RIDGEWAY, V.A.- For the fifth time in 11 years, Peyton Sellers is the king of Virginia.
It wasn’t the night Sellers was hoping for at Martinsville Speedway, but after fighting back to finish ninth in the ValleyStar Credit Union 300, he was once again crowned the champion of the Virginia Triple Crown.
The Triple Crown championship is decided through drivers average finish between the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway, The Hampton Heat 200 at Larry King Law’s Langley Speedway, and the 300 at Martinsville.
Entering the night, the three drivers with the most legitimate shot at winning the Triple Crown were Connor Hall, Sellers, and Kade Brown. Hall entered with an average of 1.5, while Sellers sat at 3.5 and Brown at 8.5.
After Hall had trouble early, Sellers seemed to be cruising to the title. However, as the No. 26 began to fade, it was Brown who was in position to steal the title from the top two.
Fortunately for Sellers, Brown ran into trouble of his own, and a ninth at races end was enough to secure Sellers the top spot in the standings.
“I don’t know what happened,” Sellers said. “We were so, so good in the first half there, felt like we were just biding our time. I knew four tires were gonna help us, we bolted on four tires, made a couple adjustments and it just didn’t drive good at all.”
Nonetheless, Sellers was still happy to capture the Triple Crown, despite the lack-luster second half at Martinsville.
“For sure, you know that’s what you put your whole year into is for championships and things like that,” Sellers said. “We had a very good run at South Boston, a very good run at Langley, and to come here and have as good a run as we did, we just didn’t quite have the finish we thought we needed.”
On the other end of the spectrum, Hall entered the day leading the standings, poised to challenge for his first grandfather clock. Instead, mechanical troubles derailed his day early.
“First of all, this is the super bowl right,” Hall said. “Everyone wants to win the super bowl. So no matter how dejected I can be now or angry or whatever like, I’m gonna come back and hopefully win next year.
“I come here literally just to win a clock. That is it like, I want to win a grandfather clock from Martinsville Speedway probably worse than any other racing accomplishment I’ve achieved or not yet achieved. … ,it was just not our night.”
In the closing moments, Brown had a legitimate shot to steal the crown. While Hall was trapped laps down and Sellers had begun to fade, Brown had charged his way to third and was mathematically leading the Triple Crown standings.
However, contact on a late restart with Jake Crum accordioned into a three wide incident in turn 1, one that ended with Brown in the turn 2 wall. What seemed to be a magical run towards both a crown and a clock ended a few laps early.
“No, no conversations need to be had,” Brown said. “It’s just Martinsville. That’s kind of what you’ve got to expect when you get put in bad spots, I mean it’s just all part of it.
“It definitely means a lot to come here and run like we did, unfortunately we don’t have the finish to show for it.”
The fight for the Triple Crown in a way added something to watch to a race that was largely dominated by Carson Kvapil in the second half. Sellers remains the true model of consistency and retains his hold on the Triple Crown until 2025.
About the author
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.
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