It came down to the final points night and the last two races of the season. When all was done, Layne Riggs emerged with his first career South Boston Speedway 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 Speedway 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 Halifax County Farm Bureau Championship Night event at South Boston Speedway.
The Bahama, North Carolina resident entered Saturday night’s twinbill with a 20-point lead over Sellers and a 22-point edge over Jacob Borst of Elon, North Carolina. 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 the Danville, Virginia resident to claim a record-tying seventh career South Boston Speedway 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 of Amelia, Virginia finished third with Borst and Parker Eatmon of Sims, North Carolina rounding out the top five finishers.
With an inverted start among the top 10 finishers of the first race, Sellers started tenth 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 THE BUDWEISER 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 South Boston Speedway Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division championship.
Barnes of Draper, Virginia entered Saturday night’s twin 30-lap races having won eight of his 11 starts at South Boston Speedway and holding a 30-point lead over Jason Myers of Hurt, Virginia.
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 of Pelham, North Carolina. Competing in the division at South Boston Speedway 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 of Clarksville, Virginia finished fourth in both races. Tristen Barnes of Draper, Virginia rounded out the top five finishers in the first race and Andrew Amos of Callands, Virginia 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 SBS SOUTHSIDE DISPOSAL PURE STOCK DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP
Scott Phillips of Halifax, Virginia 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 Southside Disposal Pure Stock Division 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 of Halifax, Virginia, who entered the event with four wins this season.
Layne finished second to winner Nathan Crews of Long Island, Virginia and Phillips finished fourth. Despite Layne finishing two positions in front of him, Phillips did enough to win his first South Boston Speedway title.
Crews, running a partial schedule of races this season, earned his seventh victory in eight starts at South Boston Speedway in the 25-lap race. 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 of Halifax, Virginia, Phillips, and B.J. Reaves of South Boston, Virginia rounding out the top five finishers.
JASON DeCARLO HANGS ON TO CAPTURE THE SBS VIRGINIA STATE POLICE HEAT HORNETS DIVISION TITLE
Jason DeCarlo of Chase City, Virginia knew he needed to either finish in front of two-time former division champion Kevin Currin of Chase City, Virginia or right behind Currin in Saturday night’s 20-lap Virginia State Police HEAT Hornets Division race if he was to lock up his first career South Boston Speedway Virginia State Police HEAT Hornets Division 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 South Boston Speedway Virginia State Police HEAT Hornets Division championship.
Steven Layne of Nathalie, Virginia 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 of Keeling, Virginia the win. The victory was his second of the season.
Dillon Davis of Nathalie, Virginia was listed as the runner-up in the final results, with Landon Milam of Keeling, Virginia, DeCarlo and Currin rounding out the top five finishers.
Cameron Goble of Ringgold, Virginia won the pole for the race and led the first 16 laps before being sidelined in a mishap.
TYLER WRAY SPEEDS TO VICTORY IN THE 20-LAP MILLS FAMILY PRACTICE CHAMP KARTS RACE
Tyler Wray of Eden, North Carolina edged runner-up Dustin Phillips of Dunn, North Carolina 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 of Dudley, North Carolina on the second lap and held on to edge Phillips for the win.
Tony Arnold of Creedmoor, North Carolina, Danny Willis Jr. of South Boston, Virginia and Tommy Elliott of Virgilina, Virginia completed the top five finishers.
COMING UP AT SOUTH BOSTON SPEEDWAY
The Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour will make its annual stop at South Boston Speedway on Saturday afternoon, October 22 for what will be the final racing event of the 2022 season at South Boston Speedway.
The competitors of the CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car Division will battle it out in a 125-lap race. In addition, the CARS Tour Pro Late Model drivers will compete in a 100-lap race.
The first race of the day will get the green flag at 2 p.m.
Advance adult general admission tickets are priced at $15 each and may be purchased online on South Boston Speedway’s website, www.southbostonspeedway.com, through Friday night, October 21. Advance tickets may also be purchased by calling the speedway office at 434-572-4947 or toll free at 1-877-440-1540 during regular business hours.
Tickets at the gate on race day will be $20 each. Seniors ages 65 and older, military, healthcare workers, and students (with ID) can purchase tickets for $15 each at the gate on race day.
Other events at South Boston Speedway this fall include the Country Roads Truck Show on Saturday afternoon, September 17. Classic cars and trucks, low-riders, big rigs, ATVs and more will be on display. That event is managed and promoted by Thorpe Money Enterprises and not South Boston Speedway.
In addition, South Boston Speedway will host the SoBo Drifts Powered By Barlow’s Tire on Saturday, October 29 from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. More details regarding that event will be announced in the near future.
SBS PR
