Event Recap: Sellers, Pembelton Spar, Split May 16 Twinbill

Landon Milam Sets New Hornets Division Win Mark; Jay Hemenway Wins First Career SBS Pure Stock Race

By Joe Chandler

Director, Public Relations

South Boston Speedway

SOUTH BOSTON VA (May 16, 2026) – Peyton Sellers and Landon Pembelton were obviously miffed with each other after the first of Saturday night’s twin 75-lap Hitachi Energy Late Model Stock Car Division races at South Boston Speedway.

The pair took turns leaning on each other to gain position over the final 25 laps with Sellers rooting Pembelton out of the way on the final lap to earn his second victory of the 2026 season.

“We didn’t have the best car, but we got a win,” Sellers remarked in the wake of his second win of the season. It just kind of fell our way tonight.”

A caution period with 25 laps to go set up a torrid battle for the win between the two drivers. After having drawn side-by-side with Sellers, Pembelton muscled his way past the eight-time South Boston Speedway champion to take the lead with one lap to go. Sellers repaid the prior contact, moving Pembelton out of the way on the final circuit to take the win.

“He (Pembelton) raced me clean on the bottom, and as soon as he got a nose to me both times, he carried me right up to the top of the track,” Sellers explained. “When I get up into the hot dog stand eventually he’s got to come off of me a little bit. The second time I was like ‘that’s enough of that’ so I moved him out of the way for the win. That’s part of racing. He had run me fairly clean up to those two times that he got up to me door-to-door and carried me up the track.”

Pembelton had a differing viewpoint.

“It was racing,” Pembelton said. “I got into him a little earlier in the race. I got a little free in (into the turn) and got into him and washed up into his door. Coming back to two (laps) to go I was able to get to him. I had a really good run and used up a little bit more of the racetrack. If we touched in (turns) three and four we barely touched. He (Sellers) really didn’t give me a chance after that. He was in my right rear pretty good, and I didn’t have any angle in the car at that point. He never let me go and then picked me up and sent me into the marbles.

“It’s racing, I guess,” he added. “I’ll keep it in the memory bank.”

Conner Weddell of Centerville, Maryland finished third with Trevor Ward of Winston-Salem, North Carolina and Chase Burrow of King William, Virginia rounding out the top five finishers.

While Pembelton had to settle for the runner-up spot in the opening race he staged a dominant performance in the second of the twin 75-lap races that headlined the Feed Halifax Driving to End Hunger Race Night event.

The Amelia, Virginia resident charged from his eighth-place starting position to take the lead from Andrew Grady on the 11th lap.

Once in front, Pembelton set sail, building a quarter of a lap lead over Trevor Ward, his closest challenger. A caution period on lap 61 closed up the field, but Pembelton needed only three laps to build his lead back to almost a quarter of a lap.

At the end, Pembelton took the checkered flag 1.553 seconds ahead of Ward to earn his second win of the season. Ward had entered the weekend as the leader in the NASCAR Local Racing Series Powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts Division I national point standings. Weddell finished third to complete a solid effort with Danville, Virginia resident Sellers and Blake Stallings of Danville, Virginia rounding out the top five finishers.

“I didn’t get raced the best in the first race, but the second race we were blessed with a good win and had a great racecar,” Pembelton remarked.

“That thing was a hot rod. It was probably the best car I’ve ever had here. Marcus Richmond has made me a ton better, and we’ve made the car a ton better. That’s all you can ask for.”

Brunelli, Holdren Earn Wins In Twin 30-Lap Budweiser Limited Sportsman Races

It was a night of drivers earning their first win of the season with Tristan Brunelli and Dennis Holdren splitting wins in the twin 30-lap races for the Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division that were part of Saturday night’s Feed Halifax Driving to End Hunger Race Night event at South Boston Speedway.

Brunelli, from Powhatan, Virginia, took the lead from pole winner Holdren on the second lap and led the rest of the way to earn his first win of the season in the opening 30-lap race. His margin of victory over Holdren was 1.423 seconds.

Stuart Crews of Long Island, Virginia, driving the car usually driven by Justin Towler, finished third with Trace Daniel of Sutherlin, Virginia and Drew Dawson of Nathalie, Virginia rounding out the top five finishers.

Holdren won the second 30-lap race, taking the lead from Daniel on the 19th lap and leading the final dozen laps to earn his first win of the season and his first career Limited Sportsman Division win at South Boston Speedway.

Dawson, who had entered the weekend as the leader in the NASCAR Local Racing Series Powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts Division II national point standings, finished third with Brunelli and Crews completing the top five finishers.

Hemenway, Layne Take Wins In Southside Disposal Pure Stock Division Twinbill

Teenager Jay Hemenway of Wake Forest, North Carolina and former South Boston Speedway champion Johnny Layne of Halifax, Virginia split wins in the twin 15-lap Southside Disposal Pure Stock Division races that were part of Saturday night’s Feed Halifax Driving to End Hunger Race Night event at South Boston Speedway.

Hemenway earned his first career South Boston Speedway win in the first of the two 15-lap races. After having won the pole for the race he grabbed the lead from Layne on the second lap and fended off multiple challenges from Layne in a hard-fought battle. His margin of victory was .109-second, less than a car length.

B.J. Reaves of South Boston, Virginia finished third, with Zach Reaves of South Boston, Virginia and Jacob Sanford of South Boston, Virginia rounding out the top five finishers.

Layne picked up his third win of the season and his 35th career Pure Stock Division win in the second race, closing in a little further on the division’s all-time career win list. He is now just two wins shy of the record of 37 wins held by former division competitor Nathan Crews of Long Island, Virginia.

Hemenway took the runner-up spot, less than a second behind Layne who led the final dozen laps of the 15-lap race. Caleb Sanford, B.J. Reaves and Zach Reaves completed the top five finishers.

Milam Wins 20-Lap Hornets Race, Breaks Record For Career Wins In The Division

Landon Milam of Keeling, Virginia accomplished a major milestone Saturday night in winning the 20-lap Dollar General Hornets Division race at South Boston Speedway.

The win, the third straight win for Milam this season, gives him 11 career wins in the division, eclipsing the previous record of 10 wins that had been held by former division champions Kevin Currin of Chase City, Virginia and Josh Dawson of Halifax, Virginia.

Milam edged Jason DeCarlo of Nelson, Virginia by 1.201 seconds in earning the win. Chris Penick of Evington, Virginia finished third, Cameron Moss of Danville, Virginia took the fourth spot and Andrea Ruotolo of South Boston, Virginia finished fifth.

Unofficial Results

Hitachi Energy Late Models - Feature 1

Pos. Car Driver

1 26 Sellers, Peyton

2 0 Pembelton, Landon

3 8W Weddell, Conner

4 77W Ward, Trevor

5 00 Burrow, Chase

6 22C Burgeson, Chase

7 77 Stallings, Blake

8 1 Grady, Andrew

9 6 McCarty, Bobby

10 90 Goin, John

11 78 Wiese, Atley

12 50R Pittman, Raymond

13 8 Fogleman, Tate

14 22 Winslow, Eric

15 50V Vuncannon, Daniel

Hitachi Energy Late Models - Feature 2

1 0 Pembelton, Landon

2 77W Ward, Trevor

3 8W Weddell, Conner

4 26 Sellers, Peyton

5 77 Stallings, Blake

6 00 Burrow, Chase

7 90 Goin, John

8 78 Wiese, Atley

9 50R Pittman, Raymond

10 8 Fogleman, Tate

11 1 Grady, Andrew

12 6 McCarty, Bobby

13 50V Vuncannon, Daniel

14 22 Winslow, Eric

DNS 22C Burgeson, Chase

Budweiser Limited Sports man - Feature 1

1 18B Brunelli, Tristan

2 1H Holdren, Dennis

3 45 Crews, Stuart

4 2 Daniel, Trace III

5 8D Dawson, Drew

6 5 Peregoy, Beverly

7 18G Goble, Cameron

8 33 Rogers, Dan

9 8M McGowan, Landon

10 5 Hilton, Collin

11 88R Rundstrom, Brian

12 88D Dawson, Justin

13 00 Palumbo, Gennaro

14 08D Dettor, Austin

15 01 Dawson, Jared

16 62 Mountcasel, Ross

17 22 Winslow, Eric

Budweiser Limited Sportsman - Feature 2

1 1H Holdren, Dennis

2 2 Daniel, Trace III

3 8D Dawson, Drew

4 18B Brunelli, Tristan

5 45 Crews, Stuart

6 18G Goble, Cameron

7 5 Hilton, Collin

8 88D Dawson, Justin

9 22 Winslow, Eric

10 5 Peregoy, Beverly

11 88R Rundstrom, Brian

12 08D Dettor, Austin

13 8M McGowan, Landon

14 33 Rogers, Dan

15 00 Palumbo, Gennaro

16 62 Mountcasel, Ross

DNS 01 Dawson, Jared

Southside Disposal Pure Stocks - Feature 1

1 12 Hemenway, Jay

2 9 Layne, Johnny

3 11 Reaves, Barry

4 77 Reaves, Zach

5 09 Sanford, Jacob

6 76 Turner, Andrew

7 63 Davis, Dillon

8 31 Sanford, Caleb

9 28 Milam, Kendall

10 10 Mayo, Anna

DNS 20 Milam, Landon

Southside Disposal Pure Stocks - Feature 2

1 9 Layne, Johnny

2 12 Hemenway, Jay

3 31 Sanford, Caleb

4 11 Reaves, Barry

5 77 Reaves, Zach

6 28 Milam, Kendall

7 10 Mayo, Anna

8 63 Davis, Dillon

9 76 Turner, Andrew

10 09 Sanford, Jacob

DNS 20 Milam, Landon

Dollar General Hornets Feature

1 83 Milam, Landon

2 54 Decarlo, Jason

3 24 Penick, Chris

4 29 Moss, Cameron

5 12 Ruotolo, Andrea

6 33 Sangillo, Christian

7 76 Armstead, Kristian

DNS 88 Milam, Jarrett

Next Event At South Boston Speedway

NASCAR Local Racing Series powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts action returns to South Boston Speedway on Saturday night, May 30 with the Oak River Realty Race Night event featuring twin races for the track’s Hitachi Energy Late Model Stock Car Division and the Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division.

South Boston Speedway, in partnership with Mincey’s Graphics, will honor America’s fallen heroes with a special observance at the event.

Racing in Remembrance: Honoring our Heroes presented by Mincey’s Graphics on Saturday night, May 30 will give race fans the opportunity to honor the fallen heroes of family and friends by having their names placed on competitors’ cars at South Boston Speedway.

Fans may submit information about a fallen hero killed in the line of duty, a prisoner of war, or one who is missing in action and never returned home. A decal with the fallen hero’s name on it will be placed on each car competing in the Oak River Realty Race Night event on Saturday night, May 30 at South Boston Speedway.

Fans can submit names of fallen heroes at southbostonspeedway.com/remembrance. Submissions will be accepted from Wednesday, May 13 until midnight on May 24.

In addition to the Racing in Remembrance: Honoring our Heroes presented by Mincey’s Graphics observance South Boston Speedway is offering free admission for military personnel and veterans for the Oak River Realty Race Night event.

Twin 75-lap races for the Hitachi Energy Late Model Stock Car Division and twin 30- lap races for the Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division headline the night’s six-race card. A 25-lap race for the Southside Disposal Pure Stock Division and a 20-lap race for the Dollar General Hornets Division are also slated for the event.

The Saturday, May 30 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.

There will be free admission for military personnel and veterans for this event.

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.