Jacob Borst edged defending NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series and defending South Boston Speedway champion Peyton Sellers in one of the closest and most exciting finishes in recent memory, surviving a metal-banging side-by-side battle over the last few feet to the finish line to win the 100-lap NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Late Model Stock Car Division race that headlined Saturday night’s Bojangles Prelude To The 200 event at South Boston Speedway.
Borst got the nose of his car in front of Sellers at the finish line to win by a scant .030-second.
“I’ve had a lot of crazy races, and that was definitely the craziest end-of-race I’ve had,” the Elon, North Carolina resident said after the thrilling last-lap pass on the outside that enabled him to collect his second win of the season at South Boston Speedway.
“That’s racing. You’re racing for the win. You’re racing hard and putting on a show for the fans. It just turned out in our favor.”
While Sellers was denied what would have been his second win of the season at South Boston Speedway, he took it in stride.
“That’s what short track racing is all about,” Sellers remarked of the exciting final-lap battle. “That’s why South Boston Speedway is what it is. It’s not easy to win here.”
Sellers appeared to have the race in hand. He took the lead when Borst had to pit during a mid-race caution period to have his crew fix an exhaust pipe that had become loose. The pit stop forced Borst to restart the race at the rear of the lead-lap cars in the field.
Another top challenger in the field, Layne Riggs of Bahama, North Carolina, who had won seven of the track’s first nine races, also encountered trouble. Riggs started the race at the rear of the field in an attempt to collect bonus points toward the national championship. He got up to third place, but just after the midway point of the race a flat tire sent him into a spin and forced him to have to make a pit stop to get the tire changed.
All was well for Sellers until a caution flag flew with two laps to go, creating a green-white-checker finish with Sellers, and Borst, who had driven back up through the field, starting on the front row.
“We were going to win the race if it had stayed green, but we had a green-white-checker finish and I came out on the short end of it,” Seller explained. “I cleared Borst one time, and I started to move up the track. But, I said ‘no, I’m not going to open the door on the bottom of the track for him to come back across me to the inside, so I left the door open on the top side. He got up there, stood in the gas, and it worked out for him.
“Long story short, we came up a little bit short,” added Sellers. “We came up a little bit short, and he (Borst) did what he had to.”
Borst said having to go to the rear of the field and come back to win the race “is pretty amazing. It’s one of the best wins I’ve ever had. Racing against Peyton, the national champion, at the end, a guy I grew up watching and wanting to be like, is pretty cool. I’m very thankful for that dream to come true for me.”
Chris Denny of Timberlake, North Carolina finished third, right behind Borst and Sellers. Riggs rallied to finish fourth and Landon Pembelton of Amelia, Virginia rounded out the top five finishers.
There were two lead changes between Borst and Sellers, with Borst leading twice for a total of 51 laps and Sellers leading once for 49 laps.
The race was slowed by four caution periods.
KYLE BARNES, JASON MYERS SPLIT WINSIN BUDWEISER LIMITED SPORTSMAN DIVISION TWINBILL
Kyle Barnes of Draper, Virginia and Jason Myers of Hurt, Virginia split wins in Saturday night’s pair of 30-lap Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division races.
Barnes took the lead from Myers with nine laps to go and went on to edge Daniel Crews by .418-second to earn his fourth win of the season at South Boston Speedway. Chris Donnelly of Montross, Virginia finished third, Carter Russo of Rougemont, North Carolina finished fourth and Zach Peregoy of Clarksville, Virginia rounded out the top five finishers.
Myers, the pole winner, was involved in a late-race mishap and finished eighth.
With the top eight finishers of the opening-race being inverted for the start of the second 30-lap race Justin Dawson of Nathalie, Virginia started on the front row alongside Myers.
Dawson led the first 17 laps of the race before Myers squeezed past him to take the lead. Myers went on to win the race and claim his second victory of the season at South Boston Speedway. Dawson finished second, 1.012-seconds behind Myers with Donnelly scoring a third-place finish. Crews and Barnes completed the top five finishers.
The first race was slowed by two caution periods. There was only one caution period in the second race.
JOHNNY LAYNE TOPS THE FIELD IN THE 25-LAP SOUTHSIDE DISPOSAL PURE STOCK DIVISION RACE
Johnny Layne of Halifax, Virginia won Saturday night’s 25-lap Southside Disposal Pure Stock Division race to earn his third win of the season at South Boston Speedway, breaking a four-race winless streak in the process.
Layne won his fourth pole of the season in qualifying and scored a flag-to-flag victory, edging fellow Halifax, Virginia resident Scott Phillips by .649-second. Jarrett Milam of Keeling, Virginia finished third with Jeb Redman of LaCrosse, Virginia and Jimmy Wade of Halifax, Virginia rounding out the top five finishers.
DILLON DAVIS CAPTURES FIRST CAREER HORNETS DIVISION VICTORY
Dillon Davis calls it “a dream come true.”
The Nathalie, Virginia resident won Saturday night’s 20-lap Hornets Division race and captured his first career win.
Davis sped past pole winner Jared Dawson of Nathalie, Virginia with six laps to go and crossed the finish line 1.388 seconds ahead of Dawson to take the win and become the fifth different winner in the division this season.
Kendall Milam of Keeling, Virginia finished third with two-time former division champion Kevin Currin of Chase City, Virginia taking the fourth spot and Steven Layne of Nathalie, Virginia finishing fifth.
SCOTT HEATH WINS MILLS FAMILY PRACTICE CHAMP KARTS RACE
Scott Heath edged Tommy Elliott of Virgilina, Virginia and Lee Ottaway in an exciting three-wide finish to win the 20-lap race for the Mills Family Practice Champ Karts.
Heath’s margin of victory over Elliott was only .042-second.
Corey Lucas finished fourth and Hunter Murray finished fifth.
A total of 21 karts were in the starting field.
NEXT EVENT AT SOUTH BOSTON SPEEDWAY – SRX (SUPERSTAR RACING EXPERIENCE) EVENT ON JUNE 25
The next event at South Boston Speedway is one that racing fans will not want to miss – the SRX (Superstar Racing Experience) event on Saturday, June 25.
SRX brings together some of the country’s top drivers to go head-to-head in a classic short-track battle on the .4-mile South Boston Speedway oval.
The field for the event includes NASCAR stars Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, Michael Waltrip, Bobby Labonte and Greg Biffle. Stars from the open-wheel IndyCar racing realm include Helio Castroneves, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti, Paul Tracy, Tony Kaanan and Ernie Francis Jr. Two-time NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series National Champion and six-time South Boston Speedway NASCAR Track Champion Peyton Sellers of Danville, VA will also compete in the event.
A 50-lap race for South Boston Speedway’s Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division will kick off the night’s action at 6 p.m. The SRX event will start at 8 p.m.
All grandstand seating for the June 25 SRX event is reserved seating. Advance reserved seat and general admission tickets may be ordered online by going to the South Boston Speedway website www.southbostonspeedway.com or by calling the speedway office during normal business hours at 1-434-572-4947 or toll free 1-877-440-1540. Trackside tailgating and general admission lawn chair area tickets are also available online.
Fans are encouraged to purchase their tickets as soon as possible to ensure they get tickets and to ensure they get the best available seats for this spectacular special event.
Advance trackside tailgating and general admission lawn chair area tickets are also available for purchase on the speedway website.
There is no child ticket pricing for this special event. Everyone attending the event must purchase a ticket, with the exception of an infant-in-arms that will sit on an individual’s lap.
Persons with ADA needs should purchase a General Admission Lawn Chair ticket. ADA areas are accessible in Turns 3 and 4 or Turns 1 and 2.
SBS PR
