Layne’s Transition Complete With South Boston Speedway Pure Stock Title

It took Johnny Layne a couple of years to make a full transition from go-karts to stock cars, but once he did he couldn’t be slowed.

 

Layne won seven races at South Boston Speedway this year to capture the track’s Budweiser Pure Stock championship.

 

“I’ve won a whole lot of championships in karts, but this one, being close to home, with family and friends watching, that’s something special,” said Layne. “If I had still been running karts they wouldn’t have been able to do that.”

 

Layne made the move to South Boston three seasons ago for that very reason.

 

“I switched so I could be close to home,” said Layne, who spent about 15 years competing in go-karts. “I still get to do what I love to do, I get to do it in front of family and friends and I don’t have to travel four or five hours.”

 

Layne wasn’t an instant success in stock cars. Even though he finished in the top three in points his first two years, it was a constant work in progress.

 

“It took us a bit to make the transition from karts to cars, and it was big going from dirt to asphalt,” said Layne. “Probably the biggest difference is how the car reacts. One little false entry or something and the car reacts so much different, so much quicker than a cart. I had some bad wrecks. We’re still running the same car we started with, but we’ve had some bad ones (wrecks).”

 

Layne opened the 2016 season on a high note, winning the first race of the year. His first career win was followed by two DNFs and at that point any thoughts of a championship season disappeared.

 

But then he started winning regularly, and that, combined with the track’s new passing point system, vaulted him back to the top of the standings. He began dropping back in the field at the start of races and raced his way back to the front, picking up bonus “passing points” along the way.

 

“We took advantage of the passing points. That really helped me,” said Layne, who gets sponsorship help from Mills Tree Service, Southern Virginia Higher Education Center, McBride’s Designs, Liberty Mini-Market, Three Forks Grocery and Hershberger Home Improvement. “We went from first to fourth or fifth in the points after the DNFs and then was able to come back and take the lead after a few races.”

 

Layne said help from former competitors, along with hands on help from his father Johnny Layne Sr. and his brother Steven Layne, were the key to the turnaround this season.

 

“We had a couple of guys that moved up to a different class that had been our competition. Some of them helped us out. Their help and input really helped us pick it up this year,” said Layne.

 

South Boston Speedway will kick off its 60^th season on March 25 with the Danville Toyota NASCAR Whelen Late Model Twin 100s, featuring two 100-lap races for the Late Model Stock Division, a 50-lap Limited Sportsman Division race, a 30-lap Budweiser Pure Stock race and a 15-lap Budweiser Hornets race.

 

The full 2017 schedule can be found at southbostonspeedway.com.

 

South Boston Speedway is a great source of Christmas gifts. Gift certificates for tickets are available daily in the track office and the souvenir shop is open Monday through Saturday until Christmas Eve.