As the championship chase winds down, Late Model Stock cars were back in action this past Saturday (Aug. 22) night at South Boston Speedway for race 17 of the planned 20-race points paying schedule. Thanks to penalties levied against Landon Pembelton following the August 1 twin-features shaking up the standings, Trevor Ward entered the night with a healthy 22-point lead over Peyton Sellers, with the ability to all but clinch the title with a win.
However, rather than a championship defining drive from Ward, it was a clutch, and dominant performance from Sellers in the latter stages of the 100-lap feature, as Sellers drove away by more than two seconds in the end, picking up his fourth win of the 2026 campaign.
Rookie Conner Weddell scored yet another second place finish, his sixth of the season, while Ward put in a solid third place run to limit the damage to his points buffer over Sellers. Blake Stallings and Pembelton completed the top-five.
“Man this is cool,” Sellers said post-race. “To be able to win at South Boston is hard. To win a 100-lap race with no cautions is hard, … It’s five cars that can win any given night. Trevor [Ward] is the one we’re chasing in the points but any car can win right now and that’s what it’s all about. The competition level is just so tight right now at South Boston.”
It’s win No. 69 of Sellers’ career at South Boston, and one that presents a small window of opportunity over the final three races to chase his record ninth track championship. When it comes to points racing, he feels the only thing he and the No. 26 team can do is win races.
“We’re doing all we can do,” Sellers said. “Win races, that’s all we can do. The rest of it has got to fall the way it is. Championships aren’t won or lost on the last night, it’s a whole year. We’ve had an up-and-down year this year for sure but winning is the only thing that can cure it.”
Ward started on the pole with fellow No. 77 driver Stallings to his outside, but a quick lap-two yellow for Jason Myers allowed Weddell to jump to the second spot. On the ensuing restart, Weddell worked the outside lane to retain the second spot, and began what would ultimately be a race-long chase of Ward.
While Ward led early with Weddell right in tow, it was Sellers who methodically worked his way forward and eventually around the No. 8 of Weddell for second on lap-33. From there, Sellers stalked the tire tracks of Ward, as the top-three separated themselves from the field. After multiple looks to the low-side, it was a surprising outside move from Sellers on lap-63 that earned the No. 26 the top spot.
From that point on, Sellers checked out, leading the rest of the way and keeping his championship hopes alive. Weddell worked his way around Ward in the final five laps, earning his sixth runner-up finish and 12th podium despite his winless rookie-campaign.
“We just were a little too tight,” Weddell said post-race. “The aero-tight added on to that didn’t help us at all. When we got a little bit of clean air after getting around Trevor [Ward] it wasn’t as tight, so it was better but it was just too late. Just kind of frustrating being one spot short all the time, but we’ll come back and hopefully be one spot better.”
Meanwhile, Ward’s late race damage control to hold off Stallings and Pembelton preserved a chunk of his points lead, and he’ll still be in control over the final two race nights, including twin features this coming Saturday night.
“Man, we treat every race the same,” Ward said. “This is a good night tonight. Obviously we’ve come up a little bit short. Didn’t really predict that we were going to have a great weekend but I’ll take a third.”
South Boston will now have just three Late Model Stock events left before the track champion is crowned, two of which are set to take place this upcoming Saturday, Aug. 29. Following the twins next Saturday, the 100-lap finale will take place Saturday, Sept. 12.
Davenport Energy Race Night Results 8/22/26
- Peyton Sellers
- Conner Weddell
- Trevor Ward
- Blake Stallings
- Landon Pembelton
- Bobby McCarty
- Tate Fogleman
- Andrew Grady
- Thomas Scott
- Hudson Sharp
- Zach Peregoy
- Jason Myers
- Raymond Pittman III
- Eric Winslow
- BJ Reaves
