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By Joe Chandler

South Boston Speedway

Judging from the looks of the first few races of the early season it appears the championship chase in the Sentara Healthcare Late Model Stock Car Division at South Boston Speedway will boil down to a battle between six-time South Boston Speedway Champion Peyton Sellers of Danville, Virginia and young Carter Langley of Zebulon, North Carolina.

The pair split wins in the twin 60-lap Sentara Healthcare Late Model Stock Car Division races that highlighted Saturday night’s ABC 13 WSET Night Race event at South Boston Speedway.

Langley won the opening 60-lap race, leading twice for a total of 45 laps and edging Sellers by 1.686-seconds.

Sellers won the nightcap, leading the final 35 laps and edging runner-up Jacob Borst by 3.743 seconds as the field slowed to take the caution flag that flew due to rain that forced the race to end seven laps early.

Saturday night marked the second time this season that Langley and Sellers, who had entered the twinbill tied for the division point lead, had split a twin-race event at South Boston Speedway. Both drivers now have four wins at the .4-mile oval.

“It was tough,” Langley said of his win over Sellers in the opening race that saw the lead swap hands twice between the two drivers. “Peyton definitely gave me a run for the money. We had a good car in the first race and was really rolling. We just didn’t make the right changes for the second race. All in all, it was a good night. We got another win and hopefully we can keep it going.”

Craig Moore of Rougemont, North Carolina finished third behind Langley and Sellers with Borst of Elon, North Carolina and Austin Thaxton of South Boston, Virginia rounding out the top five finishers.

With an inverted start among the top finishers of the first race, Sellers started eighth and Langley rolled off from the ninth spot. It was Sellers that was better able to slice through traffic. He needed only 19 laps to grab the lead from the race’s pole starter, Brandon Pierce. Once in front, Sellers dominated the race and cruised to the win.

“We had a solid car in the second race,” Sellers remarked. “We just missed it a little in the first race. That’s just racing. These tires were used the whole race last week and we used them again this week. We knew it was going to throw us a little bit of a loop. We made some adjustments for the second race and got it dialed in.

“Brandon Pierce was up there leading and ran me clean,” Sellers added. “I was able to get by him and the car just hooked up and started driving better.”

Langley finished third behind Sellers and Borst with Pierce of Kernersville, North Carolina and Moore completing the top five finishers.

There was only one caution period in each of the two races.

MYERS WINS LIMITED SPORTSMAN DIVISION RACE

Jason Myers of Hurt grabbed the lead from Nathan Crews of Long Island on the 17th lap and edged Crews by a narrow .381-second margin to win the 50-lap Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division race.

The win was the first of the season for Myers who became the division’s fourth winner in as many races.

Myers, Carter Russo, and Crews took turns at the front of the field with Myers taking the final lead and the win.

Bob Davis of Thaxton finished third, just over a tenth of a second behind Crews. Drew Dawson of Nathalie, Virginia finished fourth and Ronald Renfrow of Kenly, North Carolina rounded out the top five finishers.

Zach Reaves Captures First Career Win In Southside Disposal Pure Stock Division Race Saturday night was a special night for Danville, Virginia resident Zach Reaves.

Reaves led the entire distance and earned his first career win in the 25-lap Southside Disposal Pure Stock Division race, edging his brother, B.J. Reaves of South Boston, Virginia by .480-second.

Johnny Layne of Halifax who had won the season’s first two races in the division, finished third with defending division champion Scott Phillips of Halifax, Virginia finishing fourth and Jared Milam of Keeling, Virginia finishing fifth.

GOBLE UNOFFICIAL WINNER OF THE 20-LAP VSP HEAT HORNETS DIVISION RACE

Cameron Goble of Ringgold, Virginia took the checkered flag first in Saturday night’s 20-lap Virginia State Police HEAT Hornets Division race but the race results have not been declared official.

Goble won the pole and led all 20 laps but must wait for an official decision from track NASCAR officials which is expected to come by mid-week of this coming week.

The unofficial results have Kendall Milam of Keeling, Virginia, Dillon Davis of Nathalie, Virginia, Steven Layne of Halifax, Virginia and Landon Milam of Keeling, Virginia completing the top five finishers.

BOBBY GRIFFIN, BARRY DALTON ARE WINNERS

Bobby Griffin of Stokesdale, North Carolina, driving a 1965 Chevrolet Chevelle, took the lead from Chris Hicks of Powhatan, Virginia with eight laps to go and earned the overall race win and the Sportsman Division win in Saturday night’s 25-lap race for the regional touring Southern Ground Pounders Vintage Racing Club race. Hicks, driving a 1964 Chevrolet Chevelle, finished as the Sportsman Division runner-up.

Barry Dalton of Danville driving a 1936 Chevy Coupe, finished third overall and won the Modified Division. Mack Tatum of Midlothian driving a 1974 Chevy Vega, finished fourth overall and took runner-up honors in the Modified Division.

NEXT RACE AT SOUTH BOSTON SPEEDWAY

NASCAR racing will return to South Boston Speedway on Saturday night, June 3 with the Bojangles Night Race event.

The six-race Bojangles Night Race event will feature twin 75-lap races for the Sentara Healthcare Late Model Stock Car Division. Fans will also see a 50-lap race for the Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division, twin 15-lap races for the Southside Disposal Pure Stock Division and a 20-lap race for the Virginia State Police HEAT Hornets Division.

Practice will start at 3:30 p.m. and qualifying will begin at 6 p.m. The first race of the night will get the green flag at 7 p.m.

Advance adult general admission tickets are priced at $12 each and may be purchased online on South Boston Speedway’s website, www.southbostonspeedway.com or by calling the speedway office at 434-572-4947 or toll free at 1-877-440-1540 during regular business hours.

Tickets at the gate on race day will be $15 each. Seniors ages 65 and older, military, healthcare workers, and students (with ID) can purchase tickets for $12 each at the gate on race day.