South Boston SMART Opener Racing Nobility

March 23, 2026April 3, 2026 Missed Gear

Notoriety, nostalgia, nobility, NASCAR…

This was all on display at South Boston Speedway for the racing season opener with the SMART Modified Tour. The points opener for the Hitachi Late Model division and the showcase of the Southern Ground Pounders were also on the ticket.

The Ground Pounders ran heavy on nostalgia with vintage cars from the 30s to the 70s.

The late models touched notoriety and nobility with Virginia Triple Crown winners, track champions, national series champions and grandstand namesakes Peyton Sellers and Lee Pulliam. The NASCAR bell is also struck for both drivers. Sellers has had a seat in the (now) NASCAR O’Reilly series and Pulliam gets a shot with Junior Motorsports at Martinsville coming up. Pulliam is also on a bit of a comeback as he’s been focused as a team and car owner and being behind the wheel again hits the nostalgia nail.

The SMART Modified race was dressed in nobility as it was the race to be “King Of The Modifieds” at SoBo. NASCAR stars hit the nostalgia and notoriety tabs as SMART regular and former NASCAR Cup driver Ryan Newman was there in the #2 car. Former track champion and NASCAR driver Elliott Sadler was, similar to Pulliam, making an “out of retirement” appearance for this race in the #16VA car. Sadler also has a section of grandstands carrying his name.

Another name from the NASCAR Cup series and now on TV with commentary was there for support during practice and qualifying. Jamie McMurray was there for his son Carter before heading to Darlington for the NASCAR broadcasts of the weekend.

Of course there were other notable names and personalities from the divisions challenging for the wins. Many made their presence known with good runs and top five finishes.

The Ground Pounders opened the Sunday races with 35 laps and two winners. #12 Sportsman Bobby Griffin and Modified #95 Shayne Lockhart took the flags.

Lee Pulliam ran a patient race to stay in position and run the lead for the win. He had not raced at SoBo since 2019 and the win here sets the stage further for that run at Martinsville with the NASCAR O’Reilly series. The final restart gave Pulliam the shot to take the lead as Conner Weddell spun a bit at the green flag. Weddell was less than a second off Pulliam for second place. Pole starter Trevor Ward finished third. Landon Pembelton and Josh Oakley filled the top five.

The SMART feature began with Ryan Newman and Carson Loftin on the front row. Loftin actually had the pole award on speed but Newman took the one spot in the starting position redraw. Elliott Sadler was not at the track for qualifying and started in the back. (He had a previous commitment as coach for youth baseball that he said was an obligation he did not want to pass on).

Ron Silk ran from the second row and was consistent through the 125 laps to take the win. The final restart put Silk up against Stephen Kopcik who took the second slot. Newman was leading for a good portion through mid-race and was there for third. Jack Baldwin rolled over in fourth and Sadler drove from the back to grab fifth position.

The full season is on at South Boston with April coming up fast for all divisions to take the track.

Photos from “King Of The Modifieds” at South Boston Speedway – March 20-21, 2026

Roanoke Drifting In Jappalachia

It is a fine thing when conditions lead to continuity. This particular continuity is also an automotive conundrum in several ways considering the current condition of the existence of the automobile. What….?? The trend that has taken hold, especially here in these United States, is the popularity of the SUV, the crossover variations of five door hatches, the automatic transmission and front wheel drive. All of these would point to a humorless and drab driving culture of A to B with a soccer game or a grocery store on the agenda. The days of fun behind the wheel are drying up. Or are they…? There are a handful of new rear drives out there. Of those, fewer still have a manual transmission. This leads to the continuity of cars of the past being rebuilt and re-born by people who seek the slides and the sideways. Yes, America, drifting may be the saving grace of the manual, rear wheel drive car. On a warm Wednesday tucked in the back corner of an industrial park I was there to bear witness to a mixture of car cultures. The recipe was a good mix of classic British “Top Gear”, American Motor Trend “Roadkill” and a heavy helping of the Japanese origins of drifting. The cars were budget sourced from the pre-owned market and rapidly made “drivable” over the past several days. Now they were here in this slightly barren environment to be compared on a mapped rally / drifting course by (can you guess…?) the same “tame” racing driver. For the sake of a little background… This group of guys have a mission which is building on their combination of talents. What is the mission…? Loosely defined it is a mixture of Japan’s origin culture of drifting and the extreme styling of it with the back roads mountain attitude of American muscle cars. They call it “Jappalachia”. There have been trips to Japan with driving study in the origins of the legendary Daigo Saito drifting style. Japan is distinguished as the genesis of drifting even as the sport has expanded worlwide. The “Jappalachia” handle has been vetted during these visits with positive approvals. The drift is no stranger to these men. A recent visit to NASA Haltech Hyperfest at Virginia International Raceway had a Nissan going tandem on the drift pad competition. On this Wednesday, they have two cars ready to take on the course. These are not their “pro builds” but side projects for the practice and fun of it. One is a late ’80s Corvette and the other is a Nissan 240sx (’89…? ’90…? give or take…) Both of them had less than “garage kept” history. Both put up sideways and dusty shows. I think the Corvette took the time even with bottom scrapes, fuel delivery issues and a lost ass bumper. It was also driven after the 240 so one could say the previous lap in the Nissan gave a nudge of “practice” to the ‘Vette. The “real” cars involved…? These guys are looking ahead to extreme builds in their shop. They are working up another C4 series Corvette and a 3rd generation Ford Mustang. The cars are being treated as homage to the extreme Kaido or Bosozoku style of Japanese drift builds. Big fenders, shovel forward in front of the wheels and wide body wings over the back. These are American muscle cars treated with anime angles. Engines are being built. Chassis and suspensions are being tuned and going into place. A rough timeline has turns on the calendar for the newly re-opened Southampton Speedway later this year as that track is running a drift schedule. This is Jappalachia. Connections…? Roanoke, Charlottesville, Japan, backgrounds in design, mechanics, fabrication, travel… They have formed a friendship from chance encounters, childhood history and love of fun in cars. The “tame” racing driver…? 2016 F4 Champion / 2021 EFO F3 Champion – Cameron Das, visiting from the UK with friends connected through common and crossed paths. His 2016 F4 is in the Jappalachia shop. 2016 USA F4 Champion, Cameron Das, with the season winning car in the Jappalachia shop Das is currently doing a social media series of video showcases of kart racing and tracks. Cameron Das: YouTube InstagramTay Whiteside – Lift Arc StudiosGresh Chapman (Instagram): Jackson WalkerConnor Shupe Visit the Jappalachia Website Photos – A visit to Jappalachia – Industrial Drifting *The dog is “Pickles” – an Alaskan Malamute. He’s a sweetheart in a sweet spot.
Movie Truck Throwback

Hanging out with long time friend from stage and screen who happened to be in a famous truck movie by Stephen King
RoVA-Drive Showcase: Benoit Pigeon

Elite commercial photographer has a fast eye for drag racing
RoVA-Drive Showcase: Bryan Reedy

Late Model Driver (#17) based in Roanoke