Blake Stallings has not won a race at South Boston Speedway, but he is hoping to change that this season.
Stallings is looking to push for the South Boston Speedway Sentara Health Late Model Stock Car Division championship this season, and he feels he is going to be in the best position to do that and produce a winning effort when the track opens its 2024 season with the March 23 URW Community Federal Credit Union Race Day event.
That event will include a 100-lap race for the Sentara Health Late Model Stock Car Division which will serve as a co-feature race alongside the Pace-O-Matic King of the Modifieds event, a 125-lap race for the SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic that will pay a minimum of $20,000 to win.
“I’m super excited and glad to be back at South Boston Speedway this year,” Stallings remarked. “We’ve got some pretty big plans and would like to run for the track championship.”
“We’re striving to be more competitive this year,” Stallings continued. “The car will be fielded by R&S Racecars. I’ve been in the gym and have been working on my diet and we’ve been working on our racing program. I’m in better shape both physically and mentally. Hopefully it will all translate into good things, and we can get out here and have a good start to our year. We have some high ambitions. Hopefully we can reach our goal.”
While Stallings would love to win the track championship this season, the primary objective is to capture a win.
“The goal is to compete for the track championship, but ultimately, we would like to win some races here this year,” Stallings pointed out while taking a break during a recent testing session at South Boston Speedway.
“I’ve never won a race at South Boston Speedway, and I would love to win a race here. That’s been a goal of mine, and a goal my dad has wanted for me for a long time. I’ve had some great success at Ace Speedway and some other tracks in Late Model Stock. We won the Rodney Cook Classic at Ace Speedway. We won the track championship at Ace Speedway. We won the Dual Track Showdown in 2021, and I have finished fourth at Martinsville Speedway.
“South Boston Speedway has always been one of my home tracks,” added Stallings. “We’ve just never checked that box. It would mean the world to me to get a win here at South Boston Speedway this year”.
Stallings finished sixth in the Sentara Health Late Model Stock Car Division point standings at South Boston Speedway last season. In his 14 starts he posted a pair of Top-5 finishes and logged nine Top-10 finishes.
The Danville, Virginia resident started out competing for the track championship last season, but unforeseen circumstances deterred that effort.
“We did a lot of learning and a lot of research last year,” explained Stallings. “We had a lot of help from some really great people. Trevor Ward and his crew did a fantastic job coming to the track with us and helping us set up the car and other things. I learned a whole lot working with him as a driver and being more involved with the car. He taught me a ton as far as different things to feel for and look for behind the wheel.
“Bringing that experience back, being able to get more test time, and then really committing to this year, I really think we will have some good chances of coming out with a better result.”
Stallings feels the new Hoosier ST2 tire that will be used in the division this season will increase the level of what is already strong competition at South Boston Speedway.
“I think it will drive the competition level up as far as being more competitive than it has ever been,” said Stallings. “We definitely look forward to that. I think it may help even the playing field a little bit, kind of re-set everybody and get things back on a more even playing field. I don’t necessarily think you have to throw your notebook out the window, but it is definitely going to make you think about things differently.”
The Saturday, March 23 season-opening URW Community Federal Credit Union Race Day event will be co-headlined by the Pace-O-Matic King of the Modifieds race, a 125-lap race for the SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic that will pay a minimum of $20,000 to win.
Stars of the SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic including former NASCAR Cup Series star Ryan Newman and 2023 SMART Modified Tour champion Burt Myers will be joined by some of the top drivers from the north for the race that will be the premier event of the season in Modified racing.
In addition to the 125-lap King of the Modifieds race and the 100-lap race for the Sentara Health Late Model Stock Car Division, South Boston Speedway’s Virginia State Police HEAT Hornets Division competitors will kick off their season in a 20-lap race.
The March 23 race day event schedule has practice running from 8:30 a.m. until 11 a.m. Qualifying begins at 11:45 a.m., a SMART Modified Tour driver autograph session is set for 1:15 p.m., a last chance qualifying race for the modifieds is set for 2:10 p.m. and the first race of the day is set to get the green flag at 3 p.m.
Advance tickets for the March 23 URW Community Federal Credit Union Race Day event featuring the Pace-O-Matic King of the Modifieds race are priced at $17 each. Tickets may be purchased online on South Boston Speedway’s website, www.southbostonspeedway.com or 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 $17 each at the gate on race day.
The latest news and updates from South Boston Speedway can be found on the speedway’s website and social media channels. Information may also be obtained by phoning the speedway during regular business hours.
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