SOUTH BOSTON, Va. — Connor Hall felt like South Boston Speedway had not been a good track for him. In his only previous start in the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at the quarter-mile oval he finished 15th in 2022.
It appears Hall’s mind may have changed.
The 2023 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national champion wrestled the lead from Trevor Ward for the final time with 17 laps to go and drove to a 1.123-second win over Ward to win the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 Saturday night and capture the first leg of the Virginia Late Model Triple Crown.
Hall’s victory, his first career win at South Boston, was worth $10,500 as he took home the $10,000 winner’s prize and the $500 Anderson Outdoor Solutions Hard Charger Award for the driver who gained the most positions from their initial feature starting position.
“I’ve always joked that this place has kind of been my kryptonite,” Hall remarked. “This was going to be one of the harder places for me to find my way. Other than qualifying, I think it went about as good as we could hope.”
Hall arguably had the best car in the field all night, although his 23rd-place qualifying effort may not have reflected that. He drove his way up to seventh place by the halfway break at lap 100 and worked his way up to third place by lap 138.
The stage break at lap 150 allowed Hall to restart the race beside Ward. The pair battled each other hard for most of the last 50 laps of the 200-lap race before Hall took the lead with 17 laps to go and sped away.
“Trevor is a heckuva race car driver, a very respectful race car driver,” Hall pointed out. “He’s one of my best buds at the racetrack, so be able to do it with him was bad to the bone.”
Ward, who won last year’s Virginia Late Model Triple Crown, and earned the $250 Southside Disposal Stage 3 Leader Award, took solace in his strong outing.
“I feel like I pushed it too hard to try to get the lead back at the end,” Ward explained. “I felt like it was my only shot. Looking back at it, I’m wishing I had gotten back in the groove and see if I could run with him.”
Kaden Honeycutt, who led 99 of the first 101 laps and won the $500 Sparks Oil Company/Sunoco Halfway Leader Award and the $250 GutterworX Stage 1 Leader Award, finished third with two-time former NASCAR national champion Peyton Sellers edging Kade Brown for the final spot in the top five.
Last year’s South Boston Speedway champion Carter Langley finished sixth with pole winner Kyle Dudley, Brenden Queen, Deac McCaskill and Blake Stallings rounded out the top-10 finishers.
There were five lead changes among four drivers with Honeycutt leading once for 99 laps, Ward occupying the top spot twice for 60 laps, Hall leading twice for 38 laps and Dudley leading once for two laps.
Nathan Crews earned his third win in a row, driving away to a 2.682-second win over Eric Winslow in the 40-lap Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division race.
Johnny Layne captured his fourth win of the season and his second win in a row Saturday night, edging B.J. Reaves by .496-second in the 20-lap Southside Disposal Pure Stock Division event.
Cameron Goble started on the pole, led every lap and won Saturday night’s 20-lap race for the Virginia State Police HEAT Hornets Division.