Saturday’s ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway will decide the championship in the Viriginia Triple Crown, a series consisting of the three marquee races in Virginia which began in 2012.
21 of the over 70 drivers who will compete in Saturday’s fall classic are eligible for the Virginia Triple Crown. The championship goes to the driver with the best combined average finish in the three races. Connor Hall’s victory in the Thunder Road Harley Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway back in June and his runner-up finish in the Hampton Heat at Langley Speedway in July currently has him in the lead with an average finish of 1.5.
Hall, however, is focused on winning the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 for the first time, and letting the Virginia Triple Crown play out from there. Winning both would net Hall and the JR Motorsports team at least $52,000 in winnings.
“I usually try to count the money after I get it,” Hall told Short Track Scene. “Winning Martinsville, that’s our goal. We’re going there to win the race. If we win the race then we obviously take care of the Triple Crown too and that works out in our favor. The number one goal is to go win a Ridgeway grandfather clock.”
Hall’s primary competition in the Virginia Triple Crown heading into this weekend’s ValleyStar Credit Union 300 consists of CARS Tour regular and former Thanksgiving Classic winner Ronnie Bassett, Jr., and former Hampton Heat winner and Langley Speedway veteran Woody Howard.
Bassett scored a sixth place finish at South Boston and an eighth place finish at Langley.
“I think we’re gonna have a shot at it,” Bassett said. “You know going to Martinsville, you just gotta be there at the end to have a chance to win. You gotta stay out of the chaos, keep the fenders on it, but you see cars that race without fenders on them, so I think you just gotta be in position at the end of the race to capitalize on what may happen.”
Bassett’s 2025 season began with a third place finish in the CARS Tour season opener at Coastal Plains Raceway, a race won by Hall, but he has struggled in the summer months since. This weekend, he will be driving in a car owned and prepared by crew chief Shane Wilson instead of in his family owned and operated car.
His best finish at Martinsville was an eighth place in 2024.
For Howard, who has not competed in the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 since 2021 and has only run the race twice since 2009, a shot at the Virginia Triple Crown was not even the goal at first.
“I’m really excited to make my return to Martinsville and even more excited that we have a shot at the Virginia Triple Crown,” Howard said. “I have to give my team and partners all the credit. They had the vision to put all the pieces together to make it happen. Racing for the Triple Crown was not at all on my radar when the season started. We only planned on racing at Langley Speedway this year. I feel confident heading to Martinsville and believe we can compete for a win. I’ve had some big wins in my career but this would be the biggest.”
Howard finished seventh in the race in 2009 and 11th in 2018.
Darren Krantz, Jr. sits fourth in series standings with an average finish of 7.5, while Kade Brown’s average finish of eighth has him in fifth.
This year’s Virginia Triple Crown pays $20,000 to the champion, $10,000 to the runner-up, $7,500 for third, $5,000 to fourth, and $1,000 from fifth through 10th – the result of a large infusion of cash from FloRacing and NASCAR.
Previously, the Virginia Triple Crown paid $7,000 to the champion, $2,000 to second, and $1,000 to third.
Previous Virginia Triple Crown champions:
2012 – C.E. Falk, III; 2013 – Peyton Sellers; 2014 – Peyton Sellers (2); 2015 – Lee Pulliam; 2017 – Timothy Peters; 2018 – Peyton Sellers (3); 2019 – Lee Pulliam (2); 2021 – Bobby McCarty; 2022 – Peyton Sellers (4); 2023 – Trevor Ward; 2024 – Peyton Sellers (5)
The Virginia Triple Crown was not held in 2016 or 2020. In 2016, Langley Speedway was closed down for a year due to a land lease dispute, which ultimately led to Bill Mullis buying all the property Langley Speedway was located on. In 2020, South Boston Speedway closed down and the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 were canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Qualifying will be held at 8:00 pm on Friday for the ValleyStar Credit Union 300. The field will then be set in a series of heat races on Saturday beginning at 3:00 pm. The 200-lap main event will take place at 7:00 pm. Qualifying and heat races for the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 will be streamed live on FloRacing. The feature race will be streamed on Flo, as well as on The NASCAR Channel, available free on Amazon Prime and Tubi.
