Pembelton, Sellers Divide Late Model Wins At SoBo

History repeated itself for Landon Pembelton, while Peyton Sellers snapped a four-race winless streak at his home track as the pair split wins in the twin 75-lap Sentara Health Late Model Stock Car features on Saturday night at Virginia’s South Boston Speedway.

Pembelton won the opening 75-lap race after Sellers spun with three laps to go when a tire suddenly went flat while he was leading the race. The incident resulted in the second and final caution flag of the event. Grabbing the lead on the restart, Pembelton fended off a strong challenge from Jacob Borst, edging Borst by .299-seconds for his second career LMSC win at South Boston.

Trevor Ward finished in third, with William Sawalich in fourth, and Blake Stallings in fifth.

“I won this race two years ago on the same night with the same exact result,” Pembelton said. “We qualified on the pole, won the first race, and finished second in the second race. It was pretty much a replica of what happened then.”

Sellers won the second race, taking the lead when race leader Aaron Donnelly and Borst spun on lap 26 while battling for the lead. Sellers got a good jump on Pembelton on the race’s final restart with 27 laps to go and scored the win by a 1.338-second advantage. It marked Sellers’ sixth win of the season at the .4-mile oval.

Sellers’ win in the second race vaulted him into a tie with Lee Pulliam for second place on the South Boston Speedway NASCAR Late Model Stock Car Division career wins list with 52 career victories.

Ward finished third, with Sawalich fourth, and Stallings fifth.

Sellers called his night bittersweet. He entered Saturday night’s twinbill trailing Carter Langley by 11 points in the chase for the track championship. He finished 11th in the first race and won the nightcap.

Meanwhile, Langley struggled with his car in the first race and finished sixth. He finished 11th in the nightcap after losing a lot of time in the pits as the result of a mechanical failure. At the end of the night Langley’s points lead unofficially had been cut to a five-point advantage.

“It was kind of bittersweet because we were on our way to winning the first race and it just wasn’t meant to be,” Sellers said. “We had a tough first race. That would have been a real big points deal for us if we could have won that race. So, we just had to work a little harder and dig a little deeper to try to win the second race. To be able to rebound like we did and gain a few points has put us in the (championship) hunt.”

Despite his misfortunes during the event Langley said “it was still a fun day at the racetrack. That’s all that matters. Hopefully we can get everything fixed and come back stronger on August 19.”

Only two more events and two more races remain in the 2023 South Boston Speedway points season.

Forbes Wins 50-Lap Sportsman Race

Kenny Forbes, driving the car normally driven by Ronald Renfrow, won the 50-lap Budweiser Limited Sportsman feature Saturday night.

With the win, Forbes became the seventh different winner in the division this season.

Forbes grabbed the lead on the race’s final restart with 33 laps to go and edged division points leader Jason by .702 seconds.

Bob Davis finished third, with Carter Russo in fourth, and Justin Dawson came home in fifth.

Johnny Layne Sweeps Pure Stock Twinbill

Johnny Layne took a big step forward Saturday night in the chase for the division championship by sweeping the twin 15-lap Southside Disposal Pure Stock features.

The pair of victories gives Layne seven wins in 10 starts in the division this season.

In the opening race, Layne sped under the checkered flag .867-seconds ahead of Caleb Sanford. Scott Phillips finished third, with Zach Reaves fourth, and B.J. Reaves fifth.

Layne started fifth in the second race due to an inverted start among the top finishers of the first race. He sped past Phillips on the eighth lap and pulled away to a 1.579-second win over Phillips.

Sanford, B.J. Reaves, and Zach Reaves rounded out the top five.

Jason DeCarlo Earns Hornets Win

Jason DeCarlo inherited the lead on the eighth lap when race leader Cameron Goble spun, and drove to victory in the Virginia State Police HEAT Hornets race.

DeCarlo edged Landon Milam by .431-second in claiming his second win of the season.

Chris Barrett followed in third, with Kendall Milam in fourth, and Dillon Davis in fifth.

Next Race At South Boston Speedway

NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series racing returns to South Boston Speedway on Saturday night, August 19. For more info, check SouthBostonSpeedway.com.

South Boston Speedway – South Boston, VA
Race Results – August 5, 2023

Late Model Stock Car Race 1
1. 0-Landon Pembelton
2. 25-Jacob Borst
3. 77W-Trevor Ward
4. 43-William Sawalich
5. 77S-Blake Stallings
6. 5-Carter Langley
7. 31-Aaron Donnelly
8. 11-Buddy Isles, Jr.
9. 9-Trey Crews III
10. 8S-Thomas Scott
11. 26-Peyton Sellers
12. 91-Chris Elliott
13. 8J-Joshua Oakley
14. 24-Jordan Pickrel
15. 17-Jason Myers

Late Model Stock Car Race 2
1. 26-Peyton Sellers
2. 0-Landon Pembelton
3. 77W-Trevor Ward
4. 43-William Sawalich
5. 77S-Blake Stallings
6. 17-Jason Myers
7. 8S-Thomas Scott
8. 11-Buddy Isles, Jr.
9. 8J-Joshua Oakley
10. 91-Chris Elliott
11. 5-Carter Langley
12. 9-Trey Crews III
13. 31-Aaron Donnelly
14. 25-Jacob Borst

Limited Sportsman
1. 07-Kenny Forbes
2. 17-Jason Myers
3. 19-Bob Davis
4. 21-Carter Russo
5. 88-Justin Dawson
6. 12-Zachary Peregoy
7. 8-Drew Dawson
8. 62-Ross Mountcasel
9. 5-Chris Fender
10. 01-Jared Dawson
11. 75-Nathan Crews
12. 16-Brandon Jones
13. 82-D.J. Moser

Pure Stock Race 1
1. 9-Johnny Layne
2. 31-Caleb Sanford
3. 66-Scott Phillips
4. 77-Zach Reaves
5. 11-Barry Reaves
6. 15-Jeb Redman
7. 76-Andrew Turner
8. 3-Harrison Walker
9. 00-Bruce Mayo
10. 24-Colby Pool

Pure Stock Race 2
1. 9-Johnny Layne
2. 66-Scott Phillips
3. 31-Caleb Sanford
4. 11-Barry Reaves
5. 77-Zach Reaves
6. 15-Jeb Redman
7. 76-Andrew Turner
8. 24-Colby Pool
9. 00-Bruce Mayo

Hornets
1. 54-Jason Decarlo
2. 83-Landon Milam
3. 19-Chris Barrett
4. 28-Kendall Milam
5. 63-Dillon Davis
6. 20-D.J. Moser
7. 12-Andrea Ruotolo
8. 29-Cameron Moss
9. 02-Colton Moore
10. 24-Chris Penick
11. 07-Jordaine Penick
12. 33-Christian Sangillo
13. 18-Cameron Goble