There was a time during the July 13 Boone Tractor Race Night presented by Billy’s A/C Service event at South Boston Speedway that Blake Stallings’ chances of winning the track’s Sentara Health Late Model Stock Car Division champion appeared to be over.
A crash during the early stages of the first race of the night’s pair of 65-lap Sentara Health Late Model Stock Car Division races heavily damaged Stallings’ car, leaving him with a ninth-place finish in the race and without a car to drive in the second race.
The Danville, Virginia resident started the night trailing two-time NASCAR national champion Peyton Sellers of Danville, Virginia by 16 points in the division title chase. Stallings’ ninth-place finish in the opening race coupled with the win by Sellers added another nine points to the deficit. The deficit was going to grow by that much or more as Stallings did not have a car to drive in the second race – virtually eliminating any reasonable chance of Stallings being able to win the division championship.
Thanks to a generous gesture, a class act of sportsmanship on the part of Sellers, his brother and crew chief H.C. Sellers, and their father, Bert Sellers, Stallings is still in second place in the division point standings and still in the championship chase.
The Sellers offered Stallings an opportunity to drive their back-up car in the second race. Stallings drove the car to a third-place finish in the race that was won by Sellers and lost only three points in the process – a far better scenario than he was initially facing.
Stallings emerged from the event 28 points behind Sellers with a total of five races and three nights of racing remaining in South Boston Speedway’s points season.
“I’m extremely humbled by the opportunity H.C., Bert and Peyton gave me to allow me to get behind the wheel of their back-up car,” Stallings said after the event.
“When they saw we were out, they came up to us immediately after the race and said, ‘please run our back-up car just so you can get some points and you can stay in the hunt with us and finish out the year strong.’ I don’t know how to put into words how amazing that is in this competitive sport that people view it that way and want us to be able to come out and compete with them every week.
“Everybody is so competitive at the racetracks, especially here at South Boston Speedway,” Stallings continued, “but, at the end of the day, anybody will do anything for you to get you back out on the track. The Sellers group has always been that way towards me. My dad (Steve Stallings) has known them for a long time. They have always been very great to me, and I’m extremely thankful for the opportunity. It was definitely a race-winning capable car.”
Sellers explained that if he is to win the division championship, he wants to win it on the racetrack.
“I hated Blake had bad luck,” Sellers remarked. “We want to beat him on the track. We don’t want to beat him off the track. That’s why it was only natural that we offered him the car. We didn’t do it for any (media) coverage. We didn’t do it for anything other than trying to help Blake and Steve out. They had bad luck in the first race, and we had a car that could help them. I think they would have done the same thing for us.
“Blake had a good night,” Sellers added. “I’m glad he was able to drive up through the field and get a good finish.”
For Stallings, the kind act of sportsmanship on the part of Sellers Racing means his title hopes are still alive.
“We’re still in the hunt,” Stallings said with a smile. “Sixteen points was already going to be hard to overcome. Something was going to have to happen where we were going to have to go on a string of really hot runs. Hopefully we can build back a little better and we can make a good run at the championship in these last few races.”
Six races will be on the card when NASCAR racing returns to South Boston Speedway with the Davenport Energy Race Night event on Saturday night, August 3. Twin 75-lap races for the Sentara Health Late Model Stock Car Division will headline the night’s racing action. Also included are a 50-lap race for the Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division, twin 15-lap races for the Southside Disposal Pure Stock Division, and a 20-lap race for the Virginia State Police HEAT Hornets Division.
The event schedule for the Saturday, August 3 Davenport Energy Race Night event has registration and pit gates opening at 2 p.m. Practice will begin at 3:25 p.m. and run until 5:05 p.m. Frontstretch spectator gates will open at 3:30 p.m. and backstretch and trackside parking gates will open at 5:30 p.m. Qualifying is set for 6 p.m., pre-race ceremonies are slated for 6:45 p.m. and the first race of the night will get the green flag at 7 p.m.
Advance tickets for the Saturday, August 3 Davenport Energy Race Night event are priced at $12 each. Advance 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 $15 each. Seniors ages 65 and older, military, healthcare workers, and students (with ID) can purchase tickets for $12 each at the gate on race day.
The latest news and updates about the Davenport Energy Race Night event and all other events at South Boston Speedway can be found on the speedway’s website, www.southbostonspeedway.com, by calling the speedway office at 434-572-4947 or toll free at 1-877-440-1540 during regular business hours, and through the track’s social media channels.
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