Landon Pembelton made a strong impression amongst his experienced competitors in the first race of the Virginia Late Model Triple Crown.
A rookie in South Boston Speedway’s Late Model Stock division, Pembelton raced like a veteran and worked his way inside the Top 5 during the second half of the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200.
The end result did not properly reflect Pembelton’s speed, as he finished 29th after getting turned into the outside retaining wall with 25 laps remaining.
“I felt like we got jacked up on the backstretch,” Pembelton said. “That carried us all the way through the corner but it is what it is. This is the biggest race of the year [at South Boston] and everything just kind of happened at once.”
Although Pembelton was unsure as to who ended up spinning him, he admitted that he was more dejected than frustrated knowing that a strong finish was taken away from him in the closing stages.
Along with gaining experience, Pembelton said that having a great race pace was going to be important against an expanded grid that included former South Boston track champions in Timothy Peters and Justin Johnson, as well as two-time CARS Tour champion Bobby McCarty.
Pembelton was pleasantly surprised at how fast his No. 0 Pembelton Forest Products Chevrolet was through all 200 laps and credited Forrest Reynolds and his crew for all the hard work they put in on the car leading up to the weekend.
“Forrest Reynolds really had this thing hooked up,” Pembelton said. “We made the car a little bit better at the halfway break. The top three were pretty stout and we could have gotten a little bit more but this was still a 4th-8th place car.”
While Pembelton did not get the finish he wanted, he said that his expectations were more than exceeded and is hoping to carry the momentum from Saturday through the rest of South Boston’s season.
Pembelton currently sits ninth in South Boston’s Late Model Stock point standings after missing two races earlier this year. He has yet to visit victory lane in a Late Model Stock but knows that he can gain plenty of knowledge just by sharing a track with drivers like Peyton Sellers and Mike Looney.
Pembelton wants to break through for his first win before 2021 concludes but he intends to stay patient and earn respect among his competitors with several challenging races left on his schedule.
“We’re going to shoot for more Top 15s and Top 10s,” Pembelton said. “We obviously want to try and make the show at Martinsville, since that’s the biggest race. The Hampton Heat is a mental game, so we’re going to try and beat that too.”
Now that he knows what his car is capable of, Pembelton is eager to see what he can accomplish in the final two Virginia Triple Crown races despite being eliminated from title contention due to his late crash at South Boston.
Pembelton is not concerned about winning the Virginia Triple Crown, as he is more focused on finishing strong and completing every single lap in the two major races.
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