Matt McCall returning to Southern National for Jerry Moody Memorial

LUCAMA, NC – Veteran Late Model Stock Car racer Matt McCall is excited to return to his home track at Southern National Motorsports Park, where he will compete in the Jerry Moody Memorial on Wednesday, March 4.

McCall drove for Moody for four seasons, winning a championship in the once prevalent UARA-STARS Late Model series in 2009. Since then, McCall’s knowledge of racing and mechanics led him in a different direction, becoming a crew chief for Chip Ganassi Racing and RFK Racing. He has also worked with Richard Childress Racing and is now the competition director for Spire Motorsports.

“It’s awesome to come back,” McCall said. “When Diaz told me he was going to have a chance to do this and talked to the Moody family, it’s one of those things. That guy gave so much for this sport, so to be able to give back to him and being able to race again would be great.”

The first and only Jerry Moody Memorial race, prior to the one upcoming, was held on a Sunday afternoon in May 2015. McCall was able to compete in that race and would go on to score the victory after a mid-race invert. Since then, he has raced a handful of times at Southern National, including back-to-back wins in the Thanksgiving Classic in 2017 and 2018.

His last start came in 2022, but McCall believes he can find his way to victory lane on March 4 in a race that pays $5,000-to-win and will draw a lot of heavy hitters being part of the I-95 Showdown.

“I don’t know the last time we raced, maybe three years ago, so we’ll see how it goes,” McCall stated. “I think we can win. Obviously, our car is really old but we’re going to tune on it a little bit and see if we can get it pretty close.”

Joining McCall and the I-95 Showdown competitors will be some familiar faces. Deac McCaskill and Jamey Caudill, both four-time Southern National Motorsports Park track champions, are expected to enter the race as well as Jerry Moody’s daughter, 2015 Division II track champion Haley Moody.

“Yeah, I mean, that’s awesome,” McCall explained. “I knew that Haley was trying to put something together so that’s cool that she’ll be able to run. Obviously, those other guys, I raced with them week in and week out for many years, so that will be good times.”

When McCall won the race in 2015, he gave the custom-made trophy to the Moody family. The trophy, which will be replicated in 2026, featured a large pig, honoring Moody’s life as a pig farmer, and multiple photos of Jerry Moody and his racecars.

Being able to return to a Late Model Stock Car, and to his former home track, will be an experience McCall enjoys, no matter the outcome of the race.

“Late Model Stock Car racing is what I love,” McCall remarked. “That’s whereI got my start and it gave me opportunities to do all the things I’ve been able to do, so anytime I can come back and play in that, I’m grateful.”

Last fall, at the Thanksgiving Classic, McCall was enshrined into Southern National Motorsports Park history when the turn four grandstands, section 51, were named after him.

The $5,000-to-win I-95 Showdown Late Model Stock Car race at the Jerry Moody Memorial, dubbed the I Dig Pigs 125, will commence on Wednesday, March 4 and will kick off four consecutive days of racing at Southern National. The race will be broadcast on Ultra Broadcasting, the official streaming home of the Ultra Racing Association and Southern National Motorsports Park.