HUDSON, N.C. – After knocking on the door of victory lane for the last month, Nolan Pope finally kicked in the door Friday evening at North Carolina’s Tri-County Motor Speedway.
In his first trip to the four-tenths-mile asphalt oval, Pope swept a pair of 45-lap late model stock car features aboard his No. 1 Lee Faulk Racing and Development entry for his first victories of the 2020 season.
“It feels so awesome to finally get it done,” said Pope, who has finished fourth and third in his last two CARS Late Model Stock Tour events. “We’ve been so close in the last month. I knew we were going to win sooner or later and we finally did it tonight. Not only that, but we swept both races. You can’t get any better than that.”
Racing against a stacked field of 22 cars, Pope started the first of the two features from seventh. He wasted little time working his way through the field, easily making his way to the race lead on his way to victory in the first 45-lap race.
Following a five-car invert for the second race, Pope again set off in pursuit of victory when the second feature took the green flag. Much like the first race, Pope worked his way to the front of the field to collect his second victory of the evening.
“This was my first time at Tri-County and I’m leaving with two trophies,” Pope said. “I can’t thank this Lee Faulk Racing and Development team enough. My crew chief Nick Hughes was awesome and he gave me a great car to drive tonight. This gives us a lot of momentum for the rest of the season.”
Pope’s crew chief, Nick Hughes, said Friday’s results were the result of a lot of hard work.
“We all worked hard for these victories, at the shop and here at the track,” Hughes said. “Nolan has really been putting in the work behind the wheel, so we knew it was only a matter of time before he won a race. We’re so proud of this young man and I’m proud of the work we put in at the shop to get us here.”