The biggest weekend in Late Model Stock car racing is finally here.
Every fall since 1985, the best Late Model Stock car drivers in the nation have gathered in South-central Virginia for the most prestigious race in the sport: The ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway.
With inclement weather on the way due to Hurricane Helene, what is normally a two-day show will now be crammed into one, as Friday evening’s (Sept. 27) on-track activity has been rescheduled to Saturday morning.
As of the time this is being written there are more than 80 cars signed in for a chance to win a Ridgeway Grandfather Clock on Saturday night. By the time you read this, that number could be upwards of 90.
Due to the mass amount of cars vying for the most coveted prize in all of Late Model Stock car racing, it would be impossible to for us to preview them all, so we’re just going to give you some key stories to watch instead.
From past champions to up-and-coming stars, here’s everything you should keep an eye on for Late Model Racing’s Daytona 500.
The Fight for the Crown
It’s time to ‘crown’ a champion. (See what we did there?)
The Virginia Triple Crown is a three race series consisting of the Thunder Road Harley Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway, Hampton Heat at Langley Speedway, and the 300 at Martinsville.
The three race series takes drivers’ finishes in each event, averages them out, and the driver with the lowest average finish is crowned the champion.
Heading into Martinsville, the fight at the top is extremely close between Connor Hall and Peyton Sellers, but many others remain in contention with a 40 car field at Martinsville.
That being said, Hall and Sellers remain the favorites, as Hall currently holds an average finish of 1.5, while Sellers owns a 3.5. Hall just locked up his second consecutive NASCAR Weekly Series National Championship, while Sellers is a record four-time champion of the Triple Crown.
Both are expected to be in contention for the win, and have the most likely shots at winning the crown, but what if the struggle?
With Brenden Queen and Kaden Honeycutt not in attendance, that leaves Kade Brown in position number three heading into Saturday night, sporting an average finish of 8.5.
Behind Brown, Carter Langley and Landon Pembelton sit at 11.0 and 11.5, respectively. Keep an eye on those five as the contenders for the 2024 crown on Saturday night.
A Legend Returns
Lee Pulliam is back.
In the absence of Queen, who will be racing with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Kansas Speedway, car owner Lee Pulliam will jump behind the wheel of a Late Model Stock car for the first time since 2020.
Pulliam put together a legendary career behind the wheel of a Late Model Stock car, scoring the NASCAR National championship four times in 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2017.
Pulliam has two previous victories at Martinsville, winning the clock in both 2011 and 2014, and won the Triple Crown in 2015 and 2019.
For Pulliam, the goal is not just to run the laps, but compete for a win at Martinsville- one that would tie him with Phillip Morris for the most all-time in the event.
Although it has been over four years since Pulliam has been behind the wheel of a Late Model Stock car, his laps around Martinsville are priceless, and will certainly help throughout the weekend as the team goes about setting up the car.
Back in June, Pulliam jumped behind the wheel for practice at South Boston as Queen was racing the Truck Series race at Nashville Superspeedway. Pulliam put up some extremely competitive lap times, and will be one to keep an eye on all weekend long at Martinsville.
Ultimately, whether or not the No. 03 is contending this weekend is just icing on the cake. We get to watch one of the best to ever do it wheel a late model around Martinsville one more time, and everyone in the stands and at home alike should enjoy the moment.
The Favorites?
In a crowd of 80-plus, two drivers with golden opportunities ahead of them, who could be considered the favorites, are Pembelton and Carson Kvapil.
At just 19-years old, Pembelton already has one grandfather clock to his name, shocking the world back in 2021 with his win at Martinsville. Three years later, Pembelton returns fresh of a Dominion Raceway track championship, this time driving for Pulliam in the No. 55.
Having the victory under his belt, Pembelton knows what it means to win at Martinsville and won’t be rattled by the pressure. Having an Ace like Pulliam to lean on all weekend long, not only for advice but setups as well, only shifts the odds in his favor.
Meanwhile, Kvapil remains winless at Martinsville despite being oh so close the past two seasons. Kvapil ran runner-up to Sellers on a late restart in 2022, and finished third behind Trevor Ward and Landon Huffman‘s intense battle in 2023.
With Kvapil potentially moving on to bigger things such as the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2025, this weekend could be treated as Kvapil’s last chance to check the box for quite some time – the box that remains the biggest missing piece to his already impressive Late Model Stock career.
Martinsville 300 Format
As previously mentioned, all on-track activity for Friday has been moved to Saturday morning.
A full-field practice session will take place on Saturday morning, before all 80-plus cars will take time in single car qualifying.
The qualifying session does not lock anyone into the main event, rather setting the line-ups for four 25-lap heat races. The top four qualifiers will start on pole of a heat, five through eight will start second in a heat, and so on.
The top 10 finishers from each heat race will transfer to the main event. With no last-chance qualifiers, those on the outside looking in will see their race day come to an end.
With that, the field will be set for Saturday night’s 200-lap main event at the Paper Clip.
*Note: Should any/all qualifying be scrapped due to weather, Trevor Ward will be guaranteed a starting spot as the defending race winner.
Race Day Schedule
Saturday, Sept. 28:
Practice: 10:00-11:30 a.m. ET
Qualifying: 12:30 p.m. ET
Heat Races (25-laps x4): 3:00 p.m. ET
Feature (200-laps): 7:00 p.m. ET
Coverage of the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville can be found all day long on Saturday, live on FloRacing.
Chase began working with Frontstretch in the spring of 2023 as a news writer, while also helping fill in for other columns as needed. Chase is now the main writer and reporter for Frontstretch.com's CARS Tour coverage, a role which began late in 2023. Aside from racing, some of Chase's other hobbies include time in the outdoors hunting and fishing, and keeping up with all things Philadelphia sports related.