SOUTH BOSTON, Va. — Anticipation is rapidly building. An intense, gripping, excitement-filled us-versus-the world battle looms near on the horizon.
It’s South Boston Speedway’s top drivers versus Langley Speedway’s best – versus additional nationally-touted racers in a 200-lap battle to kick off the chase for the 2026 Virginia Late Model Triple Crown.
Can South Boston Speedway’s regulars successfully defend their home turf in the 20th Running of the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 on Saturday night, June 27? Or will an “outsider” prevail and capture the $10,000 winner’s prize?
Every driver feels he has what it takes to win the crown jewel race. But, who can step up at crunch time?
Forty starting spots are on the line for 45-plus entries, the most in event history.
NASCAR Local Racing Series powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts Division I national points leader and South Boston Speedway points leader Trevor Ward would like nothing better than to successfully defend his home turf at South Boston Speedway and earn his first career Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 victory.
“The ‘200’ is one of the biggest stepping-stone crown jewels I want to check off my list,” Ward remarked.
“I’m looking forward to racing this weekend. It’s always exciting this time of year ramping up for the three big triple crown races. I’m really excited about racing a good field of racecars for one of the most prestigious races of the year. I couldn’t ask for a better facility (to race at) and amount of competition to race against. It reminds me of an older era when people wanted to come out and watch, and I think there will be a lot of that this weekend!”
Eight-time South Boston Speedway champion and two-time Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 winner Peyton Sellers is fresh off his third win of the season, a win in a 125-lap race on June 13. He is the last South Boston Speedway “regular” to win the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200. That was back in 2019.
Sellers notes there is a bit of an advantage for those racing at South Boston Speedway full-time this year.
“Just knowing the track and how it’s trending at night versus daytime racing helps,” Sellers explained. “A lot of the CARS Tour guys are used to a little different rulebook and have to change their cars around to come here, so it will be a different element.”
Sellers points out “the 200-lapper will be a dogfight for 200 laps. Competition at South Boston Speedway is as good as it has ever been right now. Trevor and Landon (Landon Pembelton, who sits second in the SBS Late Model points) have come on strong in the last month.
“To be standing in Phillip Morris Victory Lane with the fireworks going off and getting your picture taken – that’s special,” added Sellers. “That’s cool. I’d like to be doing that.”
Pembelton, who leads the win column in South Boston Speedway’s Hitachi Energy Late Model Stock Car Division with four victories and is a two-time Martinsville winner, is positive he can show represent South Boston well on Saturday night.
“I feel very confident in our program that we can go out and defend our home turf, but it won’t be easy,” Pembelton said. “This is one of the hardest and most prestigious races of the year, along with bringing additional strong competition with it. It’s going to be extremely tough, but you will also have the same guys that you race against week-in and week-out and adding even more drivers that can win into it as well.”
Six-time Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 champion and two-time Virginia Late Model Triple Crown winner Lee Pulliam returns to the race as a driver for the first time since 2019.
Pulliam resides in Alton, Virginia near South Boston Speedway, and has a track championship and 52 career wins there under his belt there including a win in the track’s season-opening 100-lap race in March.
Even though he’s recently been an car owner with drivers competing in the zMAX CARS Tour, his heart is with the South Boston Speedway contingent.
“I’m going to be on Team SoBo where I grew up,” Pulliam remarked. “This is a special racetrack for me. That’s where everything started for me and where my career got going.”
Pulliam’s focus in recent seasons has been on his Lee Pulliam Performance team which competes in the zMAX CARS Tour. He will pilot the iconic No. 8 for JR Motorsports and race against his own Lee Pulliam Performance team in the “200.”
The four-time NASCAR national champion feels good about his chances to win a seventh “200”
“I’m really confident,” he pointed out. “I feel really good going into the race. I’m in the best shape I’ve been in in a long time physically and mentally. I feel like between what I know as a driver and crew chief and with what those guys (at JR Motorsports) bring to the table it’s going to be a real cool combination.”
The South Boston Speedway group is a deep group that includes young driver Conner ‘C-Weed” Weddell who finished third in the 2025 NASCAR Division I Rookie standings and has put together a string of seven consecutive top-three finishes.
Team SoBo also sports veterans Bobby McCarty, a two-time winner of the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 and three-time CARS Tour champion, Blake Stallings who is a multi-time Ace Speedway champion and veteran Andrew Grady, a veteran racer who had his best finish of the season with a Top-5 finish on June 13 and has logged over 30 career wins at Southern National Motorsports Park.
Among the great drivers out of Larry King Law’s Langley Speedway is Connor Hall who is re-uniting with Nelson Motorsports to chase a third straight Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 title. Hall won the 2025 Virginia Triple Crown and is a two-time NASCAR national champion.
“I thought two (wins) was ultra cool and really special,” Hall said, “and I feel three would just be the cherry on top. I feel that would be a pretty big statement.”
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitor Brenden ‘Butterbean” Queen is another of the great drivers that emerged from Larry King Law’s Langley Speedway. He will pilot an entry out of the Lee Pulliam Performance stable.
“If I was able to win this race, and also beat the GOAT and one of my brothers for the win it would be a dream come true,” Queen said. “He and I have joked about it, that we hope we’re one-two, either way it goes down. If we’re beating and banging and moving each other, I think he and I are going to laugh the whole time.”
Former Hampton Heat 200 winner and current Langley Speedway points leader Woody Howard, and Ryley Music, who is in the top seven in points at Langley Speedway and one of five drivers participating in the 2026 Kulwicki Driver Development Program, are also among the top drivers emerging from Langley Speedway.
A number of outstanding drivers will represent The World. Among them is Aledo, Texas resident Kaden Honeycutt who competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driving for Tricon Garage.
North Carolinian Landen Lewis, who drives for Kevin Harvick Inc. and is the 2025 CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car champion, is part of the group. Current CARS Tour points leader and former CARS Tour Pro Late Model champion Caden Kvapil who drives for JR Motorsports, will be looking for his first win in South Boston Speedway’s showcase race.
Mini Tyrell, who won the recent CARS Tour race at Dominion Raceway and is a five-time winner in the series, will be driving an entry out of the R&S Race Cars stable.
“I’m super excited to head to South Boston for the first time this year with Marcus Richmond, R&S Race cars, and Kaulig Racing,” said Tyrell. “It’s an honor to head back to the place where I won the Ram Race For The Seat. That was the day that changed my life forever. Getting to drive full time in the NASCAR Craftsman truck series for Kaulig Racing and Ram has been an absolute blast, and I am so thankful for what they have done for me.”
Veteran racer Chase Burrow, the winner of the 2025 CARS Tour race at Langley Speedway and was the 2022 CARS Tour Rookie of the Year, is another competitor that is looking for a strong performance in Saturday’s event.
Landon Huffman, who drives a car out of the Carroll Speedshop stable in his full-time effort on the CARS Tour, is a veteran racer with numerous wins at Hickory Motor Speedway and Tri-County Motor Speedway.
