LUCAMA, NC – Southern National Motorsports Park’s fall highlight, the Thanksgiving Classic, will celebrate its silver anniversary in style this weekend with a star-studded field and a jam packed weekend of racing.
The three-day event, which hits its peak on Sunday afternoon with the 250-lap Ultra Racing Association (URA) Late Model Stock Car feature, which is also the finale in the I-95 Showdown, will see eight divisions of racing in action. Along with the near-30 car field for Late Model Stock Cars, over 50 Legends have registered to compete in the fall classic and over 30 Chargers, a record, will chase victory at the 4/10-mile track in Lucama, North Carolina.
The Late Model Stock Car entry list is headlined by four-time NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series National Champion Lee Pulliam, 2025 Las Vegas NASCAR Cup Series winner Josh Berry, Keelan Harvick, Jamey Caudill, and Doug Barnes, Jr., among others.
Here are five things you need to know ahead of the grand finale for Late Model Stock Car racing in 2025.
Race Format
The 250-lap, 100-mile race will take place on Sunday. Qualifying for the Thanksgiving Classic will commence on Saturday, with the top-20 cars being locked into the 30-car field. The remainder of the field will be determined in a Last Chance Qualifier on Sunday.
The 250-lap race will utilize double-file restarts, with a choose rule. There will be controlled cautions for the event. There is no scheduled halfway break, but if there are 50 consecutive green flag laps, a competition caution will be thrown, but no competition cautions will be thrown inside the final 25 laps of the race.
Teams will be able to change up to four (4) tires during the race, and the controlled cautions will run for four (4) laps. Outside of those laps in controlled cautions, caution laps will count.
There will be unlimited attempts at an Overtime (Green/White/Checkered) finish if necessitated, unless time constraints or adverse cautions prompt race control to call the race off.
Event Purse
The 25th Thanksgiving Classic has a $77,900 purse for the Late Model Stock Car feature, with the winner receiving a guaranteed $15,000 and the last place starter receiving a guaranteed $1,500.
The total purse and posted awards are as follows:
1st – $15,000
7th -$1,700
13th – $1,500
19th – $1,500
25th – $1,500
2nd – $6,000
8th – $1,600
14th – $1,500
20th – $1,500
26th – $1,500
3rd – $4,500
9th – $1,500
15th – $1,500
21st – $1,500
27th – $1,500
4th – $3,500
10th – $1,500
16th – $1,500
22nd – $1,500
28th – $1,500
5th – $2,500
11th – $1,500
17th – $1,500
23rd – $1,500
29th – $1,500
6th – $2,000
12th- $1,500
18th – $1,500
24th – $1,500
30th – $1,500
SPECIAL AWARDS
$500.00 Pole Award
$500.00 Lap 100 Leader
$500.00 Lap 200 Leader
$250.00 Hard Charger Award
$250.00 Hard Luck Award
$500.00 Winning Crew Chief Award
$5,600.00 Value Custom Trophy to Winner
Schedule
Friday, November 28, 2025
10:30am – Pit gates open
12:00pm – Late Model Practice (until 3:00pm)
3:30pm – Local division practice
5:45pm – Grandstands open
6:00pm – Qualifying (Bandolero, Legend Car, Limited Late Model)
7:20pm – Pre-race ceremonies
7:30pm – Green flag
Bandolero (Race #1) – 15 laps
Any Car – 15 laps
Legend Car (Race #1) – 25 laps
Bandolero (Race #2) – 15 laps
Limited Late Model – 75 laps
Legend Car (Race #2) – 25 laps
Saturday, November 29, 2025
9:00am – Pit gates open
11:00am – Local division practice
2:45pm – Grandstands open
3:00pm – Qualifying (Mini Stock, Charger, Late Model Stock Car)
4:45 – Pre-Race ceremonies
5:00pm – Green flag
Legend Car (B-Main #1) – 15 laps
Bandolero (Race #1) – 15 laps
Legend Car (B-Main #2) – 15 laps
Mini Stock – 30 laps
Bandolero (Race #2) – 15 laps
Legend Car Feature – 30 laps
Charger – 50 laps
Sunday, November 30, 2025
8:30am – Pit gates open
9:00am – LMSC work session
9:15am – Stage cars for autograph session
9:45am – Grandstands open
10:00am – Autograph session on frontstretch (until 11:30am)
12:00pm – Southern National Vintage Series practice (until 12:10pm)
12:30pm – Late Model Stock Car Last Chance Qualifiers x2 (20 laps, top-five advance)
Pre-race ceremonies/Driver Introductions
Feature racing oprogram
Charger – 75 laps
Southern National Vintage Series – 30 laps
Late Model Stock Car driver introductions
Late Model Stock Car – 250 laps
Entry List
#0 – Chase Burrow; King William, VA
#1 – Andrew Grady; Raleigh, NC
#1 – Jamie York; Reidsville, NC
#2 – Ryan Wilson; Randleman, NC
#4 – Parker Eatmon; Conover, NC
#04 – Ronnie Bassett Jr; Lexington, NC
#5 – Mason Bailey; North Chesterfield, VA
#8 – Conner Weddell; Centreville, MD
#08 – Carson Haislip; Willow Spring, NC
#8 – Cody Bryant; Chesapeake, VA
#9 – Charlie Watson; Lenoir, NC
#10 – Eloy Falcon; Concord, NC
#16 – Robert Arch garner, NC
#17 – Josh Berry; Fayetteville, NC
#18 – Alex Meggs; Riegelwood, NC
#29 – Paul Williamson; Kenansville, NC
#44 – Dylan Newsome; Goldsboro, NC
#44 – Brian Blevins; Coeburn, VA
#44 – Conner Jones; Fredericksburg, VA
#50 – Jamey Caudill; Four Oaks, NC
#50 – Daniel Vuncannon; Fuquay, NC
#51 – Matt Cox; Longs, SC
#62 – Keelan Harvick; Harrisburg, NC
#63 – Tyler Matthews; Beulaville, NC
#71 – Jake Bollman; Mooresville, NC
#81 – Adam Murray; Middlesex, NC
#88 – Doug Barnes; Wellington, FL
#88 – Lee Pulliam; Alton, VA
#90 – John Goin; Scottsville, VA
Previous Winners
Some of the biggest names in short track racing, and even NASCAR racing, have won the Thanksgiving Classic, including Denny Hamlin, Josh Berry, Scott Riggs, Matt McCall, Brenden Queen, Lee Pulliam, Deac McCaskill, and Jamey Caudill.
1998 – Philip Morris
1999 – Scott Riggs
2000 – Frank Deiny, Jr.
2001 – Kirk Leone
2002 – Brandon Butler
2003 – Denny Hamlin
2004 – Jamey Caudill
2005 – Jamey Caudill
2006 – Deac McCaskill
2007 – Denny Hamlin
2008 – Joey Coulter
2012 – Greg Edwards
2013 – Ronnie Bassett, Jr.
2014 – Brayton Haws
2015 – Lee Pulliam
2016 – Tommy Lemons, Jr.
2017 – Matt McCall
2018 – Matt McCall
2019 – Bobby McCarty (Race was run in March 2020)
2021 – Josh Berry
2022 – Josh Berry ($50K to Win – Largest Purse in Class History)
2023 – Brenden “Butterbean” Queen
2024 – Parker Eatmon
Southern National Motorsports Park was closed from 2009-2011 and reopened by Michael Diaz in 2012. The Thanksgiving Classic was not held in 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on mass gatherings imposed by North Carolina. The Southern National Motorsports Park website officially credits former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper as the winner of the 2020 Thanksgiving Classic.
The 25th Thanksgiving Classic will be broadcast live on Ultra Broadcasting. Temperatures on Friday and Saturday are expected to be well-below average for the race, with highs in the low-40s and lows in the upper-20s. Sunday will see mostly cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid-60s. Rain is not expected to be a factor.
Marquis comes from St. Charles, Maryland and has a widespread background in journalism, having covered politics in Washington and Maryland as well as nearly every form of auto racing, including NASCAR, IndyCar, AMA Motocross and IHRA Drag Racing. Now living near Emerald Isle, North Carolina, Marquis covers Late Model Stock Cars and Super Late Models in the Carolinas and Virginia.
