Late Model Drivers Ready to Tackle Challenge of 125-Lap Race Saturday Night

National Leaders, Drivers on the Doorstep of Records and More Headline Benchmark Community Bank Race Night

By Joe Chandler

Director, Public Relations

South Boston Speedway

SOUTH BOSTON VA (June 10, 2026) – Ask our Late Model regulars, and it seems they all have different thoughts on a 125-lap feature.

The headlining race to Benchmark Community Bank Race Night on June 13 is the season’s second-longest race for the Hitachi Energy Late Model Stock Car Division, second only to the 200-lap race that headlines the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200, the track’s signature showcase event.

With the 20th Running of the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 just a couple of weeks later, Saturday night’s 125-lap race is an important one. It provides competitors the opportunity to battle it out in a long race prior to the kickoff race for the Virginia Late Model Triple Crown Presented by FloRacing.

“It definitely gets your preparation right for the “200,” said Trevor Ward who leads the NASCAR Local Racing Series Powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts Division I national standings and is tied with Landon Pembelton for the division points lead at South Boston Speedway.

Get Your Tickets to See Six Action-Packed Features June 13

“If you can put 125 laps together you pretty much have a good handle on the “200.” It lets you know throughout the heat cycles (on the tires) what you’re going to have through that race. Any little bit of heat cycle we can get gets us a good handle on the car. It puts a long trim on the car and gets you in the ballpark for what you need to set yourself up for the “200.”

Pembelton, who is tied with Ward for the division points lead and stands second in the national standings, enters Saturday’s 125-lap race at South Boston Speedway fresh off a sweep of the track’s twin-race event on May 30. He notes that this race is a meaningful one.

“It’s going to mean a ton to us,” Pembelton said of Saturday’s 125-lap race, “especially it being a night race. If the weather will be hotter, you will get pretty close to what you will have for the “200.” I feel like we’re going to be really good in both races.”

Eight-time South Boston Speedway champion Peyton Sellers sees Saturday’s 125-lap race is important on two fronts.

“We’re used to running these twin races, these shorter races,” Sellers noted. “Honestly, these other guys (the drivers that don’t compete regularly at South Boston Speedway) give us a run for the money when they come into town because it’s an even playing field when you run the 200-lap race versus the short sprint races we’ve been running. The “125” will give us a little bit of a notebook to build on for that 200-lapper.”

The weather for Saturday’s 125-lap race is expected to be closer to what the drivers and teams will experience when they arrive for the June 27 event.

“We’ve had a little bit different weather and we’ve had day races,” Sellers noted.

“I think the next race (the 125-lapper) should be a good, hot summertime race that will lead right into the “200.”

Bobby McCarty, who has visited Victory Lane at South Boston Speedway this season, sees this weekend’s 125-lap race as an opportunity to build toward the 200-lap race on June 27.

“It will definitely give us a leg up on the competition that isn’t here,” McCarty said. “We need to have our number six machine ready for that one so we can try to get a good notebook for the race we really want. Getting a long race to see how our car’s balance is going to trend and then be able to take it to the shop and see what has happened with the car is a big positive for us.”

Five SBS “Regulars” in the Top 10 of NASCAR National Point Standings

Five of the top 10 drivers in this week’s NASCAR Local Racing Series Powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts Division I national point standings are South Boston Speedway “regulars.”

Trevor Ward of Winston-Salem, North Carolina continues to lead the national standings with Landon Pembelton of Amelia, Virginia sitting in second place and eight-time South Boston Speedway champion Peyton Sellers of Danville, Virginia holding down fourth place in the standings.

Conner Weddell of Centerville, Maryland is in sixth place in the standings and Bobby McCarty of Kernersville, North Carolina is slotted in 10th place.

Three SBS Limited Sportsman Drivers in Top 10 of NASCAR Division II Standings

A trio of South Boston Speedway’s Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division competitors are in the top seven in this week’s NASCAR Local Racing Series Powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts Division II national point standings.

South Boston Speedway points leader Drew Dawson of Nathalie, Virginia occupies third place in the standings. Current second-place driver in the South Boston Speedway point standings, Tristan Brunelli of Powhatan, Virginia is in sixth place, and the track’s third-place driver in the point standings, Brian Rundstrom Jr. of Green Bay, Virginia, is in seventh place nationally.

The Chase for the Hitachi Energy Late Model Crown will be a Barn Burner

The chase for the 2026 Hitachi Energy Late Model Stock Car Division is a hotly contested one with Trevor Ward and Landon Pembelton tied for the points lead and eight-time South Boston Speedway champion Peyton Sellers only 20 points behind the lead duo.

Landon Pembelton has the hot hand in the Hitachi Energy Late Model Stock Car Division. He has four wins including three wins in a row. In his last six starts dating back to May 2, Pembelton has four wins, a second-place finish and a fourth-place finish.

The Family Record Watch Continues - Trevor Ward’s win in the second race of the May 2 twin-race event tied him with his father, Dean Ward, on the track’s all-time career Late Model Stock Car Division Wins List. Both have eight career South Boston Speedway wins. If Trevor Ward wins Saturday night’s race he can break his father’s South Boston Speedway win total.

Conner “C-Weed” Weddell has been raising eyebrows all season with his remarkable consistency. He has posted five straight third-place finishes (which could possibly be a track record) and a second-place finish in his six starts since May 2.

Budweiser Limited Sportsman Title Race Tightening

Drew Dawson’s division points lead in the Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division dipped to 15 points with his seventh-place and sixth-place finishes in the division’s May 30 twinbill.

Tristan Brunelli, who moved into second place in the point standings with his win and fourth-place finish on May 16, logged the exact same results in the May 30 twinbill. Brian Rundstrom Jr., with a second-place finish and a win on May 30, is just four points behind Brunelli and 19 points behind Dawson.

Tristan Brunelli has been the most consistent driver over the course of the last five races dating back to May 2 with two wins, a third-place finish, and two fourth-place finishes.

There have been no repeat pole winners in the division thus far, with Drew Dawson, Jacob Derrick, Nathan Crews, Dennis Holdren and Adam Murray each having one pole win.

Layne on the Brink of Southside Disposal Pure Stock History

Record Watch – Three-time former division champion Johnny Layne is only one win away from tying the record for all-time career wins in the Southside Disposal Pure Stock Division. Nathan Crews holds the record with 37 wins and Layne, with his win on May 30, now has 36 wins.

One win in Saturday night’s Pure Stock Division twinbill allows Layne to tie the record. Layne can break the record with a sweep of the twin 15-lap races.

A possible obstacle to Johnny Layne reaching the all-time wins record Saturday night – under the track’s handicapping system a driver that has won two races in a row must start mid-field in the next race regardless of where he/she qualifies. Layne has won the last two races and must start mid-field the first race.

Hornets’ Landon Milam is a Wanted Man

$100 Bounty Posted On Landon Milam - A $100 bounty will be awarded to a driver in the Dollar General Hornets Division who can beat Landon Milam. The bounty has been put up courtesy of Hook & Haul Trailers – a company owned by fellow South Boston Speedway Late Model Stock Car and Limited Sportsman competitor Eric Winslow.

Landon Milam Seeking Fifth Straight Win - Landon Milam has won the last four races in a row and has won four of his six starts thus far this season. He can run his win streak to five wins in a row with a win in Saturday night’s 20-lap race.

Milam faces a hurdle in his attempt to extend his winning streak. Under the speedway’s handicapping system he must start Saturday night’s race at the rear of the field as he has put together four consecutive wins.

All the Fan Info You Need to Know About Benchmark Community Bank Race Night

The event schedule for the Saturday, June 13 Benchmark Community Bank Race Night event 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, 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.