. 00 Kyle Barnes
4. 05 Billy Myers
5. 12 Zach Peregoy
6. 51 Tristen Barnes
7. 62 Ross Mountcasel
8. 4 Ronnie Ray Jones
9. 21 Carter Russo
10. 07 Ronald Renfrow
11. 36 Andrew Amos
12. 47 Chris Donnelly
13. 88 Justin Dawson
14. 01 Jared Dawson
Limited Sportsman Race 2
1. 22 Eric Winslow
2. 17 Jason Myers
3. 00 Kyle Barnes
4. 12 Zach Peregoy
5. 36 Andrew Amos
6. 07 Ronald Renfrow
7. 21 Carter Russo
8. 4 Ronnie Ray Jones
9. 62 Ross Mountcasel
10. 51 Tristen Barnes
11. 05 Billy Myers
Pure Stock
1. 3 Nathan Crews
2. 9 Johnny Layne
3. 00 Bruce Mayo
4. 66 Scott Phillips
5. 11 B.J. Reaves
6. 6 Jarrett Milam
7. 77 Zach Reaves
8. 61 Jimmy Wade
9. 3 Tyler Lambert
10. 16R Chris Redman
11. 17 Joe Allred III
12. 76 Drew Turner
13. 16 Jeb Redman
Hornets
1. 28 Kendall Milam
2. 63 Dillon Davis
3. 50 Landon Milam
4. 54 Jason DeCarlo
5. 49 Kevin Currin
6. 14 Mark McCauley
7. 07 Jordaine Penick
8. 29 Cameron Moss
9. 18 Cameron Goble
10. 01 Jared Dawson
11. 12 Andrea Routolo
12. 02 Colton Moore
DQ: 3 Steven Layne
Champ Karts
1. 4 Tyler Wray
2. 75 Dustin Phillips
3. 18 Tony Arnold
4. 100 Danny Willis, Jr.
5. 14 Tommy Elliott
6. 55 Corey Lucas
7. 24 Kenny Daniels
8. 21 Kenny Mills
9. 11 Josh Eubanks
10. 1 Daniel Baker
11. 54 Cameron Ham
12. 282 Jeremy Ottaway
13. 10 Trey Massengill
14. 7 Trip Dail
15. 49 Keith Webb
16. 2 Lee Ottaway
