A Champion’s Return: Jordaine Penick Back in the Driver’s Seat

Driving for a Cause, Former Hornets Division Champion Dives into Limited Sportsman Division

By Joe Chandler

Director, Public Relations

South Boston Speedway

SOUTH BOSTON, VA (August 26, 2026) – Jordaine Penick announced she was retiring from racing after exiting her Hornets Division car following the final race of South Boston Speedway’s 2025 season.

It was understandable. She is a teenager and wanted to enjoy her last year or so of high school without being tied down working on a racecar and preparing for a string of races.

The young Meherrin, Virginia resident had pieced together a solid resume in her four years of racing in South Boston Speedway’s Dollar General Hornets Division. When she won the division title in 2024, she became only the second female driver to win a NASCAR-sanctioned division title at the legendary speedway. She was also the second female driver to win a race in the division. Through her career in the division Penick had a win, a pole, 18 Top-5 finishes and 38 Top-10 finishes in a total of 41 starts.

Jordaine Penick celebrates after winning the Hornets feature at the 2025 Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200. She earned the division title a year earlier.

Things have a way of changing.

When South Boston Speedway’s Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division competitors gathered for the twin-race event on August 1 there was a new car in the pit area – a pink and teal car with the number 22S on the side. The name above the driver’s door – Jordaine Penick.

“I had no intentions of getting back into a racecar,” explained Penick.

However, an invitation from Chris Hornberger, a military veteran who backs a number of racing vehicles under the umbrella of Team Not Forgotten, led her to change course.

See Jordaine Back on Track August 29! Get Your Tickets Now

“With Not Forgotten Racing we have a variety of cars, eight or nine of them, a drag car, six Mega Trucks and Mud Pro Trucks, and the oval track Limited Sportsman car,” Hornberger explained. “I’m the owner of Team Not Forgotten. I race with Jordaine’s brothers, Jessey Boettcher and Joe Boettcher. Her nephew, Brayson Duncan, races a Tough Truck. My son races a Junior Dragster. I race a Mud Truck, and we have Jordaine racing a Limited Sportsman car. We just picked up a racing karting team that we’re sponsoring through Not Forgotten as well.

“We have a shop in Meherrin (Virginia) and work on the trucks and cars together,” Hornberger continued. “We fabricate and build the cars and trucks. We all race them together.”

Hornberger’s racing efforts have a single aim – to raise awareness about preventing suicide among military veterans and first responders.

“I’m an Iraq and Afghan veteran,” he explained. “I did nine years in the Army and did multiple combat tours. We lost a lot of folks to suicide after returning home. We know what the impacts are to our first responders and military personnel seeing day-to-day combat.

“That’s what we’re raising awareness for through Battle-Scarred Outdoors which is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization that puts our military and first responders back into the outdoors on hunting trips, fishing trips, camping trips, and related activities,” he added. “We bring attention to them, raise money for them through sales of our merchandise, and donate the money back to the cause.”

Each one of the team’s cars and trucks carries a bible verse and an impact meaning that is special to each of the drivers. As an example, Penick’s car carries the words “Not Forgotten.” A Pro Mega Truck driven by one of her brothers carries the words “Not Alone.”

It was one of Penick’s brothers that asked if she would be interested in racing again.

“Chris came across a Limited Sportsman car and asked one of my brothers to ask me if I wanted to drive a Limited car,” Penick explained. “When he (Hornberger) reached out and asked me to drive for him I said yes. I’m very honored to be able to race for the organization I’m representing. People will see that we’re out here to raise awareness and support a really good cause.”

Penick got her feet wet in the August 1 Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division twinbill. Staying to herself on the track for the most part, just looking to get used to the car, she drove to 13th-place finishes in both races. She finished 18th in the 50-lap Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division race on August 22.

Her plans are to compete in the 50-lap race that will be part of Hitachi Energy Race Night on Saturday night, August 29 at South Boston Speedway and in the 50-lap race that will be part of the track’s Championship Night event on Saturday night, September 12.

Both Hornberger and Penick say their expectations in the two upcoming events are modest.

“I’d like to see Jordaine get out there, have fun, get some seat time, and gain some self-confidence,” Hornberger said. “I believe she is a great driver. She’s proven that.”

“My biggest expectation is to just get better in this car,” Penick chimed in. “It’s not about where I finish this year. I just need to get out there, race, get used to the car, and get used to racing around other people in this bigger car.”

Hornberger already has ideas about the 2027 season.

“We’ve already talked about new motors and what we’re going to do in the off-season,” he pointed out. “Our game plan is to get her up front next year and keep her up front.”

Six races are set for the Saturday, August 29 Hitachi Energy Race Night event at South Boston Speedway with twin 75-lap races for the Hitachi Energy Late Model Stock Car Division headlining the action.

A 50-lap race for the Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division, twin 15-lap races for the Southside Disposal Pure Stock Division and a 20-lap race for the Dollar General Hornets Division will round out the six-race card.

The event schedule for the Saturday, August 29 Hitachi Energy Race Night event has registration and pit gates opening at 2 p.m., practice starting at 3:25 p.m., frontstretch grandstand gates opening at 3:30 p.m., trackside parking gates opening at 5:30 p.m., qualifying at 6 p.m., pre-race ceremonies starting at 6:45 p.m. and the first race of the night starting at 7 p.m.

Adult advance tickets are priced at $12 each. Adult admission at the gate on race day is $15. Suite passes are $40 each. Seniors ages 65 and older, first responders, healthcare workers and students with ID may purchase tickets for $12 each at the gate on race day. Kids ages 12 and under are admitted free.