THORNBURG, Va. — Saturday’s Virginia is for Lovers 125 at Dominion Raceway featured plenty of twists and turns for the Solid Rock Carriers CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour competitors.
Several top contenders saw their evenings get derailed by misfortune, yet a familiar face in the form of Connor Hall managed to survive the chaos and hold on for the win, which is his second in seven career CARS LMSC Tour starts.
The victory makes Hall the second repeat winner on the CARS LMSC Tour season alongside points leader Carson Kvapil, providing him some much-needed momentum as he tries to make a run for the championship in his debut season.
Along with battling the heat, his car and the track, Hall found himself under constant duress during the closing laps, as several late restarts forced him to battle off several drivers who were desperately searching for their first victory of the year.
“I knew [Jacob] Heafner and [Kaden] Honeycutt were coming, so we had to execute on every restart,” Hall said. “We had a really good car, but we were really loose all weekend. My crew chief looked at me and said we were either going to be really good or really loose, but it’s just such a privilege to drive for these guys.”
Hall entered his rookie CARS LMSC Tour season with every intention to win as many races as possible, but he knew that battling the series regulars would be very demanding from a physical and mental standpoint.
While Hall was able to break through for his first win at Goodyear All American Speedway, he admitted that 2022 has been far from perfect. Hall particularly singled out the AutosByNelson.com 225 at Franklin County Speedway, where late contact between him and Mike Looney for the lead took both out of contention.
The two-week break from the CARS LMSC Tour gave Hall and his crew some much needed time to regroup for Dominion and properly utilize the knowledge from the opening races to put together a race-winning car on Saturday evening.
“These never get easier,” Hall said. “Honestly, Franklin [County] was a very humbling experience. I got into a slap fight earlier in the race and that cost two good cars a chance at a win. I thought we were going to be a little better at Langley [Speedway], but we came into [Saturday] with a good attitude and it paid off.”
Jacob Heafner finished second behind race-winner Connor Hall, which he accomplished after methodically working his way through the field from a disappointing 18th-place qualifying effort.
“I probably needed to start about 10 or 15 spots better,” Heafner said after his career-best CARS Tour finish. “I really shot myself in the foot in qualifying. We didn’t have crazy fast speed in practice, but I told my guys that the car was driving really good. They did a good job keeping me confident.”
Landon Pembleton finished third, with Jonathan Shafer and Jonathan Findley rounding out the top five.
The race was broadcast live by SPEED SPORT affiliate, CARSTTour.Tv.
The finish:
Connor Hall, Jacob Heafner, Landon Pembelton, Jonathan Shafer, Jonathan Findley, Kaden Honeycutt, Bobby McCarty, Braden Rogers, Grayson Cullather, Chase Burrow, Mason Diaz, Brandon Pierce, Carter Langley, Parker Eatmon, Carson Kvapil, Zack Miracle, Janson Marchbanks, Jared Fryar, Andrew Grady, Chad McCumbee, Davey Callihan, Conner Jones, Hayden Swank, Daniel Thomas.