The first event of the prestigious Virginia Triple Crown has been conquered by Connor Hall and JR Motorsports.
Hall put together a strong final half of the race to claim his second Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 victory in as many years.
The Virginia native had his work cut out for him, dueling with Matt Waltz for much of the night. Waltz was the dominant car in the early stages of the race, but lost the lead to Hall with 80 laps remaining and couldn’t recover in the closing stretch.
“It was an awesome night. My guys killed it,” Hall told Frontstretch. “They hung in there and worked their butts off for me.”
For Hall, the victory is the first step toward a potential Virginia Triple Crown championship. Saturday night’s triumph also locks Hall into the field for the three-race series’ finale at Martinsville Speedway in September.
“I really do feel good about [the Virginia Triple Crown],” Hall said of the winer. “I’ve got the best team, the best guys, the best opportunity, the best owners. Super excited to go to Langley and improve on what we had in the CARS Tour race, and then go to Martinsville.
Waltz held on to finish second after his strong start. The Virginian expressed frustration with the way he was raced by Hall on the restarts, but also took solace in the fact that he started his Virginia Triple Crown campaign with good momentum.
“[There were] just some games being played on the restart,” Waltz said. “We just weren’t able to keep up with jumping the start. You’ll have that I guess, and we weren’t gonna get called on it.
“South Boston’s always been my weakest link out of the three [Triple Crown races]. We’ve had good runs at Martinsville and are coming off a couple wins earlier this year at Langley [Speedway]. I have a lot of confidence going there and to Martinsville too.”
Rounding out the podium was 14-year-old Darren Krantz Jr. The Chad Bryant Racing prospect spoke to Frontstretch on what the fantastic run meant to him, while also confirming plans to finish out the Virginia Triple Crown
“I think it’s amazing that I’m able to run against these guys that’ve been driving in the CARS Tour and are extremely experienced,” Krantz said. “Where me, I’m just 14 years old and coming in and racing against all these older people that I haven’t raced against ever.
“We had a good first race, P3, that’s a pretty good start,” said Krantz to Frontstretch. “We’re gonna be doing Langley and Martinsville, 100%. We’re gonna go figure it out.”
Parker Eatmon and Ryan Millington wrapped up the top five, with Ronnie Bassett Jr., Tate Fogleman, Doug Barnes Jr., Brandon Pierce and Woody Howard completing the top 10.
With the race being divided into four 50-lap stages, Hall and Waltz found themselves without much separation due to a lack of sustained long runs. Waltz won the first two stages and led the opening 120 laps. Hall powered to the lead in the midst of the third stage before claiming the final two stages.
Another factor that led to several short runs was an abundance of cautions. The race proved to be chaotic from the start, with an opening lap incident setting the tempo for the night early on. The incident in question stemmed from contact between the front row starters Waltz and Justin Hicks.
There were numerous other incidents between competitors throughout the evening, with a particularly scary mount on lap 114 when Landon Pembleton‘s machine erupted into flames.
The final moment of calamity on Saturday night came at the start of the fourth and final stage, when a stack-up on the restart collected several drivers including Landon Huffman, Conner Jones and Buddy Isles Jr..
The second leg of the Virginia Triple Crown will come on July 19, when competitors flock to Larry King Law’s Langley Speedway for Hampton Heat. Martinsville Speedway will wrap up the three-race showdown with the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 on Sept. 27.
Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 Results
- Connor Hall
- Matt Waltz
- Darren Krantz Jr.
- Parker Eatmon
- Ryan Millington
- Ronnie Bassett Jr.
- Tate Fogleman
- Doug Barnes Jr.
- Brandon Pierce
- Woody Howard
- Conner Jones
- Kade Brown
- Camden Gullie
- Buddy Isles Jr.
- Carson Loftin
- Justin Hicks
- Chase Burrow
- Thomas Beane
- Landon Huffman -1 lap
- Trevor Ward -3 laps
- Justin Carroll -5 laps
- Blake Stallings -7 laps
- Toby Layne -17 laps
- Daniel Silvestri -18 laps
- Peyton Sellers -31 laps
- Jeff Sparks -34 laps
- Raymond Pittman -39 laps
- Jonathan Shafer -43 laps
- Deac McCaskill -43 laps
- Bobby McCarty -50 laps
- Landon Pembleton -86 laps
- Jessica Cann -141 laps
- Mason Bailey -169 laps
- Andrew Grady -180 laps
- Ryley Music -185 laps
- Jason Myers -200 laps
- Trey Williams -200 laps
- London McKenzie -200 laps
