Connor Hall paces challenging practice day at Carteret County

Two-time NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national champion Connor Hall his groove in practice at Carteret County Speedway on Friday, pacing the combined speed charts during practice for Saturday’s $10,000-to-win Christmas Clash.

Hall, who has five prior victories at flat, 4/10-mile track in Peletier, North Carolina, gained over three-tenths of a second from the first practice to the second, clocking a 16.317 second lap and knocking young Tristan McKee off the top of the speed charts.  After the first practice, Hall had been frustrated with the performance of the car.

“I wish I could say I felt better,” Hall told Short Track Scene after the first practice session.  “All the motor package rules and whatnot have thrown us for a little bit of a loop.  We’re not used to having to run this motor with this much weight on the right.  It’s thrown our balance off a little bit from where we normally unload.  We’re just kind of dealing with a little bit of a learning curve.  Haven’t been here in two years, different rule package, trying to get the car to handle better and produce the best racecar we can for tomorrow.  I don’t think we’re out of the hunt but I don’t think we’re any means a shoo-in.”

Hall was not alone.

Six-time Wake County Speedway champion Clay Jones, who won the first Late Model race ever held at Carteret in 2015, also struggled with finding the right balance on his car.

“We’re struggling right now to be honest with you,” Jones said.  “It’s been four or five years since we’ve been down here.  Got to get the balance right.  We’re way off on balance.  I feel like we’re monster trucking out there with the holes and stuff.  We’ve got to adjust some springs and stuff to get the balance right and try to get a little more speed on it.  If we get the balance right, it will definitely get us in the ballpark.”

2023 ValleyStar Credit Union 300 winner Trevor Ward was also on hand for practice, putting up the ninth quickest time.

“I’m just here to have fun,” Ward said.  “Any time you can race in December with a good day like it is today, it’s always fun.  Just come out here to have fun.  Dean Fogleman gave me an opportunity to drive his racecar and got to thank them guys a lot for giving me this opportunity.  We came down here and put our name on the wall and we’d like to get some stars beside it.”

Carteret County Speedway puts the name of every Late Model race winner on the wall and puts stars next to their names once they have recorded multiple victories.  It was a tradition that track founder Bobby Watson, who passed away in 2018, started in 2016.

The Christmas Clash also features the return of two veteran racers.

Two-time track champion Chris Burns and 2018 track champion Brandon Clements each felt good about their cars.  For Burns, it was his first race at the track in years as he had stepped away from racing regularly in 2021 and has focused on family.

“It’s been a while since we’ve done much racing at all, much less been out here,” Burns said.  “It’s like riding a bicycle hopefully.  Hopefully, we’ll jump right back in the swing of things.  I feel like we have a decent car.  We had some issues with the brake rotors up front in the first practice.  Addressing that right now and hopefully we’ll go out there and pick up more speed and have a good piece tomorrow.”

Burns wound up fifth in the combined speed charts.

For the 27 drivers who took time on Friday, they will now aim to lock themselves into the feature race on Saturday.  The top 20 cars will be locked in on time during qualifying, which will take place on Saturday.  From there, the top-four finishers will advance from the Last Chance race at 2:30pm, and one additional driver will get in via provisional.

The Limited Late Model feature at the Christmas Clash, which will be a 130 lap race, will go green at 4:00pm.  Crown Vic and Legend Car racing will precede the Limited Late Model race, with those events both set to take place in the 3pm hour.

The Christmas Clash will be broadcast live on Racing America at no additional charge to monthly subscribers of the RTA Media platform.

The complete practice times, from both sessions and sorted by the best overall times, can be seen below.

Christmas Clash Practice Day – Combined Practice Times
Bobby Watson’s Carteret County Speedway