Borst Looks to Turn the Tables in the June 28 Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway

By Joe Chandler

Director, Public Relations

South Boston Speedway

SOUTH BOSTON VA (June 16, 2025) – The Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway has brought joy for some and, for some like Jacob Borst, heartbreak.

Borst lost the 2022 Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 to Corey Heim by just a couple of feet in a dramatic finish that saw the two frontrunners banging doors as they raced down the frontstretch on the final lap, with the battle ending with their cars sliding sideways across the finish line.

That memory is permanently carved into the mind of the Elon, North Carolina resident.

“It hurt,” Borst said of being that close and not winning. “I was oh so close, but it just wasn’t our year. That was one year I felt we could have won it. It’s one of those things where you ask yourself what could you have done to have had a different outcome.”

This year’s 19th running of the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway, the kickoff race for the Virginia Triple Crown presented by FloRacing, is set for Saturday night, June 28, with the first race of the night starting at 7 p.m. The 200-lap race pays $10,000 to win, with the winner receiving a guaranteed starting position in the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, September 27.

Borst has fared fairly well overall in his four previous times of competing in South Boston Speedway’s premier NASCAR Late Model Stock Car Division race. After finishing ninth in his first attempt at competing in the race in 2021 he narrowly missed winning it in 2022. He followed it with a fifth-place finish in 2023. Last year’s Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 was one he would like to forget as he was sidelined early in a mishap and relegated to a 30th place finish.

“I felt like we had a good car last year,” Borst said. “We didn’t have a good qualifying effort, and I was back in the field and got caught up in some other people’s stuff.”

Borst, who has six career wins at South Boston Speedway, is looking to turn the tables from the heartbreaking loss of 2022 and his misfortune in last year’s race and earn his seventh career South Boston Speedway win in the June 28 Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200.

“This race is one of the races on my bucket list that I want to win,” Borst explained. “It’s the biggest race here at South Boston Speedway, and it’s part of the Triple Crown. I’d be happy winning that race if I couldn’t win any others the rest of the year.”

Borst points out he will be facing some of the toughest competition he will face this season in the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200.

“That’s the one race all of the traveling guys and all of the big teams show up for,” Borst pointed out. “We have a lot of good competition here at South Boston Speedway each week. I looked it up the other week, and we’re racing against four Martinsville winners here each week. Plus, you have a lot of big teams, a lot of CARS Tour guys coming in. Some of them have a lot of experience here, and others have a lot of experience and really good teams and really good crew chiefs behind them. To go out there and run well or win the race compared to those guys as a family team is a really big deal.”

Borst enters the June 28 Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 fifth in the track’s Sentara Health Late Model Stock Car Division point standings. He has put together some momentum, having strung together five straight Top-5 finishes before being sidelined in a wreck early in the second race of the June 7 twin-race event at South Boston Speedway.

“I feel like we’ve gotten better as the season has gone on,” Borst remarked. “I hope we can be better (in the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200) this year. We’re trying to do everything we can to be ready for that race.”

Four races are scheduled as part of the June 28 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, fans will see a 40-lap race for 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 dazzling Fourth of July fireworks show will follow the last race of the night.

The first race of the night will get the green flag at 7 p.m.

Advance adult tickets for the 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.

The tentative race day schedule has frontstretch spectator gates opening at 10 a.m. with rotating practice for all divisions starting at 1 p.m. Backstretch and Turn 4 tailgating gates will open at 3:30 p.m. Sentara Health Late Model Stock Car Division qualifying is set for 4:15 p.m. A driver autograph session is scheduled from 5:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. Pre-race ceremonies are set for 6:45 p.m. and the first race will get the green flag 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.