Connor Hall Wins Thunder Road 200 at South Boston Speedway, Captures First Leg of the Virginia Late Model Triple Crown

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Submitted by Ronald Young

(South Boston, VA) Connor Hall drove from the back of the field and passed Trevor Ward for the lead with 17 laps to go and pulled away to win the Thunder Road Harley Davidson 200 NASCAR Late Model Stock race on Saturday at South Boston Speedway.

The win was sweet for Hall who admits this is not one of his better tracks and makes him the early favorite to capture the Virginia Triple Crown that includes upcoming races at Langley Speedway in Hampton and Martinsville Speedway. “These like, really high grip racetracks where we all seem to struggle with loose entries, these scenarios are like my kryptonite,” Hall said in Victory Lane. “Not to discredit anything I’ve done since joining Nelson (Motorsports) but when I was at Chad Bryant, he would just beat my head against the side of the trailer trying to get me to understand what it takes to win these races.”

After qualifying 23rd earlier in the day Hall was a bit confused about his car that showed a lot of speed in practice until it was discovered he had a slow leak in his right rear tire. Problem solved when NASCAR allowed him to change the tire but that relegated him to the rear of the field for the start of the race.

Avoiding trouble as he worked his way toward the front, Hall was able to take advantage of the stage breaks and cautions over the first 100 laps to make his way inside the top -10.

With his car working well in both the high and low grove on the 4/10 mi oval the Hampton VA. driver was able to pass SoBo regulars Peyton Sellars, Mike Looney and Kyle Dudley before sitting his sights on the lead duo of Trevor Ward and Kaden Honeycutt.

Hall was able to pass Honeycutt-who led most of the first 100 laps of the race- just prior to the last stage break on lap 150.

From that point the race turned into a two-man show for the win as Hall and Ward traded the lead several times over the last 50 laps before Hall claimed his 1st win at South Boston and 19th of the season.

“It feels awesome,” Hall said after the race. “I think this is one of the best races I have driven in my life and I want to give my team and God all the glory. I’m just glad to be the one in the driver’s seat”

After the race Ward was pleased with how he was raced by Hall and happy to start off “Triple Crown” with a 2nd place run as he tries to defend his title from last season.

“That’s good hard racing for the South Boston 200,” Ward said. “I have been friends with Connor for a long time and have a lot of respect for him because that’s the way you want to be raced. Beyond that, we don’t race as much as some of these boys out here do and so I’m just proud of the speed we had and hope we can take that to Langley and Martinsville.”

Kaden Honeycutt appeared to be in control over the first part of the race but faded to 3rd at the finish.

“I had really good turn over those first 100 laps and didn’t make much of an adjustment at the break when we probably should,” he said of the changing track conditions. “Overall I am proud of our effort with this being our first time in this car here and we learned a lot for when we come back to the Cars Tour race in October.”

At present Hall not only leads the points in NASCAR Regional competition but he currently sits atop the Cars Tour standings as well.

With Hall’s hometown track being Langley Speedway and given his recent success he has to be considered the favorite in the Hampton Heat 200 on July 20th.

“I really want to win the Hampton Heat,” Hall stated. “My eyes are set on a clock (Martinsville trophy) and as good as this car was tonight we are going to be in contention for both races.”

South Boston 200

NASCAR Late Model Stock

South Boston Speedway

June 29 2024- Unofficial Results