SOUTH BOSTON, Va. — When Nathan Crews took the checkered flag to win the 30-lap Budweiser Pure Stock Division race at South Boston Speedway on Sept. 4, he clinched the division championship for the second season in a row.
The Long Island, Va., resident capped the season at with 11 wins in 13 starts and having won 10 of a possible 11 pole awards for being the fastest qualifier.
Dating back to the 2019 season, Crews won 20 of 26 starts over the two-season span and won 17 of a possible 22 poles.
Going from the end of the 2019 season and continuing through the first half of the 2021 season Crews racked up nine consecutive wins in the division. There was no racing at South Boston Speedway in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While Crews secured his second straight championship, he scored the third straight division championship for his family-owned race team.
His close friend, Daniel Shelton drove a car fielded by the Crews family to the 2018 South Boston Speedway Budweiser Pure Stock Division title and won the division’s rookie-of-the-year award.
Crews’ list of accomplishments does not stop there. He is also a second-generation champion. His father, Bruce Crews, won the South Boston Speedway Limited Sportsman Division championship in 1995.
“Winning this championship is really special,” Crews said. “For my dad (Bruce Crews) to win a championship here in 1995 and for me to win another championship this year means the world to us.”
Crews points out that winning a championship at South Boston Speedway is a special accomplishment.
“To be a champion and looking at the list of past South Boston Speedway champions, it’s an honor to be among them,” Crews remarked. “It’s a great feat to achieve because it’s something that not many people have done. It’s very difficult, and that’s why South Boston Speedway is considered one of the toughest, if not the toughest, racetrack in the United States.
“Winning a championship here does not come very easy,” continued Crews. “You have to put in the work. You can’t just be good or be lucky. It takes a lot of determination because you will go through some adversity at some point during the year.”
Crews credits his team for making this season’s championship possible.
“If it wasn’t for the team we have we definitely wouldn’t have accomplished as much as we did,” Crews said. “We have a really dedicated team. Everybody on the team wants to do this. They all put in a lot of hours. They all work very hard, and we’re all headed in the same direction and working toward the same goal. That makes a world of difference.”