There was no question Corey Heim and Jacob Borst left it all on the track in Saturday night’s Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 presented by Grand Atlantic Ocean Resort at South Boston Speedway.

There is also no question they gave the fans that packed South Boston Speedway for the pre-Fourth of July showcase event one of the most thrilling finishes in the event’s history.

Heim, driving a car out of the Alton, Virginia-based Lee Pulliam Performance stable, and Borst, an Elon, North Carolina resident, battled side-by-side over the final couple of laps. On the last lap, the pair made contact on the front straightaway as they sped toward the checkered flag. Both cars slid sideways as they crossed the finish line under the checkered flag, with Heim edging Borst to take the $10,000 first prize and the first race of the Virginia Late Model Triple Crown series that also includes races at Larry King Law’s Langley Speedway on July 23 and at Martinsville Speedway on September 24.

Heim also pocketed an extra $1,000, sweeping awards for leading at the halfway break at lap 100 and for leading at Stage 1 at lap 50 and Stage Three at lap 150.

“I’ve been in some exciting finishes before, but this might take the tea right there,” Heim said with a huge smile. “This means a lot. I felt like this place owed me one. I came here in 2018 and had issues in the tech shed. We came back with a determination to win this race.”

Borst said he left everything on the track trying to score what would have been the biggest victory of his career.

“I couldn’t do anything differently,” Borst pointed out. “I gave it all I had. That was the only chance I had. He had an excellent car, and we had a good car. I got underneath him, he slipped up. I made a little contact with him on the frontstretch. We both got a little bit of damage, but we were both going for $10,000 and a good trophy.”

The win was a big one for car owner Lee Pulliam of Alton, Virginia, who won the event six years in a row as a driver. Now, Pulliam is a winner as a car owner.

“This is special to me,” Pulliam said. “It’s been two years since we’ve been to Victory Lane. For him to dominate tonight was very special to me. I’m proud. This is my home track. It’s a special place to be in Victory Lane.”

For much of the night, Heim and Borst were in control. Heim, who has two wins in the NASCAR Truck Series this season while driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports, led 191 laps of the 200-lap race. Borst led eight circuits and Carter Langley led one lap.

Defending NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national champion Peyton Sellers of Danville, Virginia rebounded after being involved in an incident to finish third. Mason Diaz of Manassas, Virginia and Langley rounded out the top five finishers. Mark Wertz of Chesapeake, Virginia and Camden Gullie of Durham, North Carolina finished sixth and seventh respectively and were the final drivers to finish on the lead lap.

Kyle Dudley of Roanoke, Virginia, Bobby McCarty of Kernersville, North Carolina, and Jared Fryar of Trinity, North Carolina rounded out the top 10 finishers.

The race was slowed by seven cautions that consumed 32 laps. There was one red flag for a major crash in turn one with 12 laps to go in the race that involved approximately a dozen cars. The race was stopped for about 50 minutes to allow safety teams and track crews to remove the damaged cars and clean up the track.

KYLE BARNES WINS 50-LAP BUDWEISER LIMITED SPORTSMAN DIVISION
RACE
Kyle Barnes earned his sixth win in nine starts this season at South Boston Speedway, driving to victory in Saturday night’s 50-lap Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division race on the .4-mile oval.

Barnes, a Draper, Virginia resident, took the lead from Justin Dawson of Nathalie, Virginia on the ninth lap and drove to a 1.366-second victory over Jason Myers of Hurt, Virginia. Chris Donnelly of Montross, Virginia finished third with Dawson taking fourth place and Brian Obiedzenski of Franklinton, North Carolina rounding out the top five finishers.

NATHAN CREWS REMAINS PERFECT IN THE SOUTHSIDE DISPOSAL PURE STOCK DIVISION
Nathan Crews of Long Island, Virginia is not competing in the full slate of Southside Disposal Pure Stock Division races at South Boston Speedway this season. When he does compete, he makes it count.

Crews kept his perfect record in the division this season alive Saturday night, scoring a flag-to-flag win in the Southside Disposal Pure Stock Division race at South Boston Speedway. The race was set for 20 laps or 15 minutes, whichever came first, with the race ending on the time limit during the race’s fourth caution flag with 12 laps complete.

B.J.Reaves, Zach Reaves and Andrea Ruotolo, all of South Boston, Virginia, finished second, third and fourth respectively. Kendall Milam of Keeling, Virginia completed the top five finishers.

KEVIN CURRIN TOPS THE FIELD IN THE 20-LAP VIRGINIA STATE POLICE HEAT HORNETS DIVISION RACE
Former division champion Kevin Currin of Chase City, Virginia picked up his third win of the season Saturday night with his victory in the 20-lap Virginia State Police HEAT Hornets Division race at South Boston Speedway.

Currin has won two of the last three races in the division and has three wins in his six starts in the division this season.

Kendall Milam and Landon Milam, both of Keeling, Virginia, finished second and third respectively. Dillon Davis of Nathalie, Virginia finished fourth and Andrea Ruotolo of South Boston, Virginia finished fifth.

NEXT EVENT AT SOUTH BOSTON SPEEDWAY
NASCAR racing returns to South Boston Speedway on Saturday night, July 16 with the Billy’s A/C Service Night event.

The six-race event will be headlined by a 100-lap NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Late Model Stock Car Division Race. Twin 30-lap races are set for the Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division and twin 15-lap races are on tap for the Southside Disposal Pure Stock Division. A 20-lap race for the Virginia State Police HEAT Hornets Division will round out the night’s racing action.

Grandstand gates will open at 5:30 p.m., qualifying begins at 6 p.m. and the first race of the night will get the green flag at 7 p.m.

Advance adult general admission tickets for the event are priced at $10 each and may be purchased online on South Boston Speedway’s website, www.southbostonspeedway.com, through Friday night, July 15. 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 night will be $15 each. Seniors ages 65 and older, military, healthcare workers, and students (with ID) can purchase tickets for $10 each at the gate on race night.
The latest updates and news for both fans and competitors can be found on the speedway’s website, southbostonspeedway.com, and the track’s social media channels. Information may also be obtained by phoning the speedway at 434-572-4947 or toll free at 1-877-440-1540 during regular business hours.

SBS PR

Leading since the green dropped with a fast car on the top and a full-second lead. Payton Freeman was seven laps away from his first career DIRTcar Summer Nationals Feature win.

And then, a similar scenario reared its ugly head again.

After losing the lead in traffic after starting on the pole at Sycamore Speedway two weeks ago, Freeman was staring down lapped traffic again with Brian Shirley hot on his tail Saturday night at Clarksville Speedway. Determined to get by and hold onto the lead, Freeman stuck his nose to the inside, but the #38 of Thomas Hunziker did not yield.

The very next corner, Freeman got off the top again and hung it to the inside of Hunziker through Turns 1-2. But again, he could not make the pass. Behind him, Shirley had closed the gap completely and had no plans of waiting.

“I showed [Hunziker] that I was there two or three times,” Freeman said. “I figured he would move out of the way. I guess he didn’t get the point.”

Down the backstretch Shirley poked his nose to Freeman’s inside in a strong bid for the lead and made it stick in Turns 3-4 with a big slide job to get by both Freeman and Hunziker.

“[Freeman] whoa-ed up getting into Turn 1 behind [Hunziker] and didn’t get a good run,” Shirley said. “I went to the bottom and got a really good run.”

As Freeman cleared Hunziker behind him, Shirley took the lead and bolted down the front straightaway, opening up an advantage that Freeman could not overcome by the checkered. Shirley had swiped the lead, the win, and the $10,000 check out of the Hell Tour rookie’s grasp and cruised across the finish line for his third Summer Nationals win of the season.

“I got all the way to [Freeman] to where I knew I was gonna bump him a little bit, but not enough to take him out of the race or anything stupid,” Shirley said of his move for the lead. “Just one of those things where timing worked out for us and we were able to get the job done.”

Back in the pits, Freeman was understandably downcast, still digesting the events that cost him the biggest win of his career.

“I try to race everybody with respect, regardless of if we’re lapping or passing for position,” Freeman said on his approach to getting by slower cars. “But there’s no use going out there and tearing up a bunch of stuff and taking yourself out to win the race.”

Freeman took the green right to Shirley’s inside on Lap 1 and got the jump, which enabled him to lead the first 33 laps around the red clay quarter-mile. Turns out, that may have been part of Shirley’s plan the whole time.

“On the start, I wasn’t super worried even if [Freeman] got me because lapped traffic here is so hectic,” Shirley said. “I knew that, so I was like, ‘Even if he gets you on the start, just get in behind him and try and make sure you can be there to capitalize on something like that.’

“I’ve been to quite a few races here, and I’m sure you can also see that lapped traffic always comes into [play].”

Though it may have been one of the most bitter runner-up finishes of his young career, Freeman did something few other Summer Nationals rookies have in their first attempts at this grueling summer stretch. He knows it, and is going to build on it as the second half of the tour begins next week.

“As frustrating as it is, we’ve got speed,” Freeman said. “We’re getting better and we’re getting closer. We’re gonna keep our heads up and keep going and we’re gonna win one of these races before it’s over with.”

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models are back in action Sunday night, July 3, at Lincoln Speedway in Lincoln, IL, to cap-off Multi-State Week. If you can’t be at the track, watch every lap live on DIRTVision.

ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)

Feature 50 Laps | 00:47:52.244

1. 3S-Brian Shirley[2]; 2. F1-Payton Freeman[1]; 3. 212-Josh Putnam[7]; 4. 32-Bobby Pierce[3]; 5. 15-Christian Hanger[4]; 6. 25-Jason Feger[8]; 7. 14G-Joe Godsey[5]; 8. 81E-Tanner English[9]; 9. 18-David Seibers[11]; 10. 30-Mark Voigt[17]; 11. 14R-Jeff Roth[16]; 12. 31AUS-Paul Stubber[15]; 13. 38-Thomas Hunziker[14]; 14. J8-Jadon Frame[6]; 15. 26M-Brent McKinnon[13]; 16. 27-Joe Denby[12]; 17. 18C-Matt Cooper[18]; 18. 16-Brandon Tibaldi[21]; 19. 15F-Richard Frost[20]; 20. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[10]; 21. 4D-Doug Tye[19]; 22. 23NZ-Mick Quin[22]

TUCKASSEE TUSSLE: Lee Gets Redemption, Outduels Young at Clarksville

Lucas Lee knew he let one get away from him Friday night in Paducah. But Saturday night at Clarksville Speedway, he was not going to let rival Trent Young deny him a trip to DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals Victory Lane again.

In a near mirror image of Friday, Young started on the pole with Lee right behind him. The green dropped and Young took off, but his jumps were dampened by two quick cautions.

On the next restart, Lee chose one lane higher than Young, moving up to his outside in a strong bid for the lead on Lap 3. Lee nearly pulled even with Young as they crossed the stripe the next time by and used the high-side momentum to float around Young’s outside to take the lead as they raced out of Turn 2.

“As soon as I got that outside cleared, I knew I was going to be set sailing,” Lee said. “I knew if I could get a run off of Turn 2, I was gonna be alright.”

Lee poured it on over the next 15 laps, stretching his lead over 1.5 seconds at one point, until Young spotted an opportunity in the closing laps.

As Lee approached traffic with less than five-to-go, Young closed the gap rapidly.

“My sticks were getting smaller, so I knew I had to go,” Lee said. “Trent’s good here. Trent’s hard to beat here. He got me last night.”

Try as he may, however, Young was unable to get close enough to make the move, and Lee crossed the stripe for his second Summit Modified win of the season.

“This is [Young’s] track, he runs here all the time, he’s got tons of laps here and so do I,” Lee said. “I felt like what’s what it was going to come down to anyways – me and him.”

UP NEXT

The DIRTcar Summit Modifieds are back in action Sunday night, July 3, at Lincoln Speedway in Lincoln, IL, to cap-off Multi-State Week. If you can’t be at the track, watch every lap live on DIRTVision.

ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)

Feature 20 Laps | 00:17:18.440

1. 12L-Lucas Lee[3]; 2. 10Y-Trent Young[1]; 3. 188-Jeremy Sneed[5]; 4. 121-Caleb Slaughter[2]; 5. 7D-Pete Sabatino[4]; 6. 96-Curtis Rodenhaber[6]; 7. 8-Jake Scogin[9]; 8. 98-Zac Harris[7]; 9. 91-Carl Thomas[8]; 10. 12W-Hunter Willbanks[11]; 11. 45-Troy Collings[10]; 12. 11-Brian Ashby[12]

DIRTcar Series PR

Race Recap: Ryan Newman landed in victory lane Saturday night at Stafford Motor Speedway to earn his first win of the 2022 SRX season. Newman finished Heat 1 in seventh place followed by a sixth-place finish in Heat 2. For the 75-lap Main event, Newman started the race from the ninth position and made a late-race pass to score the win. Marco Andretti finished second followed by Paul Tracy in third. Ryan Hunter-Reay won Heat 1 and Bobby Labonte won Heat 2. 

CBS Race Recap: A recap of tonight’s race can be found here. 

Post-Race Quotes: 

Ryan Newman (Winner): “A really special night to win here tonight at Stafford. Amazing night for me in the SRX Series. I’ve got to thank Camping World, Sun Outdoors, everybody that makes this whole deal happen. For Bruton Smith and his family, this is special. For Bryan Clauson and his family, we got to park it in victory lane. I’m just really proud of everybody’s efforts collectively. To have my daughters here was so special. To beat the best between Marco (Andretti) and Paul (Tracy), Tony (Stewart) and all the guys that are a part of this deal. It’s so special to be a part of and then to beat them. I’m so honored to be a part of it and look forward to three more.”

Marco Andretti (Finished 2^nd in the Main Event): “Ryan (Newman) did the bump, the same thing that everybody is going to try to do to win the race. He did it with perfect amount of laps left. I was screaming on the radio because I was driving blind, I didn’t know how many laps left to go, so I missed timed that. Overdrove, wheel hoped it at the end, but I’m learning so much from these Cup guys. They are just too good. I’m just trying to learn and trying to put it all together. We just need to keep doing what we are doing, maybe we’ll get a win. If I keep finishing where I’m at in the heat and getting good track position in the races, maybe we can win a championship.”  

Paul Tracy (Finished 3^rd in the Main Event): “A third for me felt like a win. The Oddschecker car was great all night. I’ve got to thank these guys at Camping World, Tony Stewart, everyone here, the Montag family, everything they do to put on this show for the fans. This is all for you guys. It finally felt good to get a good result all night and I’m looking forward to next week in Nashville. I ran good there last year, so I’m excited for next week.”   

Tony Stewart (Finished 4^th in the Main Event): “I needed to get down a little quicker and do a better job on that last restart. I got myself behind. This Good Sam car was fast and Tony Eury was my crew chief today and he made some awesome calls between the Heat races. I didn’t think I was very good in the heat races. I couldn’t get off the corner and I remember Doug Coby talking to me about this place last year and to make it through the center, you need forward drive and Tony gave me that in the main. I got going pretty good there and actually got myself a little tight and got off the bottom a couple of times and kept letting Marco (Andretti) get underneath me. I needed to back my pace down. A good run. This car was fast today.”   

On the loud cheers when taking the lead: 

“I like hearing that too. A, I like getting the lead and I love hearing the crowd cheer like that when we get the lead. That makes my night when I see that. Just appreciate everybody coming out here, everybody at Stafford, all the fans here, you guys make this trip so much fun to come here and race in front of you guys. It’s one of my favorite stops of the year.” 

Bobby Labonte (Finished 5^th on the Main Event): “I started eighth and made a couple of chargers there in the first heat and was trying to pass and got hooked. Went through the grass and came out last. Inverted the second race and won it. Started eighth and I got to fifth, almost fourth. Kind of run right there, but just got to where I couldn’t really get a drive up off to help. I’m kind of disappointed in that, but all in all, I guess it wasn’t too bad.”

Hailie Deegan (Finished 6^th in the Main Event): “I had a great time. A great car and we had some fun with it. Made a few passes and it’s tough to pass here. I think just bringing this car back in one piece is going to help the guys over at the shop going to the next race. I feel like it was super competitive tonight. A lot of great drivers out here. When it comes to making moves or people slipping up, it’s definitely far and few. I had a great time and I’m very glad to be back here racing SRX. I’m pretty excited to go to Pevely after this.”

Ryan Hunter-Reay (Finished 7^th in the Main Event): “This place is a blast. I really enjoyed this racetrack. I had a good first heat. Won that one and in the feature, I got stuck in second gear and couldn’t get up to third gear for the start. I had to do the start in the second gear and sat on the chip. Unfortunately, lost all the spots there. Kind of threw the night away getting stuck in gear. Man, it was a blast. This is definitely my favorite racetrack so far on the schedule.”

Matt Hirschman (Finished 8^th in the Main Event): “It was a great experience. I would have liked to do better for sure. The couple of times I did get to mid pack, something took me back a little bit. On the last restart, Ryan Hunter-Reay didn’t go on the inside and backed up a little bit. I just never could get further than about mid pack, sixth or so. I certainly would have liked to do better, but that doesn’t take away from the experience that it was. It was an honor to be a part of this and I appreciate Camping World, SRX, everybody involved, and my sponsors, Offerpad, Rowdy Energy, High Point on the car. You just never know if you’ll have this opportunity again, so glad to have experienced it and if there is an opportunity agian, I’ll try my best to get back.”

Justin Marks (Finished 9^th in the Main Event): “It was really cool racing SRX. I took me all day to start figuring out where I was going and I really only started figuring it out the last 10-15 laps of the race of how to drive these cars. It was really cool to be side by side with Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman and Greg Biffle, all these guys I grew up watching that honestly, motivated me to pursue a career in racing. That was great. Thanks to Camping World, Marcus Lemonis, everybody at SRX, Don Hawk for calling me this week and asking me to do this. I’m really proud he did. It was a life experience. I know there were only 12 cars in the race, but a top 10 feels good.”

Main Event Results at Stafford Motor Speedway: 

Heat 2 Results at Stafford Motor Speedway:

Heat 1 Results at Stafford Motor Speedway:

Next Race: The Camping World SRX Series now heads to the Nashville Fairgrounds on Saturday, July 9, 2022. Local Ringer Cole Williams will join Tony Stewart, Marco Andretti, Greg Biffle, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Bobby Labonte, Ryan Newman, Paul Tracy, Michael Waltrip, Tony Kanaan, Helio Castroneves, Matt Kenseth and Nashville native Josef Newgarden. The action kicks off at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and will stream live on Paramount+.

SRX PR

Cole Moore picked up his second runner-up finish in ARCA Menards Series West competition at Irwindale Speedway this year, driving the Bill McAnally Racing No. 99 Adaptive One Chevrolet SS to second on Saturday night in the NAPA AUTO PARTS 150 presented by the West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame.

The Granite Bay, California driver matched the career-best series finish he registered at the half-mile Southern California track in March. It was a big night at the speedway, with NAPA representatives, fireworks, and a packed grandstand.

Moore’s rookie teammate – Landen Lewis of Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina – finished fifth in making his first start since being named to drive BMR’s No. 16 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet SS.

Moore qualified third and engaged in a battle for that position throughout the early stages of the race. Lewis rolled off the grid in 13th and advanced toward the top 10. He was running strong, but lost a lap midway through the race when he slowed for an accident.

A lengthy red flag on Lap 122 gave Moore his first of several attempts at the top position late in the race. Lewis, who had battled hard for the free pass, got back on the lead lap. Moore restarted on the inside front row, but was unable to take the lead. Lewis, meanwhile, began picking up spots toward the top five.

One additional caution on Lap 147 set up a green-white-checkered overtime finish and Moore’s third attempt to restart on the inside of the front row. He challenged the leader on both ends of the racetrack, before taking the white flag and coming away with a strong second-place finish. Lewis charged to a fifth-place finish at the checkered flag, to open his campaign in the iconic blue and gold No. 16 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevy.

In addition to serving as the entitlement sponsor of the ARCA West event, NAPA was well represented – with Derek Sasabuchi, District Manager from the NAPA Distribution Center in Los Angeles, bringing a special group of 200 NAPA customers to the event.

Several guests earned the opportunity to be treated to a VIP NAPA Experience, which included dinner at the team transporter and a special pit tour. Guests also enjoyed a meet-and-green with the BMR drivers and former NAPA driver and NASCAR Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday. Special guests also viewed the race from a VIP suite above the state-of-the-art facility.

Cole Moore Quote:

“It was a good race. The car was good. We struggled on the top side but we were making the bottom work. We were just digging out there every lap. It came down to the green-white-checkered at the end. Perfect opportunity and drove (Jake Drew) as hard as I could without wrecking him. Looking forward to try to track him down in the championship.”

BMR PR

The 95Q/Dynagraphics Firecracker 40’s presented by the Decatur Area Convention & Visitors Bureau lived up to expectations when it came to excitement this past Saturday, July 2. Slide job city, plenty of action for the lead, mixed with a little Macon drama made for a great night for the fans. Fireworks on the track led to fireworks in the sky to celebrate the holiday weekend.

The BillingsleyRewards.com Big 10 Modified class came in with a huge field of 27 cars for the 40-lap main event. Tim Luttrell led the early laps but a veteran laden field had Rodney Standerfer hot in his tire tracks. Standerfer led until lap 16 when Jacob Steinkoenig took over to top spot. Steinkoenig was up front until lap 29 when mechanical woes ended hi chances. That gave the lead to Tim Hancock, who has just moments earlier taken second from Standerfer. Hancock, a veteran driver and former Macon champion from Mount Olive, IL, held a pretty wheel to the finish to claim the impressive victory on his first appearance in a good while. Hancock was followed at the finish by Guy Taylor, Standerfer, Alan Crowder, and Luttrell.

Following the Modifieds, the Decatur Building Trades Big 10 Pro Late Models rolled onto the track for a race that saw slidejob after slidejob for the lead. The battle between Braden Johnson and Dakota Ewing was a crazy one. Meanwhile, Jose Parga was lurking right behind them waiting for the right time to pounce. With nine laps in, Parga moved by Johnson for second to set his sights on Ewing. Five laps later, Parga pulled off an aggressive move, traded some paint, and pulled into the top spot, never to look back. At the checkered of the 40-lap affair, Parga was followed by Ewing, Johnson, Blaise Baker, and Rockett Bennett.

Billy Knebel, a former Pro Mod champion at the track, led from green until checkered in the divisions feature event. Fellow veteran, Kevin Crowder, kept him honest throughout the race, riding in the second spot. The two never faltered, taking the top two spots ahead of Zach Taylor, Austin Seets, and Dave Armstrong.

Bobby Beiler and Zane Reitz put on a driving clinic at the front of the 51 Bistro Street Stock division feature. The pair were running side-by-side, trading spots early on in the 15-lap event. Eventually, Beiler settled into the lead with Reitz in his tracks. While it looked like Beiler was on his way to victory, a yellow flag with four to go put another restart on the horizon. When the green dropped, Beiler missed his mark a bit in turn two, jumping the cushion and Reitz shot by to the inside. At the checkered, Reitz was followed by Beiler, Terry Reed, Rudy Zaragoza, and Andy Zahnd. The Street Stocks now prepare for the Bruce Dulgar Classic next Saturday at the track.

Brady Reed took the lead at the green in the 15-lap Hornet feature, built a comfortable lead, and cruised to victory. Jimmy Dutlinger took the second spot, while Billy Mason, Tristin Quinlan, and Taryn Page rounded out the top five.

20 cars took the green in the Micros By Bailey Chassis feature event with John Barnard racing into the lead. The Sherman, IL youngster controlled the pace with a large field of challengers in tow. With two to go, the race’s final caution waved, setting up a final restart. The big challenge didn’t come from second or third, it came from then fourth place competitor, Daryn Stark, who shot to the high lane while everyone else ran the bottom. Stark set up a slider in the final turns, coming to the checkered to take the lead. However, Barnard timed it brilliantly to race back to the inside to beat him back to the line. Following Barnard were Stark, Aarik Andrueskevitch, Hunter Walker, and Ryan Frantz.

Attention now turns to Lincoln Speedway for the Sunday night, July 3 Summer National event, featuring Super Late Models, Modifieds, and 305 Sprint Cars. Then, this coming Thursday night, the Summer National Tour comes to Macon Speedway for the 42^nd annual Herald & Review 100 featuring Super Late Models and Modifieds. Next Saturday’s racing action at Macon Speedway will see free grandstand admission for 1^st responders when they show proper ID at the gate. The night will also have a Bruce Dulgar Classic for the 51 Bistro Street Stocks.

For more information, visit www.maconracing.com. 

Macon Speedway PR

Stafford Speedway played host to the RaceChoice.com SK Modified® Showdown as part of the Superstar Racing Experience event held Saturday night, July 2nd.  Stephen Kopcik took the lead on a late restart and led the field to the checkered flag to pick up his third win of the 2022 season.

The 50-lap TickMike.com SK Modified® All Star Shoot Out took the green flag with Jon Puleo leading the field but he would only lead the first lap as Michael Christopher, Jr. streaked into the lead on lap-2.  Puleo settled into second behind Christopher with Anthony Bello in third.  The caution came out with 5 laps complete for a spin by Nick Halkowicz in turn 4.

Back under green, Christopher held the lead with Puleo in second.  Marcello Rufrano was side by side with Bello for third before he moved by both Bello and Puleo on lap-9 to move into second.  Todd Owen was on the charge as he took third behind Rufrano to drop Puleo back to fourth, just in front of Bello in fifth. 

Ronnie Williams dropped off the pace on lap-11 and brought his car to pit road as Rufrano moved by Christopher on lap-14 to take over the lead.  Owen moved up to second behind Rufrano with Christopher, Puleo, and Bello making up the top-5.  Owen made a move to the inside of Rufrano on lap-20 to take over the race lead.  At the halfway point of the race, Owen was in command followed by Rufrano, Christopher, Bello, Puleo, David Arute, Stephen Kopcik, Dan Wesson, Cory DiMatteo, and Keith Rocco.

Owen was starting to stretch out his lead over Rufrano and the rest of the field as the race hit the lap-35 mark.  The caution came back out with 39 laps complete for spins in turn 4 by Curt Brainard and Wesley Prucker.

Back under green, Owen took the lead with Bello pulling to the inside of Rufrano in a fight for second.  Puleo was fourth with Kopcik in fifth.  The caution came back out with 42 laps complete for a spin in turn 1 by Michael Gervais, Jr.

Owen again took the lead on the restart with Rufrano now on the inside of Bello for second.  The caution came back out after 1 lap for a spin by Mikey Flynn in the middle of turns 1+2.

Owen was again the leader back under green with Rufrano, Kopcik, and Bello all lined up behind Owen.  Owen got out of shape n lap-45 as Rufrano moved ot the lead, Kopcik to second, and Bello to third as Owen fell back to fourth.  The caution came back out with 45 laps complete for a multi-car incident in turn 4 involving the cars of Arute, Puleo, Noah Korner and several others.

Rufrano and Kopcik went wheel to wheel for the lead on the restart with Owen and Bello side by side for third.  Kopcik got clear to the lead on lap-48 with Owen and Rufrano now side by side for second.  Owen took second as the cars hit the white flag with Dana DiMatteo taking fourth from Bello.  Kopcik led Owen to the checkered flag to pick up his third win of the 2022 season.  Rufrano finished third with Dana DiMatteo and Bello rounding out the top-5.

For more information contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at (860) 684-2783, or visit us on the web at www.staffordspeedway.com.

Stafford Speedway PR

Stafford Speedway welcomed the Superstar Racing Experience back for another visit to the Connecticut half-mile facility that was shown live on CBS.  Ryan Newman took the lead from Marco Andretti with 5 laps to go in the 75-lap feature event and went on to take down the checkered flag.

Marco Andretti and Paul Tracy led the field to the green flag with Andretti taking the early lead.  Greg Biffle quickly overtook Tracy for second place with Tony Stewart in fourth and Michael Waltrip in fifth place.  Stewart took over third place from Tracy on lap-9 as Andretti continued to show the way out front but Biffle was closing in on his back bumper after Andretti had stretched out his lead in the early laps.

Andretti, Stewart, and Biffle nearly went 3-wide for the lead on lap-12 with Andretti maintaining the lead.  Stewart made his move to the inside of Andretti to take over the lead o nlap-17 but Andretti came right back to the outside of Stewart and they raced door to door for the lead.  Andretti got clear of Stewart on lap-22 after 4 laps of side by side action with Biffle, Tracy, and Waltrip making up the top-5.  Biffle went back by Stewart on lap-23 to move back into second place while Andretti continued to lead the race.  The caution flew with 33 laps complete with Andretti still leading Stewart, Biffle, Waltrip, and Tracy.

Stewart and Andretti went wheel to wheel for the lead back under green on lap-40 with Biffle third, Tracy fourth, and Hunter-Reay fifth.  Biffle nearly went 3-wide with Andretti and Stewart on lap-43 but backed out of the move as Andretti and Stewart were still door to door for the lead.  The caution came back out on lap-44 for damage to Michael Waltrip’s car.

Stewart took the lead on the lap-51 restart while Biffle took a trip through the backstretch grass but saved the car and the race stayed green with Biffle sliding to the rear of the field.  Andretti was second behind Stewart with Ryan Newman up to third, Tracy fourth, and Bobby Labonte fifth.  Andretti was applying all kinds of pressure to Stewart for the lead but was unable to make a pass.  Andretti was finally abel to take the lead from Stewart by a nose at the line on lap-63.

Andretti took the lead on the lap-66 restart with Newman moving up to second as Stewart slid back to third.  Tracy was fourth and Bobby Labonte was fifth, just in front of Hailie Deegan.  Stewart fell back to fourth on lap-68 as Tracy moved up to third place.  Newman dove to the inside of Andretti on lap-70 to move into the lead with 5 laps to go. Newman led the final 5 laps to take the victory.  Andretti finished second with Tracy, Stewart and Labonte rounding out the top-5.

For more information contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at (860) 684-2783, or visit us on the web at www.staffordspeedway.com.

Stafford Speedway PR

McAnally-Hilgemann Racing today announced Charles Denike as the new chief for Derek Kraus and the No. 19 NAPA AutoCare Chevrolet team in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Denike, who has two series wins on his resume, joins the team after serving for three seasons as a crew chief with GMS Racing, which developed an alliance with MHR at the beginning of this year.

“We’re excited to have Charles join our team,” said MHR co-owner Bill McAnally. “We’re confident that he will strengthen our overall team as we move ahead and help us take full advantage of the opportunities we have available through our alliance with GMS Racing.”

Denike worked with Grant Enfinger this season, Tyler Ankrum in 2021 and multiple drivers in 2020. He went to Victory Lane with Chase Elliott driving for GMS Racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2020 and with Sam Mayer behind the wheel of a GMS Racing Chevrolet at Bristol Motor Speedway that same year.

Denike served as an engineer for nearly 10 years in the U.S. Army, before pursuing his career in racing. Prior to his time with GMS Racing, he served as a crew chief with a variety of drivers in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East between 2012 and 2016. He also was the crew chief for two events on Maury Gallagher’s NASCAR Xfinity Series team in 2017.

“I am excited to join MHR and to work with Derek Kraus on the 19 team,” Denike said. “Derek is highly talented and we are looking forward to our first race together at Mid-Ohio. Over the next two races we will push hard to make the playoffs. MHR has built a great team with a strong foundation and I am thankful for the opportunity to help continue to advance their program.”

Kraus is currently 11th in the championship standings, just 29 points below the cutoff line for the playoffs. He and his MHR team are working hard to close that gap in the final two regular season events – at Mid-Ohio on July 9 and Pocono Raceway on July 23.

Bill McAnally partnered with Bill and Mona Hilgemann in forming McAnally-Hilgemann Racing at the beginning of 2020. The team formed an alliance at the beginning of this season with GMS Racing and operates out of a 57,000-square-foot shop that is part of the GMS Racing operation in Statesville, North Carolina.

MHR PR