Newly crowned NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Champion Connor Hall to contend in Saturday‘s race under the lights
MARTINSVILLE, Va. (Sept. 20, 2023) — A mere half position separates first from second in the 2023 Virginia Triple Crown points standings as the final race in the prestigious series of Late Model Stock Car races looms this Saturday night with the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway.
This year marks the 10th season of the Virginia Late Model Triple Crown, featuring three famed short tracks in Langley Speedway, South Boston Speedway and Martinsville Speedway. The driver with the best average finish across the three races takes home the $7,000 payout for the Triple Crown. Second place earns $2,000 and third receives $1,000.
Meanwhile, the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 will have the largest purse in the race‘s history, with $125,000 to be distributed across the field of drivers. A number of local businesses in the Martinsville-Henry County region chipped in to raise the pot this year, including Hitachi Energy, Danville Toyota, The Lester Group, MaxPro and B99.
That additional prize money will be distributed for finishing positions sixth on through the rest of the field.
Brendan “Butterbean” Queen, who took the win in the second race of the series at Langley Speedway on July 22, has a 1.5 average finish through the opening two races after finishing second at South Boston Speedway on July 1. Bobby McCarty, who won the opening race at South Boston and finished third at Langley, has an average finish of 2.0 to sit in second in the standings.
“We couldn‘t have scripted a better lead-in to the finale of the Virginia Triple Crown with a pair of drivers so closely matched at the top of the standings,” said Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell. “With a Grandfather clock, the richest payout that NASCAR‘s biggest Late Model Stock Car race has ever seen, and the Triple Crown on the line, fans are sure to see fireworks on Saturday night with all that these drivers have to race for.”
Trevor Ward (third at South Boston, seventh at Langley) is third with an average finish of 5.0, Brandon Pierce (ninth at South Boston, fourth at Langley) is fourth at 6.5 for an average finish, and Logan Clark (seventh at South Boston, 10th at Langley) rounds out the top five hopefuls with an average finish of 8.5.
McCarty claimed the win in the Thunder Road 200 at South Boston after Carson Kvapil was disqualified during post-race inspection. Queen took the win in the Hampton Heat 200 at Langley over recently crowned NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series champion Connor Hall — ending a streak of 11 straight wins that Hall had going at his home track.
An all-star field of Late Model Stock Car drivers will contend for the famed clock this Saturday night, led by Queen, McCarty and Hall. Additionally, two-time Weekly Series national champion Peyton Sellers will be back to defend his ValleyStar Credit Union 300 title and claim a second Grandfather clock.
Sellers is also the reigning Virginia Triple Crown champion and a four-time winner of the title, having also won in 2013, 2014 and 2018. However, he currently sits seventh in points after a 17th-place result at South Boston and an eighth-place finish at Langley.
Carson Kvapil, Landon Huffman, Carter Langley, Kade Brown, Kaden Honeycutt, Kyle Dudley, and previous ValleyStar Credit Union 300 race winners Mike Looney and Landon Pembleton are all also expected to be key contenders.
Friday, Sept. 22, features practice and qualifying for the current field of 87 entries, beginning at 2:00 p.m. Then the ValleyStar Credit Union 300, the nation‘s biggest, richest and most prestigious NASCAR Late Model Stock Car race and the Virginia Triple Crown finale, will return for an evening of intense competition on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 7:00 p.m.
Prior to this weekend‘s action, fans will have the opportunity to drive 8-10 laps in their personal vehicles around Martinsville‘s historic half-mile for a donation of $25. All proceeds will support the local Martinsville-Henry County YMCA.
Tickets to the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 are available for purchase via phone at 877-RACE-TIX or online at martinsvillespeedway.com.
Stay connected to Martinsville Speedway on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and the NASCAR Tracks App.
About Martinsville Speedway
Founded by H. Clay Earles in 1947, Martinsville Speedway is the only NASCAR track to host NASCAR Cup Series races every year since its inception in 1949. At .526 miles in length, the track annually hosts two NASCAR race weekends featuring the NASCAR Cup Series, along with NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races in the fall. Martinsville Speedway also annually hosts the ValleyStar Credit Union 300, the nation‘s biggest, richest and most prestigious NASCAR Late Model Stock Car race. For more information about Martinsville Speedway, visit martinsvillespeedway.com.
About NASCAR
Celebrating its 75th Anniversary in 2023, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 16 of the nation‘s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR sanctions races in three national series (NASCAR Cup Seriesu2122, NASCAR Xfinity Seriesu2122, and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Seriesu2122), four international series (NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race, NASCAR Mexico Series, NASCAR Pinty‘s Series (Canada), NASCAR Whelen Euro Series), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour) and a local grassroots series (NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series). The International Motor Sports Associationu2122 (IMSAu00ae) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championshipu2122, the premier U.S. sports car series. NASCAR also owns Motor Racing Network, Racing Electronics, and ONE DAYTONA. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in eight cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races annually in 12 countries and more than 30 U.S. states. For more information visit www.NASCAR.com and www.IMSA.com, and follow NASCAR on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat (‘NASCAR‘).
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