Was it the weather? Did 24 hours alter the course of the race at all? The finish was a surprise for fans as much as for the winner in the SMART Modified feature for URW Community Federal Credit Union Race Day at South Boston Speedway.
The day was supposed to be Saturday. A wet forecast several days earlier that gave every impression it would be a soaker into the afternoon forced the hand of the speedway and the series to push it to Sunday.
Of course the rain was over by 11:00AM… But that did not change the decision that was, in all respects, correct for the circumstance. Race day was Sunday with blue skies and slightly chilled temperatures for all but about 38 minutes around 3:51PM or so when the sun pushed the thermometer into almost, but not quite, warmer.
The crowd, however, came in and filled in for a very hot show. Late Models were set as the opener with a season shakedown race of 100 laps. The official track opener comes up April 13 with Danville Toyota Weekly Series Opening Night. The Hornets ran their laps with the sound that gave them the name. Those little engines are running at the limit with no muffler and sound like something small and flying angry. The SMART Modified teams and drivers just sat back and watched the others run their lines while looking for an angle that might work.
The Late Models: Local track champion Peyton Sellers was on tap with other drivers familiar to SoBo and were joined by “visiting” challengers such as Mike Looney and Kyle Dudley. Dudley, Looney and a few others were taking on South Boston as their usual track (Motor Mile / Pulaski County) was shut down for 2024.
The Late Model opener was won by Craig Moore who had taken the lead from Trevor Ward a little over half way into the race. Ward took a spin from the position going into turn 3 and finished ninth. Moore has won at SoBo before in a CARS Tour event and took a borrowed car (from Jay Fogleman) to Victory Lane this time around. Mike Looney came across second, Blake Stallings finished third, veteran racer Stacy Puryear finished fourth, and Kyle Dudley filled the top five finishers.
The winner of 20 lap run of the Virginia State Police HEAT Hornets managed to navigate 5 cautions and keep the lead. Cameron Goble lead the field from the start to the checkered flag with Jason DeCarlo coming across in the second slot. Chris Barrett, Steven Layne and Jordaine Penick completed the top five.
NASCAR veteran Ryan Newman joined SMART and Whelen veterans such as Brandon Ward, Burt Myers, Doug Coby and Matt Hirschman and more to challenge and come away as the “King Of The Modifieds”. The winner of this race, likely to be annual event, came away with $20,000. The runner-up pulled a respectable $10,000 prize.
17 year old Luke Baldwin drove his Sadler-Stanley Racing Pace-O-Matic #7VA into Victory Lane and the “King” spot. He took the re-start lead with 26 to go and held the spot to the end. Matt Hirschman had a front running car but was caught in track incidents that cost him position and speed. The late race caution halted the race as Hirschman misjudged a corner and put several cars in jeopardy. He still managed to hang on for the second spot. Doug finished third, Jonathan Cash ran fourth and Anthony Bello took the fifth position.
Crash incidents took out Ryan Newman, Woody Pitkat and Jake Crum in the race with 6 running cautions and 2 red flag stops.
The SMART Modified race at South Boston is one of two modified events in a week in Virginia. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour comes up the next Friday at Richmond Raceway.
PHOTOS – URW Community Federal Credit Union Race Day at South Boston Speedway
