Carson Kvapil celebrates winning the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Photo: Matt Marrie | The Podium Finish)
RIDGEWAY, Va. — Late model stock car (LMSC) racing is the staple pavement racing in the Carolinas and Virginia. LMSC’s race at the local tracks in the region and compete in the CARS Tour.
Many of the new generation of NASCAR drivers have at least tested the waters of LMSC including Josh Berry, Layne Riggs, Kaden Honeycutt and Carson Kvapil. These cars have certainly become a favorite stepping stone to the NASCAR ranks.
Martinsville Speedway has hosted the ValleyStar Credit Union 300, the biggest race of the season for the LMSCs since 1985. This race also completes the three jewels of the Virginia Triple Crown.
The Triple Crown champion is determined by the average finish of the drivers who compete in the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway, the Hampton Heat 200 at Larry King Law’s Langley Speedway, and the Valley State Credit Union 300.
Last year’s champion was Trevor Ward. The drivers in contention to win this year’s championship were Connor Hall, Peyton Sellers and Kade Brown.
Eighty cars entered Saturday night’s race. The race weekend format was condensed due to Hurricane Helene canceling all on-track activities on Friday.
That did not mean there was no exciting activity at the track as tornado notifications hit everyone’s phone while the teams moved their cars and equipment into the track Friday afternoon.
As the practice sessions were canceled, the teams were left hoping they had their setups correct for the concrete pavement of Martinsville. The cars qualified for times and were then placed into one of four qualifying races.
The winner of race one would earn the pole with the second-place finisher earning the fourth position in the big race. The same format continues with the remaining three qualifying races, with the winner of race two earning the outside pole, and so on.
Peyton Sellers was a factor throughout Saturday night’s ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville. (Photo: Matt Marrie | The Podium Finish)
After the four qualifying races finished, the field was set with Kyle Dudley, who had the fastest time in qualifying, on the pole with Kvapil to his outside. The next two rows were filled by Sellers, Hall, Stuart Crews and Buddy Isles Jr.
Early race issues included Hall who appeared to have mechanical problems, falling back through the field. Dudley brought the caution out twice, first with 133 to go, and again with 125 laps left in the race, ending his race.
With 115 laps to go, when Tristan Mckee was tight coming off the corner, driving into the side of Hall as he looped his car around off the nose of Mckee while the field stacked up behind. Some drivers involved were Blake Stallings, Timothy Peters and Casey Kelley.
This would end the night for Peters who qualified into the event for the 20th time in his career.
The race was red-flagged for cleanup and when the yellow flew the teams were able to come in to make repairs to return to the field. The Nelson Motorsports team’s efforts at trying to make a case to bring Hall to pit road under the red failed.
Instead, teams prepared all their equipment to make repairs as soon as they could. The team quickly replaced plug wires under the caution but Hall was three laps down when the green flew.
Isles’ chances of contending for the win ended early after two front caliper failures. Losing his brakes on Lap 10, the team switched the left caliper, sending him back on the track only to return back into the pits on Lap 100 to change the right, finishing the night in the 30th position.
Lee Pulliam returned to action in the No. 03 ride typically driven by Brenden Queen. (Photo: Matt Marrie | The Podium Finish)
As the first half of the race wound down, Lee Pulliam fell from the top five, losing positions before the yellow for the break came out. Pulliam, who stepped away from racing several years ago to build his team and mentor young drivers, made a promise to his father, who had been having health issues, that they would go back to try for his third ValleyStar Credit Union 300 win as soon as his dad was well enough.
At the race’s halfway break, the No. 87 of Mike Looney was in the lead, taking home a $1,000 bonus. Kvapil put up a fight but could not make the final pass to earn the additional bonus at the halfway point.
The first half of the race took a toll on the drivers as the top two in the field found two very different ways to refresh themselves for the remaining 100 laps. Looney chose a bottle of oxygen from Lowe’s while pickle juice and mustard were the refreshment choices for Kvapil.
With 71 laps to go, Mason Diaz spun and was able to gather it up, however, the yellow did come out once again for his spin. Diaz pitted under yellow and lost a lap, which is not what Hall wanted to see as Hall was pushed down another spot, decreasing his chances of earning a lap back with the lucky dog should the caution come out again.
The second segment of the race ended with 25 laps to go with Kvapil in the lead followed by Looney and Brown.
While the final segment drew closer to its conclusion, Kvapil and Looney had several car lengths lead over the remainder of the field, with a tight battle for third and back to ninth. Jake Crum got loose in a three-wide battle with Brown on the outside of the pack. Aaron Donnely drove over the top of Daniel Silvestri while Brown found himself hard into the wall.
Connor Hall contended for the Triple Crown in Saturday night’s ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville. (Photo: Matt Marrie | The Podium Finish)
Prior to ending the night in the wall, Brown was in the point to position to win the Triple Crown. As the race began, Hall was first in points while Sellers ranked second for the Triple Crown. The next two, Brenden Queen and Kaden Honeycutt, were no longer eligible as they did not start the race.
With Brown’s early exit, Sellers secured his fifth Virginia Late Model Triple Crown championship.
The remainder of the race belonged to Kvapil who earned the win and the grandfather clock in his third attempt at the ValleyStar Credit Union 300. Kvapil was emotional in victory lane as he ponded about his future and his potential to compete in future ValleyStar Credit Union 300s.
ValleyStar Credit Union 300 Top 10 Finishers
- Carson Kvapil
- Mike Looney
- Treyten Lapcevich
- Casey Kelley
- Bobby McCarty
- Jake Crum
- Brent Crews
- Ronnie Bassett, Jr.
- Peyton Sellers
- Sam Yarbrough
