LUCAMA, NC – When the dust settled from a series of mid-race skirmishes, it was Doug Barnes, Jr. who emerged victorious in the 25th Thanksgiving Classic at Southern National Motorsports Park on Sunday afternoon.
Barnes had to start at the rear of the field after missing qualifying on Saturday to attend a wedding. However, aided by pit strategy, he methodically worked his way through the field, making the race winning pass on Tyler Matthews on lap 185 in the 250-lap Late Model Stock Car race.
“Dude, it’s unbelievable,” Barnes said. “With the year we’ve had, just being able to come out here and beat some big names, it’s just unreal. I was just praying, please no caution, please no caution, but finally came down to it. This is definitely the biggest win of my career so far.
The victory in the 2025 finale was Barnes’ fifth of the season at Southern National. Earlier this season, he clinched the Late Model Stock Car championship during Speed Week, and scored another win back in September.
“I feel like I’ve always been good here and then, it just really clicked this year,” Barnes explained. “I had more races, more laps, and, you know, I just put the results together. Stayed out of other people’s messes for the first time. Like, the other Classics have always been, I get caught up in something and this time, it finally played out.”
Lee Pulliam, driving for JR Motorsports for the first time, rebounded to finish in the runner-up position after being sent to the rear of the field for being involved in a caution when Josh Berry spun off his front bumper. After the race, Pulliam was thankful to be able to compete for JR Motorsports but was disappointed to come up short.
“I guess they gotta make a call,” Pulliam stated. “It’s just disappointing because I don’t know what I could have done any different. You know, really, they’d be better off penalizing people who miss shifts because that tears up a hell of a lot of race cars, but anyhow, it is what it is.
“We had a great race, worked really hard to get back to the front and had a rocket ship. It just got too tight once we put tires on and I had to use the nose to get bvack through the field and I knocked up the nose a little bit and just never quite turned good enough at the second half.”
As the laps ticked away, Pulliam eased his pace to save tires in the event of a late race caution which never came.
“I was just so thankful to do it,” Pulliam continued. “I mean, Dale [Earnhardt, Jr.] and Kelley [Earnhardt Miller] and L.W. [Miller], everybody for giving me the opportunity. What a dream come true to drive this Jerky Boy Chevrolet. Super proud to be able to represent JR Motorsports and just had such a good time.”
Andrew Grady finished in third, while Tyler Matthews and Mason Bailey rounded out the top five.
Josh Berry had initially finished in the runner-up position. After the race, the Tom Usry Racing team Berry was driving for protested Barnes’ car. During the protest, the truck arms on the no. 17 car Berry was driving were deemed to be outside of the rulebook’s tolerance and their runner-up finish was disallowed. Barnes’ car was deemed legal.
25th Thanksgiving Classic
Results
- Doug Barnes, Jr.
- Lee Pulliam
- Andrew Grady
- Tyler Matthews
- Mason Bailey
- Jamey Caudill
- Carson Haislip
- Bobby McCarty
- Alex Meggs
- Matt Cox
- John Goin
- Chase Burrow
- Charlie Watson
- Brian Blevins
- Paul Williamson
- Clay Jones
- Conner Weddell
- Jamie York
- Keelan Harvick
- Jake Bollman
- Daniel Vuncannon
- Dylan Newsome
- Eloy Falcon
- Ronnie Bassett, Jr.
- Cody Bryant
- Adam Murray
- Parker Eatmon
- Josh Berry – DQ
