SOUTH BOSTON, Va. – Bobby McCarty started the Virginia Late Model Triple Crown off on the right foot with a victory in the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 Saturday evening at South Boston Speedway.
McCarty, a two-time CARS Late Model Stock Tour champion, spent the final 100 laps holding off the two-time and defending winner of the race, Peyton Sellers.
The opening half of the race was dominated by polesitter Mike Looney, but a mechanical problem dropped him out of contention shortly before the halfway break. That gave the lead to Sellers, who was the leader at the halfway break to earn a $1,000 bonus.
An invert of the top-four positions at the time of the halfway break elevated McCarty to the lead, with Sellers forced to restart the race in fourth. McCarty would comfortably hold the lead until Sellers got back to second during a restart on lap 130.
From that point forward, the battle was on.
The race would go green with McCarty holding off Sellers until a caution with 38 laps left, setting up a restart with McCarty opting for the top and Sellers on the bottom. McCarty held serve during the restart, only for the caution to wave again with 26 laps left when Landon Pembleton crashed in turn four.
Racing resumed with 20 laps left and Sellers went right to work on McCarty. The two made contact in turns three and four, with Sellers washing up the track and allowing Justin Johnson to briefly pass him and challenge McCarty for the lead.
McCarty was able to dismiss Johnson and retain the lead, with Sellers soon driving back past Johnson to regain second with 17 laps left. Sellers continued to chase McCarty until the caution flag waved again with nine laps left for a multi-car melee in turn four.
That set up one final restart with three laps left and McCarty left nothing to chance. He got a great restart and was clear of Sellers by the time the field reached turn three. He took the white flag a few car lengths in front of Sellers, only for the caution to wave for a multi-car crash just short of the start/finish line while McCarty was halfway down the backstretch.
The race was deemed over at that point, handing McCarty the victory and the $10,000 top prize.
“I had to drive hard, man. It was a good race with Peyton. A good, hard race. My car was really good. I just needed a couple of corners clean and we could drive away,” McCarty said. “I’ve been sick since Wednesday and I’ve been struggling today and yesterday, they (his family and crew) kept pushing me and telling me I could get it. Just without their support it wouldn’t have happened.”
Sellers, the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series National championship leader, said that the only way he was going to pass McCarty would have been to wreck him. It wasn’t something he wanted to do.
“He had a good car, but I think we had a really good car that could’ve competed for the win,” Sellers said. “The top side was just rolling too good and I was going to have to crash him to pass him. We’ve got a much bigger picture we’re looking at with the Triple Crown.”
Johnson finished third after briefly challenging McCarty for the lead. Thomas Scott was fourth, with Chad McCumbee finishing fifth.
The Virginia Late Model Triple Crown continues with the 13th annual Hampton Heat event at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Va., on July 24 and concludes with the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway on Sept. 25.
Saturday’s race was broadcast live by SPEED SPORT TV affiliate South Boston TV, as well as TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold.
The finish:
Bobby McCarty, Peyton Sellers, Justin Johnson, Thomas Scott, Chad McCumbee, Mike Looney, Chandler Smith, Kayden Honeycutt, Jared Fryar, Jacob Borst, Connor Jones, Camden Gullie, Timothy Peters, Brandon Pierce, Trey Crews, Chris Johnson, Danny Willis, Mark Wertz, Brenden Queen, Matt Waltz, Stuart Crews, Carter Langley, Blake Stallings, Terry Dease, Nick Smith, Terry Carroll, Chris Elliott, Larry Barrett, Landon Pembleton, Grayson Cullather, Jason Barnes, Jason Myers, Jordan Pickrel, Colin Carrett, Chris Denny, Ronald Hill, Mini Tyrrell.