South Boston 200-Lapper May Be Most Important Race Of Season

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The longest Late Model race of the season at South Boston Speedway very well may turn out to be the most important.

Saturday night’s 200-lapper, part of the Bojangles Presents Dr. & Mrs. Maresca of St. Lawrence Radiology and Thunder Road Harley Davidson night, has all the ingredients of a thriller with more than a checkered flag on the line.

First there’s the length of the race … 200 laps. It’s 50 laps longer than any other race of the season and opens up a different set of strategies.

Then there’s the points battle. Matt Bowling and Lee Pulliam have waged a lively race for the championship all season. Pulliam leads in victories … seven to Bowling’s three. But with a win in the last outing, Bowling stretched a 10-point lead to a 34-point advantage. With just two race dates left after Saturday night, Pulliam will have to be in attack mode.

Pulliam will also have $10,000 on his mind Saturday night. That’s what the Virginia Late Model Triple Crown winner takes home, and headed into Saturday night’s second leg of the Triple Crown, Pulliam is the leader. The other two races in the Triple Crown are the Hampton Heat at Langley Speedway, which Pulliam won, and the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway later in the year.

Matt Waltz of Newport News is second in the Triple Crown points and plans on making the trip to South Boston Saturday night to chase that $10,000. It will be his second trip of the season to South Boston; he had a pair of third-place finishes in the twin 75-lappers two weeks ago, which he said served as a warmup for this Saturday’s race.

“I haven’t been running for points (at Langley) and have been moving around some,” said Waltz. “The Triple Crown is a good incentive to come back and get a shot at $10,000. I don’t have a win at South Boston and I definitely want to get a win at that place. Hopefully I’ll get one this weekend.”

He had a good shot at getting that first win two weeks ago in the second 75-lapper but a mid-race altercation with Pulliam forced him to the back of the field and he only managed to get back to third.

“The run we had two weeks ago gave us confidence coming into this week,” said Waltz. “I’ll just try to stay off the bumper of the guy who ran over us.”

There should be some fresh faces in the field Saturday night, too. Former track champion Justin Johnson practiced on Wednesday and plans to run this Saturday as does former track regular Bugs Hairfield, who also practiced this week and Jonathan Cash.

In addition to the 200-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model race, there will be a 100-lap Limited Sportsman race, a 50-lap Budweiser Pure Stock race, a 15-lap Budweiser Hornets race and a 20-lap Champ Kart event. The night will be capped with a spectacular fireworks display.

Grandstand gates will open at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, qualifying will begin at 4:45 p.m. and a fan appreciation event will be held trackside following qualifying. The first of the night’s five races will get the green flag at 7 p.m.

Advance adult general admission tickets are $15 each and may be purchased at the speedway office until 5 p.m. on Friday, August 28. Adult admission on race day is $20, with admission for youth ages 7-12 $10. Kids six-and-under are admitted free with a paying adult.

Tickets from the July 3rd rainout will be honored this Saturday, August 29.

SOBO Speedway PR

Speedway Digest Staff
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