Shelton And Jarrell Shine In Their Rookie Season As Both Claim South Boston Speedway Championships

For most first-year drivers, winning rookie-of-the-year honors is the ultimate award. Apparently, Daniel Shelton and Cameron Jarrell didn’t get that message.

Shelton and Jarrell, both stock-car rookies, not just rookies in their respective divisions, each claimed championships at South Boston Speedway Saturday night. Shelton captured the Budweiser Pure Stock Division title while Jarrell raced to the Budweiser Hornets Division crown.

Both entered the 2018 season with low expectations.

“I just wanted to go out there and have some fun,” said Shelton. “That’s what I was trying to do.”

“When we went into the season, we were expecting to get some seat time and get used to the car,” said Jarrell. “I didn’t think we would win a championship.”

Jarrell had never even turned a practice lap in his car until the first night of the 2018 season. He was a quick learner. He wound up with seven victories on the season, including five in a row before last Saturday night’s second-place finish.

Shelton didn’t have the eye-popping rookie win totals of Jarrell, but he was tenacious, backing up his two victories with strong finishes, despite a few mechanical woes. Shelton finished sixth in the season-ending race, but that was enough for him to claim the title in the super competitive Pure Stock division, which had five different winners in the last five races.

“It took a little while, but we got a little more comfortable with the car as the season went on,” said Shelton. “That’s the biggest thing … the more comfortable you are, the better you can run.”

Shelton has been around racing most of his life. “I came to my first race at South Boston when I was three,” said Shelton, who is from Hurt. He’s been helping Late Model driver Nathan Crews work on his car the past few years. In the offseason Crews, his dad Bruce Crews and Troy Cook, presented him the chance to drive their Pure Stock car even though he didn’t have any experience.

“They kind of offered it to me. I’ve always wanted to do it. I raced go-carts as a kid. I couldn’t pass it up,” said Shelton, who got sponsorship help from Foster Fuels and Estes Sign Company.
“It was kind of tight. We scrounged up all the money we could. Bruce and Nathan took a lot away from the Late Model side for this little car. I can’t thank them enough. That says a lot about them.”
Jarrell, who had raced go-karts the past few years, took a studious route to his success.
“After the first race we went home and studied on how we could keep our line straight. We kept trying to hit our marks lap after lap,” said Jarrell, who is sponsored by Dominion Service Company of Richmond, 7^th Gear Auto Body of Amelia and Six-Eight Creative of Richmond.

“After we won the first couple of races, we thought maybe we could win the championship,” said Jarrell, who is from Amelia. “We kept trying harder and harder each week and we made it happen somehow.”
Jarrell said the best decision he made in his stock-car debut was picking the entry level Hornets Division.

“These cars (front-wheel drive) are the easiest to drive with to start out with. It was the best thing we did,” said Jarrell. “We got the car and never got to practice. To win the first time out with no experience shows these cars are easiest to catch the groove. And it’s not expensive at all to race these cars.”

There is a break in action at South Boston Speedway until Saturday, November 3 when the CARS Response Energy Tour visits for the AutosbyNelson.com 250. The CARS Tour final race of 2018 will decide championships in both its Late Model Stock Car Division and Super Late Model Division with 125-lap races on tap for each division.

Adult tickets are $10 in advance and $15 the day of the race. Children age 12 and under will be admitted free with a paying adult.

 

SBS PR