‘Big Race’ Allure Leads Waltz, Fogleman to Put in Extra Work for Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 At South Boston Speedway

By Joe Chandler

Director, Public Relations

South Boston Speedway

SOUTH BOSTON, VA (June 26, 2025) – The air temperature hovered at 93 degrees. The heat index was over 100 degrees. The asphalt temperature of the track was 138 degrees. Yet, Matt Waltz of Carrollton, Virginia and Tate Fogleman of Durham, North Carolina and their respective teams were braving the intense heat at South Boston Speedway earlier this week, both testing in preparation for the 19th running of the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 on Saturday night, June 28.

Why were the two teams subjecting themselves to the punishment of the intense heat? The answer is simple – both eye the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway as one of the elite NASCAR Late Model Stock Car races of the season as it pays $10,000 to win, and is the kickoff race for the Virginia Triple Crown presented by FloRacing.

“We like to race the big races, and South Boston is one of the key big races that has cemented itself in NASCAR racing,” Waltz said while taking a break in his testing efforts.

“We’re working our butts off to come out here and have a good run. It’s always special to come here for this race because it means a lot to come away with a Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 win here at the big July Fourth race. It’s always good to come to South Boston Speedway, see the people, the crowd, and everybody here at the racetrack and compete against these guys that are always good here at South Boston.”

Fogleman, who is a former winner in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and has an eighth-place finish in the zMAX CARS Tour race at North Wilkesboro among his four starts on that circuit earlier this season, cites the opportunity to compete in an elite race as his reason for doing the extra testing.

“This has always been a big race,” Fogleman said of the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200. “Back when I was racing Super Late Models it was something my family came to every year here right at the Fourth of July. I’ve always been wanting to hit the bigger races.

“To win the race would mean a lot to me,” added Fogleman.

“If we could win this race this would be my first big Late Model Stock Car win. It would really mean a lot to accomplish that at a place like this.”

For Waltz, a two-time winner at Larry King Law’s Langley Speedway this season and the pole winner for the recent zMAX CARS Tour race at Larry King Law’s Langley Speedway, the recent test session was his second testing session at the track within a two-week period.

“We live so close to Langley that we can go out there and test pretty easily,” Waltz pointed out. “South Boston is three hours away, but we have to take our same mentality and the same way we work on our racecar at Langley Speedway and try to apply it to here at South Boston. This place has a lot more grip than Langley Speedway, so our car is a lot different. That’s why we’re putting a lot of emphasis on coming out here. We came here two weeks ago and weren’t very pleased. We went back to the shop, worked on a number of things, and we’re quite a bit better.”

Fogleman has competed in a limited schedule of Late Model Stock Car races in recent seasons and says the extra preparation that testing affords is crucial if he is going to be competitive in the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200.

“The Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 is the Crown Jewel for us,” Fogleman explained. “It’s something we’re focusing on and hope to run well in. You can’t slouch around when you’re racing with guys that do this all day every day. You’ve got to be prepared when you come to these races. You can’t run just four or five races a year and just show up (at the track) and expect to be good. You’ve got to put the work in to be good, and that’s what we’re trying to do –fine-tune. The smallest thing can be the difference between being right there for the win and being back in tenth or 15th place. We’re hoping to find that little bit extra.”

The Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 on Saturday night, June 28 is South Boston Speedway’s showcase Late Model Stock Car event of the season. In addition to the $10,000 prize that awaits the winner of the 200-lap race for South Boston Speedway’s Sentara Health Late Model Stock Car Division and a guaranteed starting position in the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway in September several additional awards will be up for grabs in the event.

Additional awards available in the 19th running of the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 include a $500 Anderson Outdoor Solutions Pole Award, a $500 Sunoco/Sparks Oil Company Halfway Leader Award, and a $500 Anderson Outdoor Solutions Hard Charger Award to be given to the driver who gains the most positions from their initial feature starting position.

Also, there will be a $250 Gutterworx Stage 1 Leader Award for the race leader at the end of Stage 1 and a Southside Disposal $250 Stage 3 Leader Award to go to the race leader at the end of Stage 3.

Four races are on the card for Saturday’s 19th running of the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway. In addition to the 200-lap race for the Sentara Health Late Model Stock Car Division, there will be a 40-lap race for the Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division, a 25-lap race for the Southside Disposal Pure Stock Division and a 15-lap race for the Dollar General Hornets Division. A colorful patriotic Fourth of July fireworks show will follow the last race of the night.

Advance adult tickets for the June 28 Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 event are priced at $20 each. Tickets at the gate on race day will be $25 each. Seniors ages 65 and older, military, healthcare workers, and students (with ID) can purchase tickets for $20 each at the gate only on the day of the event.

Saturday’s event schedule has registration and pit gates opening at 10 a.m. and frontstretch spectator gates opening at 10 a.m. Rotating practice sessions for the four divisions will run from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Backstretch and Turn 4 tailgate gates open at 3:30 p.m.

Go Halifax Late Model Stock Car group qualifying starts at 4:15 p.m. Adriver autograph session is slated from 5:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. Pre-race ceremonies will start at 6:30 p.m. and the first race of the night will start at 7 p.m.

The latest news and updates about the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 and all of South Boston Speedway events can be found on the speedway’s website, www.southbostonspeedway.com, by calling the speedway office at 434-572-4947 or toll free at 1-877-440-1540 during regular business hours, and through the track’s social media channels.