Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By Brian Carton and John Karratti

Consistent. That’s one of the things other drivers, South Boston staff and fans say of Jordaine Penick. She’s been impressively consistent this season, posting five third-place finishes in a row, eight Top 5 finishes in nine starts. You can add one more Top 5 finish to that resume after Saturday’s race, along with a new title, as the teenager is the 2024 Virginia State Police HEAT Hornets Division champion.

However, Jordaine didn’t want to take all the credit. After winning the title, she thanked everyone who worked with her this year, from her crew chief and dad Michael Penick to the rest of her team and all of her sponsors, everyone that helped make this possible. She’s also already focusing a bit on next season. When asked after the race what her next goals are, Jordaine mentioned winning a race at South Boston and continuing to work on her driving. In doing that, she’s continuing a family tradition that stretches back more than 60 years.

“Jordaine is actually the third generation driver in my family,” said her father, Michael. His sister Cheryl raced back in the 80s and early 90s, driving at Southside, Natural Bridge and South Hampton. And before that, Michael’s dad, Bill Penick, raced at those same three tracks back in the 1960s, alternating with main driver Cliff Gariss.

In earlier conversations with The Dispatch, Jordaine said it was that family connection that helped her get into the sport.

“Daddy always told me stories about them,” the Meherrin resident and Farmville native said. “I wanted to do it a couple years ago and he said, ‘Well, if you want to do it, we can start you.’

Jordaine started out by driving a car around the field and actually took a peach tree out.

“That’s how I got the nickname Peach Picker Racing,” Jordaine said.

She’s improved a lot since that first attempt, with plenty of thought put into what she would drive. In other words, getting involved in auto racing was not a sudden decision.

“(We’d) been planning this for a long time,” she said in that earlier interview, adding that before getting started in 2022, she and her dad worked on the car for about a year.

“It’s a family thing, everybody helps, and I enjoy spending time with family,” Jordaine said.

HISTORY BEHIND SATURDAY’S RESULTS

As we mentioned, with Jordaine’s fifth-place finish Saturday, she was far ahead enough in points to secure the Hornets Division title. But she also went into the history books while doing it. Jordaine became just the second woman driver to win a South Boston Speedway championship in the 67 years the track’s been in operation. She’s also the first to do it in 20 years. Before Jordaine, it was Terri Marks who won the track’s Grand Stock Division championship back in 2024.

Marks was on hand Saturday night to congratulate Jordaine on her accomplishment.

As for the race itself, it was Jason DeCarlo of Nelson winning the 20-lap race to claim his second win in a row and third of the season. He edged Cameron Goble of Ringgold by 1.7 seconds to claim the win.

But DeCarlo had taken too long this season to go on his run and was too far back in the points standings to have an impact on the title hunt. Danville’s Cameron Moss, pole winner and early-race leader Dustin Davis of Nathalie and Jordaine rounded out the top five finishers.

Going into Saturday’s race, Jordaine held a nine-point edge over her teammate, 15-year-old Farmville resident Max Sangillo. Max would finish ninth, making his own contribution to help his cousin get across the finish line. With Jordaine’s car needing some parts late, Max gave up his own.

“(Max) actually sacrificed his race car Saturday night to let Jordaine use parts for her car,” Michael said. “I couldn’t be more proud of anyone than Max. That’s the kind of person and race car driver he is.”

LOOKING BEYOND THIS SEASON

Above all, it’s about what the kids want to do. As long as their joy and passion for racing remains, Michael said he’s glad to help both his daughter and nephew continue to grow and develop in the sport.

“We’ve had a lot of attention given to us from the track, other leagues and other drivers about how much Jordaine and Max have improved and what they’ve accomplished,” Michael said in an earlier interview with The Dispatch. “If they want to make a career out of it or as long as they want to do it, I’ll build them a racecar. But when it’s not fun anymore, let me know and we can do something different.”