But when it comes to South Boston Speedway, he’s far from a rookie, which should make up for some of his K&N inexperience. He was South Boston’s Limited Sportsman champion a year ago and has two full seasons in that division on the .4-mile oval.
Hunt-Sellers Racing of Danville announced Friday that Garrett would be driving their entry in the May 12 race, a move away from their original plans to enter him in just three K&N events this season.
The 18-year-old South Boston resident made his K&N East debut last Saturday at Langley Speedway and turned in a solid sixth-place finish, which drove the decision to enter him in the South Boston race. He has been running Late Models on a regular basis at Dominion Raceway this season and was scheduled to race there on May 12, but now will skip that race.
“As a team, we wanted him to run for the championship at Dominion, but after he ran so well at Langley last week, it made perfect sense for him to run this (South Boston) race,” said Peyton Sellers, one of the team owners, who is also the defending Late Model champion at South Boston. “He has as many laps at South Boston as anyone else that’s going to be in the field. It was a no-brainer to put him in the car.”
Tickets for the whosyourdriver.org NASCAR K&N Twin 100s are just $10 in advance, $15 at the gate. And, as is the case all season, children 12 and under are admitted free with a paying adult. Tickets may be purchased in advance by calling 877.440.1540.
To help celebrate Mother’s Day, the track will be giving away a diamond necklace, valued at $500, to one lucky lady.
“It means a lot to me to be coming back to South Boston in front of so many people I know,” said Garrett, who won five Limited races at the track in 2017. “Hopefully I can use my knowledge from racing there and that it will carry over some to the K&N car.”
The 2017 Halifax High School graduate admits even he was surprised at how well his K&N debut at Langley turned out.
“I was trying to get adjusted to the car, the additional horsepower and weight, and get adjusted to the track,” said Garrett, who is sponsored by Propel GPS. “Once the race started we were able to keep a good pace the entire race. I never pushed it hard in the first half and I saved enough to keep my car competitive in the second half.”
Garrett said the team plans on testing his Late Model at South Boston next week to reacclimate to the track and then take advantage of a day of open practice for the K&N cars next Friday. And he hopes his experience at South Boston will pay dividends in the two 100-lap races.
“It does make me feel a little more comfortable running at South Boston. It’s been six months since I’ve been on the track there, but I look forward to trying to get back in the groove in practice,” said Garrett. “I think I have an experience advantage there, but so many of these guys are so good. They unload good. They are the best of the best.”
The format for the May 12th event – two 100-lap championship points paying races – is unique. The only other time the series has utilized the format was last year … at South Boston Speedway.In addition, there will be twin 75-lap Late Model Stock races featuring a field of South Boston Speedway weekly competitors.
An autograph session for all drivers will be held trackside from 6:00 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. Pre-race activities start at 6:40 p.m. and the first of twin 100-lap races for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series east competitors will get the green flag at 7 p.m. Grandstand will open at 4:30 p.m.
