SOUTH BOSTON, Va. — After passing late model heavy hitters such as Kaden Honeycutt and Brenden “Butterbean” Queen, it was Connor Hall standing in a victory lane overshadowed by fireworks at South Boston Speedway.
Hall charged through the field of the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 Saturday night (June 29) over the course of the 200-lap event after starting 32nd due to a tire change before the race. And with track temperatures cooling from 140 degrees during the day to under 100 degrees under the lights, that played a large factor in tire management.
Still, Hall never used his stuff up while passing 31 cars and taking the trophy in the first leg of the Virginia Triple Crown Series.
“It feels awesome,” Hall told Frontstretch. “It’s kind of a dream come true. I’ve won two of the three legs in the Triple Crown now, and I really, really want to win the Hampton Heat (Larry King Law’s Langley Speedway). “We’re going to go there and try to take care of business, but our eyes are set on the [Martinsville Speedway grandfather clock]. As good as this thing was tonight, we’re going to be in contention both races.”
“Honestly, this feels like a fairytale kind of night. How many nights are you going to win one of the biggest races of the year from the trunk? Don’t get me wrong, I think this is probably one of the best races I’ve driven in my life, but I don’t deserve any of the credit. All of my team and God get all the glory, and I’m just thankful to be the one in the seat.”
The Hampton, Va., native entered the top five shortly after the halfway break on lap 100. As drivers such as Honeycutt, pole winner Kyle Dudley and 2023 ValleyStar 300 winner Trevor Ward traded blows in the second half, Hall quietly snuck into contention.
However, Hall’s speed roared when he edged Ward for the lead just as the yellow flag came out for a pileup in turn 4 that involved top five fixtures Mason Bailey and Mike Looney.
When the race restarted with just over 30 laps to go, Hall briefly lost the lead to Ward, who looked as though he would be able to use the clean air to charge to the win. However, Hall tracked him back down, taking the lead with less than 20 laps remaining and never looking back.
While several of the leaders found speed in the middle groove of the 0.4-mile track, Ward had his tires on the apron to make his charge. When the opportunity arose on a lap 100 restart to commence the second half, he took the lead from Honeycutt. However, Hall’s charge proved to be too much for the Winston-Salem, N.C., native, coming up one spot short of victory lane.
“Just really the heat cycles,” Ward told Frontstretch on what he needed to hold off Hall. “You don’t know what you’re going to get. That last run, we fired off pretty good, just had to push it a little harder to try and get the lead back, and I think I pushed the right front off a little bit too much.”
Honeycutt, who raced less than 24 hours after competing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at Nashville Superspeedway, took the lead immediately after starting on the front row. He led the first 100 laps, but as the night wore on, his grip slowly loosened.
“I just couldn’t fire off very well on the right side [tires] there,” Honeycutt told Frontstretch. “Honestly, in the first half I thought we were good, I was honestly saving. I guess we just didn’t adjust right. It’s one of those deals. We came here, first time at South Boston with this car, led 100 laps, had a good showing and finished third.”
A couple of pre-race favorites ranged from having relatively quiet nights to disastrous nights. Two-time NASCAR Advance Auto Weekly Series champion Peyton Sellers quickly settled inside the top five after starting eighth but could never quite challenge for the lead en route to a fourth-place finish.
“To be honest with you, it was a very frustrating night,” Sellers told Frontstretch. “We just never had the speed we needed. We were competitive, we put ourselves in position, we stayed out of trouble and had track position, and that’s what kept us up front all night.
We could have easily ran 10th and ended up fourth. All in all, a solid night. I’m never going to complain about a top five at South Boston in this big of a race.”
After starting third, Queen slipped outside the top five and never appeared to have the speed to compete up front. Meanwhile, defending race winner Bobby McCarty was involved in an early accident and retired from the race shortly thereafter.
Hall, who leads the Weekly Series Southeast standings and the CARS Tour standings, will look to go back-to-back in the Virginia Triple Crown at the second leg at Langley on July 20. Martinsville will be the finale of the Triple Crown on Sept. 28.
Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 Results
- Connor Hall
- Trevor Ward
- Kaden Honeycutt
- Peyton Sellers
- Kade Brown
- Carter Langley
- Kyle Dudley
- Brenden Queen
- Deac McCaskill
- Blake Stallings
- Tate Fogleman
- Stacy Puryear
- Raymong Pittman
- Brandon Pierce
- Matthew Waltz
- Jessica Cann
- Timothy Peters
- Jason Myers
- Landon Pembelton
- Mason Bailey
- Mike Looney
- Sam Yarbrough
- Chase Burrow
- Brian Thomas
- Bobby McCarty
- George Waldrop
- Isabella Robusto
- Logan Clark
- Eric Winslow
- Jacob Borst
- Camden Gullie
- Andrew Grady
About the author
Luken Glover joined the Frontstretch team in 2020 as a contributor, furthering a love for racing that traces back to his earliest memories. Glover inherited his passion for racing from his grandfather, who used to help former NASCAR team owner Junie Donlavey in his Richmond, Va. garage. A 2023 graduate from the University of the Cumberlands, Glover is the author of "The Underdog House," contributes to commentary pieces, and does occasional at-track reporting. Additionally, Glover enjoys working in ministry, coaching basketball, playing sports, and karting.
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