Aug. 29 Event Preview: South Boston Speedway Late Model Title Picture – Same Contenders, Different Order

Division Title Contenders Face Pivotal Races; Connor Hall To Compete In Saturday Late Model Twinbill

By Joe Chandler

Director, Public Relations

South Boston Speedway

SOUTH BOSTON, VA (August 28, 2026) – If you had taken a late-season picture of the top two contenders for the 2025 South Boston Speedway Hitachi Energy Late Model Stock Car Division championship and repeated it this season it would look virtually the same.

The same two drivers, Trevor Ward and Peyton Sellers, are at the heart of the division title chase. The difference this season is the order is shuffled, but will it stay that way?

Twin 75-lap races for the Hitachi Energy Late Model Stock Car Division will headline the Hitachi Energy Race Night event Saturday night, August 29 at South Boston Speedway.

The event, the next-to-last championship points event of the season, is a pivotal one in the battle for the track championship. A twin-race event occupied the same place on the track’s schedule last season. Sellers entered the event with a seven-point lead over Ward. When it ended, Ward and Sellers were tied for the points lead, leaving the season’s final race to decide the championship.

See Our Best Continue Their Title Fight August 29! Get Your Tickets

Entering this weekend’s twin-race event Ward holds a 19-point lead over Sellers in the division championship standings. Last season this twin-race event showed anything is possible – and it could be that way again.

Ward, who finished third in the previous week’s 100-lap race, is not changing the approach he has brought to the track each event throughout the season.

“I will still race everybody the same way I have all year,” Ward said, “doing it in a fashionable and respectful way. We’re going to continue to come in here and do the best we can, keep our nose clean and battle hard. We’ve got a couple of weeks to go in the points season, and we’ve got to build on what we’re doing and stay in contention for the championship.”

The Winston-Salem, North Carolina resident says the big thing going forward is to not put himself in a bad situation on the track. He pointed out he can accept a run like his third-place finish a week ago to protect his points lead.

“I’ll take a third right now and keep being competitive each week with what is going on around me,” noted Ward who has 13 Top-3 finishes in his 17 starts.

“Putting these Top-3s together is what wins championships. We’ve got a couple of weeks to go to compete for the championship and we’ve got to continue to build on what we’re doing and stay in contention for the championship.”

Like every racer, Ward wants to grab more wins before the season ends.

“I want to win a championship, but I also want to win races,” he explained. “We want to win a couple more races before the end of the season. Winning races mean a lot to me. I enjoy seeing the guys on the team get to have their pictures taken in victory lane. Winning races is what keeps the bills paid, takes care of the team and allows us to be able to come out here and do what we do.”

Sellers, who has won a record eight South Boston Speedway championships, enters this weekend’s twin-race event with a shot of confidence as he is coming in fresh off a win in last week’s 100-lap race. However, facing a 19-point deficit to Ward, he sees himself as something of a longshot in the championship chase.

“We’ve got three more races,” the Danville, Virginia resident pointed out. “It’s a shot. We haven’t been a championship contender this year. All we can do is go out here, try to race well, and let the cards fall however they may. We’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing and try to get trophies. That’s what it’s all about.”

Following his win a week ago, Sellers noted a distinct difference between himself and Ward in the situations face as they approach the season’s last three points races.

“He’s racing for a championship, and I’m not,” remarked Sellers. “That’s the difference. I’m fighting hard for second. Trevor is still in the driver’s seat for the championship. That’s fine. Trevor’s got to guard points right now. By that, he can’t race me too hard and take a chance on us banging wheels and having a flat tire or having something dumb happen. That part played into my favor.”

Connor Hall To Compete In Saturday’s Late Model Twinbill

Connor Hall of Hampton, Virginia, a two-time winner of the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway, will be competing in Saturday’s twin 75-lap Hitachi Energy Late Model Stock Car Division races at South Boston Speedway.

Hall, a two-time NASCAR national champion and former track champion at Larry King Law’s Langley Speedway, will drive an entry out of the Nelson Motorsports stable in the Late Model Stock Car twinbill that will headline the Hitachi Energy Race Night event.

Teenagers Rise To Top Of The Limited Sportsman Title Chase

Two teenagers, Tristan Brunelli of Powhatan, Virginia and Brian Rundstrom Jr. of Green Bay, Virginia have taken over the top two spots in the Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division championship chase.

Brunelli, who earned his fifth win of the season last week, holds a slim two-point lead over Rundstrom, last week’s runner-up, entering the 50-lap Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division race that will be part of Saturday night’s Hitachi Energy Race Night event.

Drew Dawson of Nathalie, Virginia, who has led the division virtually all season, had another tough night and fell to third place, eight points behind Brunelli and six points behind Rundstrom.

After his car was destroyed in a crash on July 11, he returned with a new car but has struggled. He has posted a seventh-place finish and two eighth-place finishes since bringing out the new car.

Only one more championship points race remains in the track’s points season after Saturday night’s 50-lap event.

Johnny Layne Remains In Control Of Pure Stock Division

Former Southside Disposal Pure Stock Division champion Johnny Layne can go a long way toward securing his fourth career division title with good finishes in the twin 15-lap races that will be part of Saturday night’s Hitachi Energy Race Night event.

Layne holds a 22-point edge over Dillon Davis entering Saturday night’s twinbill. B.J. Reaves and Jay Hemenway are tied for third place, 27 points behind Layne and five points behind Davis.

Only one more points race remains after Saturday’s twin-race event.

Hornets Division Championship Chase Remains Close

The championship chase in the Dollar General Hornets Division has been tightly contested all season and that has not changed.

Entering Saturday night’s 20-lap race for the Dollar General Hornets Division, Landon Milam holds a narrow nine-point edge over Chris Penick as they battle for their first South Boston Speedway championship.

Former division champion Jason DeCarlo, who had his car heavily damaged in early-race wrecks in two straight events and rebounded with a fourth-place finish last week, sits in third place 19 points behind Milam and 10 points behind Penick. Cameron Moss occupies fourth place but is only one point behind DeCarlo and 11 points behind Penick, opening the door for a potential shakeup in the standings.

Championship points are not the only thing on the minds of the Dollar General Hornets Division competitors. The Italian Delight Double Dough Bonus is being carried over this week.

Italian Delight Family Restaurant put up a $1,000 bonus to be distributed throughout the division’s purse for the twin races slated for last week. With the second race of the division’s twin-race event being rained out, the remaining portion of the bonus money will be carried over to Saturday night’s event.

Fan Info For Saturday’s Hitachi Energy Race Night

Six races are slated for the Hitachi Energy Race Night event with twin 75-lap races for the Hitachi Energy Late Model Stock Car Division highlighting the night’s racing action. Fans will also see 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.

Saturday’s event schedule 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, veterans/military, 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.