South Boston Speedway Archives

  South Boston, Va. (Jan. 25, 2021) -- A talented young husband-wife team with wide-ranging experience in NASCAR racing has joined the South Boston Speedway staff to help lead the historic speedway into the future. Chase and Carly Brashears will serve as assistant general manager and assistant office manager respectively through the 2021 season. Chase Brashears will become the speedway’s general manager in 2022, with his wife, Carly, overseeing the track’s marketing, promotions and administrative functions. The Brashears will be working alongside South Boston Speedway General Manager Cathy Rice and Office Manager Helen Barksdale throughout the 2021 season learning the speedway’s operations. “I’m very excited about this opportunity to come to South Boston Speedway,” said Chase Brashears. “South Boston Speedway is a nationwide, if not internationally known name in short track racing. It’s a huge honor to have the opportunity to lead the speedway. I’m very thankful to the Mattioli and...

  SOUTH BOSTON SPEEDWAY GENERAL MANAGER CATHY RICE STEPPING DOWN AT THE END OF THE 2021 SEASON South Boston, VA…… When Cathy Rice took the reigns as general manager at South Boston Speedway in 2000, she became a pioneer of sorts in being only the second woman to become a general manager at a NASCAR-sanctioned speedway. While serving in that post for the past 20 years the Cluster Springs, Virginia resident has helped make South Boston Speedway one of the true gems among NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series short tracks. The 2021 season will be Rice’s last full season as general manager of South Boston Speedway, as she plans to step down from a full-time role at the historic speedway. “I am not walking away, I am just slowing down,” Rice explained. “I do need to slow down. We all do in time. Everybody at some time or another looks at doing different things and seeing different places. With my husband now retired we will be able to do more things together. I want to spend more tim...

  Housman Looks To Compete In Limited Sportsman Ranks At South Boston Speedway In 2021 South Boston, VA…..Over the last two or three years Tony Housman has wanted to try his hand at racing at South Boston Speedway. Unfortunately, his plans to race at “America’s Hometown Track” did not fully materialize. “I’ve built cars two times to come here and run full seasons here at South Boston Speedway, and then something happened – like this year (2020) it was COVID-19,” Housman explained following a December testing session at the .4-mile oval. The Rocky Mount, Virginia resident is hoping 2021 will be different. He tested a Limited Sportsman Division car at the .4-mile oval last month with an eye toward competing in South Boston Speedway’s Limited Sportsman Division this season. Recent changes to South Boston Speedway’s Limited Sportsman Division rules package steered Housman to want to compete at South Boston Speedway in 2021. “They (South Boston Speedway officials) are reeling the Limite...

South Boston Speedway Competitors Share Christmas, New Year Wishes South Boston, Va……Christmas is right around the corner. So is the end of what has been a truly challenging year for everyone in 2020 and the start of what everyone hopes will be a much brighter and better New Year in 2021. Some of South Boston Speedway’s competitors have weighed in on their thoughts surrounding the Christmas season and their wishes for the New Year in 2021. Peyton Sellers of Danville, Virginia, the 2019 South Boston Speedway NASCAR track champion, 2020 Virginia NASCAR champion and 2020 NASCAR national runner-up, said “this has obviously been a challenging year for everybody. No matter what profession you are in you’ve been affected by the current events we are all going through. I think this is a time of the year to reflect on the positives in life and spend some time with family.” In looking ahead to 2021, Sellers said “I just wish that everybody can get back to normal and we can get back to things tha...

New Rules Changes Help Keep South Boston Speedway’s Limited Sportsman Division Affordable And A Fan Favorite South Boston, Va….South Boston Speedway officials have taken steps over the past few seasons to cut costs for competitors in the Limited Sportsman Division. Revamped motor rules that include multiple engine options have been implemented, and nearly all of the various engines have visited Victory Lane at “America’s Hometown Track.” The track’s one-tire rule which limits Limited Sportsman Division teams to being able to buy only one new tire per race has helped teams cut costs considerably. Offering good purses in conjunction with cost-cutting measures, South Boston Speedway officials have made racing in the division more affordable and have kept racing in the division competitive. Track officials are making more moves for the upcoming 2021 season to help teams cut costs and further enhance the competition. One of the rule changes eliminates bump stopping and coil binding. There w...

After Frustrating 2020 Season Phillips Is Looking Forward To 2021 Season At South Boston Speedway South Boston, Va….This season has been a tough one for Scott Phillips. The Halifax, Virginia resident had looked forward to racing in the Pure Stock Division at South Boston Speedway in 2020 only to see the COVID-19 pandemic crush that hope. Phillips attempted to race at other speedways from time to time, but misfortune struck virtually every time. “2020 has been rough,” Phillips said with a sigh. “I got tired of waiting for some racing to start (at South Boston Speedway) and started going to some other tracks and had problems with one thing or another every time.” Phillips made his first attempt to race in 2020 at Orange County Speedway in North Carolina and immediately suffered misfortune. “I ended up getting into an accident during practice and it twisted the car,” Phillips explained during a break in a recent testing session at South Boston Speedway. “It pushed the roll cage and door p...

  South Boston Speedway Gift Certificate Makes A Perfect Christmas Gift South Boston, Va….The Christmas shopping season is here. You don’t like the thought of battling shopping mall traffic. You’re apprehensive about being in a crowded store with frantic shoppers. You don’t want to have to deal with the aggravation of standing in a line waiting to enter a store, and you are concerned about what gift to give to that special friend or family member that is a racing fan. The answer to that Christmas shopping problem is simple – a gift certificate from South Boston Speedway. “A South Boston Speedway gift certificate makes a great gift for the race fan in your life,” said South Boston Speedway General Manager Cathy Rice. “What makes a South Boston Speedway gift certificate so nice is that favorite race fan in your life can come out and enjoy a night of exciting short-track racing. You can spend as much or as little as you want, and you won’t have to deal with traffic, stand in line outs...

Two-Time South Boston Speedway Champion Johnny Layne Sees Success Continue South Boston, VA….Johnny Layne temporarily put racing aside twice in his career. His success in racing returned both times. “I’ve been racing for about 21 years,” the Nathalie, Virginia resident pointed out. “I took one year off way back when. Last year (2019) I set aside my racing and helped my brother (Steven Layne). He started racing in the Hornets Division. I spotted for him, worked on his car a little bit, and tried to give him a little spotlight. I also spent a lot of time with my daughter. I put racing aside a little bit. It was hard.” Layne says once racing gets into your blood it is hard to stay away from the sport. “Racing is just a fun habit,” he explained. “I can’t get away from it. One way or another I am going to be somewhere racing or helping somebody.” Layne won the South Boston Speedway Budweiser Pure Stock Division championship in both 2016 and 2017 and fell just shy of making it three titles i...

2021 South Boston Speedway Schedule Features 13 Events, Visit By Pair Of Touring Series South Boston, Va….South Boston Speedway has released its tentative 2021 season schedule, a schedule that features 13 events including three special events, two of them touring series events. The 2021 season is slated to open on Saturday, March 20 with a six-race card headlined by twin 75-lap races for the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Late Model Stock Car Division and twin 25-lap races for the Limited Sportsman Division. Races for the Pure Stock Division and Hornets Division are also included on the schedule for opening day. “America’s Hometown Track” will close out the 2021 season on Saturday, October 16 with a doubleheader event for the touring CARS Tour series. One of the highlights of the 2021 season will be the track’s annual pre-Fourth of July showcase event, the Thunder Road Harley Davidson Presented By Grand Atlantic Ocean Resort NASCAR Late Model 200, on Saturday night, July 3. He...