Racing and rain. The mix holds hope out to dry for every race day and every track. Some tracks called it out early to save racers and fans some time and tarvel. South Boston Speedway took a look and rolled the dice. A major chunk of teams were already in the infield. Friday practices rolled out well and the predictions did have the largest chances of rain falling to the north.
The threat of wet did cut and paste the racing schedule and the timing. The early call was to move the Sportsman race up to 5:00pm to be followed by the 200 lap Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 main late model event. The Pure Stock and Hornets would close the race day out. Rain did come and it did push the re-schedule with track drying cleared just around the 5pm hour. The call was made to flip the late model and sportsman racing as there was more rain in the vicinity.
With the racing being squeezed, the autograph session did get pushed aside. The crowd was still there for one of the highlight races of the SoBo season. The opening race of the *Virginia Late Model Triple Crown went green with over 40 cars on the track.
( *Virginia Late Model Triple Crown features 3 races. The Thunder Road 200 at South Boston, The Hampton Heat at Langley Speedway and the ValleyStar Credit Union 200 at Martinsville Speedway.)
Landen Lewis started up front and restarted a few laps later after an early jumble cost a few drivers the day. Almost half way another caution held the laps to the scheduled half way stop for fuel and adjustment. Lewis started it but it was Kaden Honeycutt who took the final flag.
Honeycutt took the lead about 14 laps in and held and defended that lead to the end. He also took a number of awards beyond the race win. He pocketed stage leader prizes and fastest lap award. Some heavy hitters fell back or were dealt damage early and could not get back in the groove. Lee Pulliam, making some waves behind the wheel in 2026 after holding an owner / manager role was caught in a wreck. Peyton Sellers also caught a spin. Brenden Queen, Mini Tyrrell and Bobby McCarty also had hard times with wrecks or midfield finishes. Connor Hall did make a top ten run after tasting previous seasons TRHD200 wins. Caden Kvapil, Trey Crews III, Doug Barnes Jr and Blake Stallings also rolled across in the top ten.
Lewis kept it near the front with a fifth place run. Trevor Ward drove in for second, Landon Pembelton came in third and Carson Brown took fourth.
The altered schedule and mixed rain did let the Limited Sportsman race in before the next bit of rain came. Tristan Brunelli ran front to front for the win. Drew Dawson finished second. Dan Rogers, Chris Elliott and Jacon Derrick completed the top five.
The next bit of rain came through and pushed the start of the Pure Stock and Hornets to later. The fans that held on caught a good show with the two 20 lap dashes and the fireworks closeout.
Once underway, the Pure Stock had chases and passes with Barry Reaves starting off but Jay Hemenway got by. With 6 laps to go, Johnny Layne passed and pulled to the front for the win. Hemenway kept on for second and Reaves finished third. For, Layne, it was his 38th win putting him in the record books.
The Hornets put a chase behind the top two for third and back. Chris Penick and Landon Milam finished one and two where they started. Cameron Goble came up from 9th to take third.
The closing fireworks let the lights down and the show went up over the track with a colorful reward for the fans on hand. Rain did chase some away but the hardcore SoBo faithful held their seats for an American celebration of sight and sound high over the back stretch.
Racing returns to South Boston on July 11. The second leg of the Triple Crown will be at Langley Speedway on July 25 for the Hampton Heat. The closer will be at Martinsville Speedway in September.
Photo Gallery – Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway – June 27, 2026
