Sixteen years later and Peyton Sellers is once again the NASCAR Weekly Series champion but that’s where the similarities end.
This is very much a different Peyton Sellers.
Back then, he was a 21-year-old emerging prospect with all the tools needed to race on Sundays but found himself lost in the shuffle of an era where there was a tremendous amount of talent and only so many seats to go around.
Instead, Sellers has spent the past decade becoming one of the mainstays of the Mid-Atlantic Late Model Stock Car scene with six championships at South Boston Speedway while also establishing a cache as a team owner and driver development coach.
Sellers is good for almost a dozen wins a year and would be a no-brainer threat to win the NASCAR national championship if he wanted to pursue it, but routinely pulls the trigger late in the summer. That happened again this year, but Sellers upped the ante by running at both Dominion Speedway and South Boston early in the spring — mostly because he missed racing after missing time in 2020 due to the shutdown.
“We typically don’t go out and race on a national level,” Sellers said. “We don’t typically start looking at the points until August and figure out if we have a shot at it.
“That kind of trapped us a few times because we’ve had good seasons, but there wasn’t enough races left to make up the points gap. So, we started early this year, and by the grace of God, started to rack up a lot of wins and made it to where we could have smooth sailing later in the summer.
“It almost made it to where it was out of touch for anyone to get the points needed to catch up.”
Weekly Series Division I drivers are ranked by their best 18 NASCAR points finishes in series-sanctioned events. Drivers receive two points for every car they finish ahead of – up to 18 cars – and three points for a win, with an additional two points available if the driver starts 10th or lower.
Sellers captured the championship with 9 victories at South Boston and 12 at South Boston. With that said, it wasn’t easy, and there was a lot to navigate due to the pandemic, national tire shortage and parts shortage.
“COVID is still very much alive and well, unfortunately right now,” Sellers said. “So just staying healthy the whole time, keeping our crew guys healthy, to be able to go race week in and week out and do the grind – all the nights in hotels or on the road.”
Running Dominion mitigated the tire concerns as they run McCreary Tires — manufactured by Specialty Tires of America.
“Then we go to south Boston or Langley, there is a tire shortage there and a lot of different rules and everyone is scrambling and trying to make the most of that,” Sellers said. “But really, this season comes down to keeping everyone healthy and being able to stay on the road to chase this thing.”
Sellers never took the national championship for granted, not at 21 and not at 37, but it is different when the grind is part of an overall goal to chase the dreams of a NASCAR Cup Series career.
“I had a different perspective back then,” Sellers said. “I was trying to move up the ladder. I was using it as a stepping stone. So, while I won the national championship on Saturday night, I was focused on trying to get an opportunity to go race for another team or move up the ladder the next day.
“So back then, I didn’t really let it soak in. I kind of used it and took it in stride. I’m here today in 2021, you know, I run our family’s business during the week. I go race on the weekends. It’s a 100 percent hobby right now.”
So, while Sellers never became a Cup Series mainstay, and isn’t a Denny Hamlin comparison, even though they were identical drivers from identical eras, the accomplishment this season is sweeter for different reasons other than moving up to Sundays.
“I love doing this,” Sellers said. “I still have a burning desire to drive as much, and maybe more, than I did in 2005. I can cherish this a little more. I’ve got more family around me and we’re able to soak this in as a family.
“When I won the first one, I woke up the next day nervous and wondering if that call from Richard Childress was going to get me to the next level. We’re focusing on racing at Martinsville this weekend and focusing on doing it purely just because we love to do it as a team and family and representing our home tracks in Virginia.”
While Sellers is focused on enjoying the right now, and not looking ahead beyond Martinsville this weekend, he expects to make a run at a third NASCAR national championship next season. There are many who would like to see Sellers add a CARS Tour championship to his resume, but Sellers really enjoys representing both Virginia and NASCAR.
“For me, the opportunity to compete at a national level for NASCAR, you know, a NASCAR championship is something that I’m very proud of,” Sellers said. “I’m not saying I would never run a CARS Tour season but right now, the NASCAR championship is something I’m proud of.
“I’ll get the opportunity to represent NASCAR at the awards banquet. The awards and purse money is very stout compared to a CARS Tour championship. This is a great thing and I want to keep participating and building it into something special.”
