Event Recap: Ward, Pembelton Take Wins in Twin 75-Lap Late Model Stock Car Races Saturday Night at South Boston

Ward, Sellers Unofficially Tied for Late Model Points Lead Heading into Championship Race

By Joe Chandler

Director, Public Relations

South Boston Speedway

SOUTH BOSTON, VA (August 23, 2025) – Trevor Ward and Landon Pembelton emerged as the winners of the twin 75-lap Sentara Health Late Model Stock Car Division races that headlined Saturday night’s Sentara Health Race Night event at South Boston Speedway.

That, however, is not the big news of the night.

The big news of the night is that Ward and seven-time South Boston Speedway champion Peyton Sellers of Danville, Virginia are unofficially tied for the division points lead with one points race remaining.

After winning the first of the two 75-lap races that headlined the night’s racing action, Ward finished second in the second race. Sellers finished fourth in the first race and fifth in the second race. Unofficially, Pembelton, who finished third in the first race and won the second race, trails the leaders by eight points entering the season’s final race.

In what was arguably the closest race of the season, Ward won the opening 75-lap race in dramatic fashion, surging past leader Ryan Millington of Statesville, North Carolina on the frontstretch on the final lap of the race and edging Millington by a half a car length to earn his sixth South Boston Speedway win of the season.

“Going into the night I was seven points down (to Sellers) and I just wanted to chip away it,” Ward remarked. “I had a great car tonight. Ryan (Millington) was good too, and I timed it just right. I ran him down at the right time for a lapped car to intervene in that deal. I slipped by him to get the first one.

“In the second race, I kind of ran out of tires, but Pembelton was strong and we put on a heck of a battle in that race as well.”

Millington, who led all but the last lap of the first race, finished second, just .135-second behind Ward with Pembelton finishing third, Sellers finishing fourth and Jacob Borst of Elon, North Carolina rounding out the top five finishers in the 18-car starting field.

In the second race, with the top eight finishers of the first race being inverted for the start, Pembelton started sixth but needed only four laps to get to third place. He passed Borst to claim second place on the eighth circuit, and set sail after leader Andrew Grady of Knightdale, North Carolina.

The Amelia, Virginia resident quickly caught Grady and took the lead on the 24th circuit. Pembelton never relinquished the lead after that, fending off constant challenges by Ward and edging the Winston-Salem, North Carolina resident by .262- second, or about three car lengths, at the finish.

“I felt we had a really good car in the first race,” Pembelton pointed out. “The second race we weren’t quite as good, but I was able to manipulate Trevor’s line a little bit, and it helped me out a ton.

“The car was on point,” he added. We’re planning on bringing it back and getting it ready for the next race.”

Millington finished third, Grady finished fourth and Sellers rounded out the top five finishers in the 18-car field.

Cory Dunn Takes Win In 50-Lap Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division Race

Cory Dunn had come close to pulling off a win several times in his two years of competing in the South Boston Speedway’s Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division. Saturday night the Salem, Virginia resident finally broke the ice, earning his first career South Boston Speedway victory in the 50-lap Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division race that was part of Saturday night’s Sentara Health Race Night event at South Boston Speedway.

He took the lead from Tyler Garretson of Centerville, Arkansas with 23 laps to go and held off Drew Dawson of Nathalie, Virginia in a 14-lap dash to the finish that followed the last of the race’s five caution periods. His margin of victory over Dawson was a half a second.

Tucker Jones of Smithfield, Virginia finished third with Justin Dawson of Nathalie, Virginia and Garretson rounding out the top five finishers.

Pole winner and division points leader Zach Peregoy was sidelined after being involved in a mishap and finished 12th in the 19-car starting field. Only the top seven finishers in the race finished on the lead lap.

Johnny Layne Wins 25-Lap Southside Disposal Pure Stock Division Race

Former division champion Johnny Layne of Halifax, Virginia won the 25-lap Southside Disposal Pure Stock Division race that was part of Saturday night’s racing action at South Boston Speedway. It was second win in a row and his second win in his three starts at the .4-mile oval this season.

The win was his 32nd career win in the division at South Boston Speedway and it raised him to second place on the division’s career win list spanning the most recent 20 seasons. He now stands five wins behind wins leader Nathan Crews who has 37 wins in the division to his credit.

Layne edged pole winner Scott Phillips of Halifax, Virginia by .266-second with division points leader B.J. Reaves of South Boston, Virginia finishing third. Andrew Turner of Sutherlin, Virginia and a newcomer to South Boston Speedway, Jay Hemmenway, rounded out the top five finishers.

Landon Milam Leads Flag-To-Flag To Win 20-Lap Dollar General Hornets Division Race

Landon Milam of Keeling, Virginia started on the pole and led the entire distance to win the 20-lap Dollar General Hornets Division race that was part of Saturday night’s Sentara Health Race Night event at South Boston Speedway.

The win was Milam’s fifth win of the season.

Division points leader Jason DeCarlo of Chase City, Virginia was closing in on Milam during the final laps of the race and trailed Milam by half a second at the finish.

Cameron Moss of Danville, Virginia finished third with Jordaine Penick of Meherrin, Virginia and Dustin Davis of Nathalie, Virginia rounding out the top five finishers.

Lockhart Takes Modified Win, Floars Takes Sportsman Win in Southern Ground Pounders Race

Shayne Lockhart of Richmond, Virginia took the overall race win and the Modified Division win and Kevin Floars of Clayton, North Carolina took the Sportsman Division win with a fourth-place overall finish in Saturday night’s 25-lap race for the Southern Ground Pounders Vintage Racing Club at South Boston Speedway.

Both Lockhart and Floars won their respective division when the Southern Ground Pounders Vintage Racing Club made its first visit of the season to South Boston Speedway in May.

Steve Mendenhall of Clayton, North Carolina finished second in the overall race driving a Modified with Dennis Werner of Southport, North Carolina finishing third overall in a Modified. Floars finished fourth overall in his Sportsman Division car and Josh Roberts of Carson, Virginia finished fifth overall driving a Sportsman Division entry.

Unofficial Results

Sentara Health Late Models Feature 1

Fin. No. Name

1 77W Ward, Trevor

2 15 Millington, Ryan

3 0 Pembelton, Landon

4 26 Sellers, Peyton

5 25 Borst, Jacob

6 8 Scott, Thomas

7 1 Grady, Andrew

8 9A Anderson, Bruce

9 77S Stallings, Blake

10 55 Wertz, Mark

11 51 Layne, Toby

12 3 Williams, Trey

13 28 Storm, Dustin

14 50 Pittman, Raymond

15 19 Cann, Jessica

16 17 Myers, Jason

17 88 DeCaire, TJ

18 14 Bailey, Mason

Sentara Health Late Model Feature 2

1 0 Pembelton, Landon

2 77W Ward, Trevor

3 15 Millington, Ryan

4 1 Grady, Andrew

5 26 Sellers, Peyton

6 25 Borst, Jacob

7 88 DeCaire, TJ

8 55 Wertz, Mark

9 77S Stallings, Blake

10 8 Scott, Thomas

11 17 Myers, Jason

12 9A Anderson, Bruce

13 50 Pittman, Raymond

14 51 Layne, Toby

15 3 Williams, Trey

16 28 Storm, Dustin

17 14 Bailey, Mason

18 19 Cann, Jessica

Budweiser Limited Sportsman Feature

1 75 Dunn, Cory

2 8 Dawson, Drew

3 14 Jones, Tucker

4 88D Dawson, Justin

5 99 Garretson, Tyler

6 2 Daniel, Trace III

7 00 Palumbo, Gennaro

8 01 Dawson, Jared

9 1 Stanley, Shelby

10 3 Crews, Nathan

11 5 Peregoy, Beverly

12 12 Peregoy, Zachary

13 18B Brunelli, Tristan

14 62 Mountcasel, Ross

15 45 Towler, Justin

16 78 Wiese, Atley

17 18G Goble, Cameron

18 88R Rundstrom, Brian

19 19 Davis, Bob

Southside Disposal Pure Stock Feature

1 9 Layne, Johnny

2 1 Phillips, Scott

3 11 Reaves, Barry

4 76 Turner, Andrew

5 12 Hemenway, Jay

6 77 Reaves, Zach

7 63 Davis, Dillon

8 88 Johnson, Jarrett

9 29 Pool, Colby

10 00 Mayo, Bruce

11 28 Milam, Jarrett

Dollar General Hornets Feature

1 83 Milam, Landon

2 54 Decarlo, Jason

3 29 Moss, Cameron

4 07 Penick, Jordaine

5 51 Davis, Dustin

6 33 Sangillo, Christian

7 24 Penick, Chris

8 42B Byrd, Daniel

9 42X Smith, Jordan

Next Race At South Boston Speedway

South Boston Speedway will wrap up the 2025 points season for its four racing divisions when NASCAR racing returns on Saturday night, September 6 with Halifax County Farm Bureau Championship Night.

The track’s four division championships will be decided in the four-race event that will be headlined by a 100-lap race for the Sentara Health Late Model Stock Car Division. A 50-lap race for the Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division, a 25-lap race for the Southside Disposal Pure Stock Division, and a 20-lap race for the Dollar General Hornets Division will round out the night’s racing action.

Following the final race of the night fans will be treated to a Championship Night Fireworks Show presented by Italian Delight Family Restaurant.

Advance adult tickets for the September 6 Halifax County Farm Bureau Championship Night event are priced at $12. Tickets at the gate on race day will be $15 each. Suite tickets are available for $40 each. Seniors ages 65 and older, military, and students (with ID) can purchase tickets for $12 each at the gate only on the day of the event.

The tentative race-day schedule has registration and pit gates opening at 2 p.m. and practice starting at 3:25 p.m. Frontstretch grandstand gates open at 3:30 p.m. and backstretch and Turn 4 trackside parking gates open at 5:30 p.m. Qualifying starts at 6 p.m. and the first race of the night will get the green flag at 7 p.m.

The latest news and updates about the September 6 Halifax County Farm Bureau Championship Night event and all 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.