SOUTH BOSTON, Va. — Landon Pembelton called it a surreal moment.
Moments after accepting the winner’s trophy in the wake of a dominant sweep of the twin 75-lap Hitachi Energy Late Model Stock Car Division races that headlined the Oak River Realty Race Night event at South Boston Speedway the Amelia, Virginia paused and took stock of what transpired.
“This is my first time sweeping South Boston,” Pembelton noted with a huge smile after notching his fourth win of the season. “You can’t ask for any more than that. It’s something you dream of. You don’t dream of getting cars like this often. I can’t thank Marcus Richmond and R&S Race Cars enough. I’m really thankful for my whole crew, my family, everyone that puts in a ton of hard work into this.”
Making the sweep even more special was that Pembelton honored the late Steve Dwyer, a late Army Chief Warrant Officer by carrying a decal honoring the fallen hero on his car.
Pembelton and competitors throughout the track’s four racing divisions placed decals honoring fallen heroes on their cars as part of the track’s Racing In Remembrance observance. Late NASCAR star Kyle Busch who passed away just over a week earlier, was also remembered.
“He (Dwyer) deserved every bit of it (the remembrance and recognition), Pembelton said. “He was a true warrior – a very talented individual. He passed away due to a freak accident while refueling a helicopter over the Mediterranean Sea. That and Kyle Busch passing away last week. It makes you reflect on it a lot and not take things for granted.”
Pembelton started on the pole and led all 75 laps of the first race of the Late Model twinbill, finishing just over two seconds ahead of runner-up Trevor Ward of Winston-Salem, North Carolina in the caution-free race.
Teenager Conner Weddell, eight-time South Boston Speedway champion Peyton Sellers and Brandon Lopez rounded out the top five.
Pembelton started 10th in the second race and needed only a handful of laps to march his way to the front of the field. He took the lead from Andrew Grady on the 14th lap and ran away from the field, building a quarter of a lap lead over Grady before seeing it wiped out by a caution flag with 25 laps to go.
Undaunted, Pembelton went back to work on the restart and drove to a 2.596-second win over Weddell with Blake Stallings of Danville, Virginia finishing third. Those were the best finishes the two drivers had posted at the .4-mile oval this season.
Bobby McCarty and Ward rounded out the top five finishers. Sellers, who had been running in the top five was sidelined after 48 laps and finished 12th.
Teenagers Tristan Brunelli and Brian Rundstrom Jr. split wins in the twin 30-lap races for the Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division.
Johnny Layne won his second race in a row Saturday night, taking the top spot in the 25-lap Southside Disposal Pure Stock Division.
Landon Milam executed a skillful last-lap pass to edge former division champion Jason DeCarlo by .228 seconds to win the 20-lap Dollar General Hornets race.
