For Bobby McCarty there is likely no better place to be than South Boston Speedway with the Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour championship on the line in Saturday night’s Autos By Nelson 250 presented by Bojangles at “America’s Hometown Track.”
McCarty holds a slim one-point lead over Kaden Honeycutt in the Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour championship point standings entering the 125-lap Late Model Stock Car Division race that comprises half of Saturday night’s season-ending Autos By Nelson 250 presented by Bojangles at South Boston Speedway.
The Greensboro, North Carolina resident scored a win in South Boston Speedway’s showcase NASCAR Late Model Stock Car Division race on July 3. In 2019 McCarty survived a thriller at “America’s Hometown Track” when he won the tour title by edging Corey Heim by two feet at the finish line for second place in the season finale to win the championship by one point over Josh Berry.
“Winning the July 3 race at South Boston definitely gives us some confidence,” McCarty said, “but with the CARS Tour being the way it is with the competition as tough as it is it’s really tough to rely on how you ran at tracks earlier in the season.
“We’re definitely looking forward to this race,” he added.
“We always love coming to South Boston. It’s a track that has been very good to me over the years, so we love coming back. Hopefully we can pull off another win.”
McCarty, who has two CARS Tour victories and four total wins this season, has seven career Late Model Stock Car Division race wins at South Boston Speedway. He has experienced a good deal of success on the .4-mile oval during his career, including having won the 2012 South Boston Speedway Limited Sportsman Division title.
“South Boston Speedway is just a track that has always made sense to me,” McCarty pointed out.
“I’ve just always been good there. We feel pretty confident in it, but this being the CARS Tour we’ve just got to be level-headed, keep working and see what we can pull out.”
Winning the 125-lap Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car race at South Boston Speedway would be a special victory for McCarty as he has not won a CARS Tour race at the .4-mile oval.
“We haven’t won the CARS Tour race at South Boston Speedway yet,” McCarty noted, “so that’s one I want really bad.”
McCarty and his Nelson Motorsports team have one focus – winning Saturday’s race.
“Our first and foremost goal is to go out and win the race,” McCarty said.
“Our mindset is to win. We’re completely set on winning this race and doing everything we can to win the race. If we win the race, we win the points championship too.
“I don’t like being in the mindset of I’m just trying to go race one other guy because then you’re really not concerned about winning, you’re just concerned about outrunning him,” McCarty continued.
“We’re keeping our mindset focused on winning the race. If we can pull that off, everything else will work itself out.”
McCarty says qualifying on the pole and getting in front is going to be the key to success in Saturday night’s 125-lap race.
“I think qualifying on the pole and staying out front will be the key just because of how the track races,” McCarty explained.
“The track rubbers up and the groove widens out and everybody kind of migrates to the top. If you qualify up front you keep the option of which lane you choose. You can keep the car wound up on the top, and it gets really hard to pass if the car is working up top. Our mindset is to try to qualify on the pole and stay out front, and that way we have our option of what groove we want to restart in on restarts.”
Saturday night’s Autos By Nelson 250 presented by Bojangles is the final event of the season for the Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour and the final event of the season at South Boston Speedway.
It will be a big night of racing with a CARS Tour doubleheader featuring a 125-lap Late Model Stock Car Division race and a 125-lap Super Late Model race.
Saturday’s race day schedule has rotating practice sessions for the two divisions from 12:30 p.m. until 2:45 p.m. Grandstand gates will open at 4 p.m. and qualifying starts at 4:45 p.m. There will be an on-track Fan Fest driver autograph session at 5:45 p.m. and the first race of the night will get the green flag at 7 p.m.
Advance tickets are priced at $15 each and are available through Friday night, October 15 on the South Boston Speedway website, www.southbostonspeedway.com. Also, advance tickets may be purchased at the South Boston Speedway office until 5 p.m. on Friday, October 15.
Tickets purchased at the gate and online on race day are priced at $20 each. Children ages 12 and under are admitted free when accompanied by a paying adult.
The latest news and information about South Boston Speedway and its events can be found on the South Boston Speedway website, www.southbostonspeedway.com, and through the speedway’s social media channels.
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