Kyle Dudley: Winning the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 would be massive for us. It would prove (to the world) what I already know.
By Julian Austin
6/28/24
Kyle Dudley of Roanoke VA poses with the trophy in Phillip Morris Victory Lane at South Boston Speedway on April 20th, 2024.
Second generation racer Kyle Dudley has been racing for 17 years as of 2024. The Roanoke Virginia native has won races at some of the toughest bull rings in North Carolina such as Orange County, Ace and Caraway while taking home wins at Motor Mile Speedway (Pulaski County Motorsports Park), Franklin County Speedway and at Lonesome Pine Motorsports Park in the commonwealth of Virginia. He's a five time track champion at Franklin County Speedway and in 2022, he won the Late Model Stock track championship in which he had to defeat one of the best to ever do it in Mike Looney.
Kyle's team is known as Dream Team racing and perhaps that is an appropriate name for this team. This team admittingly is not clean cut like some of the bigger teams that show up at the same places Kyle has been known to run well at in the past. His crew consists of good ole boys who aren't afraid to get down and dirty at the track and throw back a few cold ones.
"We may not be as clean cut and professional as some of them (some of the bigger teams that run the Virginia Triple Crown) but we can beat them on the track" stated Kyle in a direct message on Facebook.
Kyle has shown that him and his team can run with the big boys. He won the pole in his very first zMAX CARS Tour race at Motor Mile Speedway in 2021 and nearly won a tour race in 2022 at Franklin County Speedway by coming home in second place. He backed that months later at Motor Mile by running up front most of the night before succumbing to motor problems and ended the season sixth at Caraway.
He has two top ten finishes in the Valley Star Credit Union 300 at Martinsville in the past and he comes to South Boston this weekend with a top ten in this race back in 2022.
Kyle won the biggest race of his entire career back in April during a NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Racing Series event at South Boston. It was his first win at this historic track but he achieved something that no one else will ever match. He became the 100th driver to win a Sentara Late Model Stock event at the track since they started running the division in 1983.
A collage of winners celebrating those who have won a Sentara Late Model Stock event at South Boston Speedway since 1983.(Photo from South Boston Speedway.)
With a historic win under his belt, what would a win on Saturday mean to Kyle?
"This race has been such a big crown jewel event for as long I can remember. I remember watching it and seeing Phillip and Lee and those guys battle and it was awesome. Winning it would be absolutely massive for us. It will prove what I already know which is that our program and team can compete with an beat the best teams out there. We've been strong before and I'm ready and hungry and I feel better about it this year than ever before. You better believe the after party is going to be f**ing awesome"
Landon Pemelton driving the 0 machine competing in a recent CARS Tour race at Dominion Raceway.
Pembelton went to South Boston that fall and won the pole for his third CARS Tour race and had the dominant car. It was at this race where him and track champion Layne Riggs would engage in some intense side by side racing before finishing third once again after an incident between him and Riggs.
These two third place finishes would lead him to try the CARS Tour full time in 2023. but after no top ten finishes and a DNQ in the spring race at Hickory, his team decided to scale back starting at Dominion Raceway where he was able to grab another top ten run there in 2023. He would only run one more event the rest of the season.
Landon was able to run one ARCA Menards Series race for Willie Mullins at Bristol. He was able to get another top ten finish there before grabbing a win at South Boston in weekly competition.
2023 was a bit of a struggle and if there was anything Landon learned in 2023 it was patience and humble pie stated Landon in a direct message on X. "No type of racing is easy, no matter what racetrack, what series, what type of car, it's all hard." said Landon in a recent phone conversation. "I've learned to appreciate the successful nights more, which makes me work harder and concentrate on the craft because I enjoy those successful nights a lot more than the ones where I leave disappointed or frustrated."
The 2024 season has seen Landon already pick up multiple wins at Dominion Raceway in weekly NASCAR Competition and was leading the points standings as of last weekend's event. It's been nearly three full years since Landon won at Martinsville. When asked about what a win in the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 would mean, Landon was quick to answer. "This is next on my bucket list to win. I've been going to that race since I was a little kid and always dreamed of being able to win that race. I would say it would propel my career forward and would a huge win for me."
What a Thunder Road Harley Davidson 200 win would mean: Brandon Pierce
By Julian Austin
June 27th, 2024
The Masters, US Open, PGA Championship & the Open Championship make up professional golf's four majors. Tennis has Wimbleton and the Australian, French and US Open as their majors. Even the WWE has the Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, Summer Slam and Survivor Series Premium Live Events are known as the big four. Late Model Racing in the state of Virginia has the Virginia Triple Crown.
This Saturday, the 2024 Virginia Triple Crown gets under way with the 18th running of the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway. Traditionally, this is the first leg of the Virginia Triple Crown. The Hampton Heat at Langley Speedway in Hampton and the traditional Valley Star 300 at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville complete the triple crown. During the trifecta of races each season, the driver with the best average finish in the three races receives $7,000. The driver with the second best average finish gets $2,000 and the third place average finisher pockets a thousand.
The Virginia Triple Crown has been run every summer and fall since 2012. Only in 2016 when Langley Speedway was temporarily closed and the Covid-19 Pandemic of 2020 did the Virginia Triple Crown not take place.
In the previous 17 runnings, only nine drivers have won the opening race of the crown at South Boston Speedway. Lee Pulliam has not only six of those wins but they all came in a row. This feat may never ever be touched again. So much has to go right for this to take place once much less six in a row. Pulliam also has an additional win with current NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series perennial winner Corey Heim back in 2022.
Other winners include Drew Herring, Adam Barker, Nick Smith, Phillip Morris with Deac McCaskill who is making his return to the crown and the driver who won the event in 21' and 23', Bobby McCarty.
The hardware and the check that goes to this year's Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 winner. (Photo courtesy of South Boston Speedway)
Who will add their name to this list? With nearly 30 cars entered of a who's who in Late Model Racing, we asked some drivers who will be in the field on Saturday what it would mean to the perspective careers to grab a win in the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston.
For Brandon Pierce, it's the biggest race of his season
Brandon Pierce pilots his number 2 Crossroads Harley Davidson Chevrolet during opening weekend of the 2024 zMAX CARS Tour at Southern National Motorsports Park in Lucama North Carolina
2024 has been a season of change for Brandon Pierce. Coming off of a five year partnership with Lee Pulliam Performance, Pierce joined the Carroll Speed Shop Organization for the 2024 zMAX CARS Tour season and the Virginia Triple Crown among other events at the end of the 2023 racing season. The season was looked at as a fresh start for the Late Model Stock veteran. The season has a lot of ups and downs so far with mostly downs but that is not going to stop Pierce and his new team from working to get the ship righted in the right direction.
Just what would a win in the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 mean to Brandon?
"A win for me in my career right now would be huge." said Brandon. "I've been in a slump and we have been working really hard to get better. A win in this race could definitely give us the momentum to turn our season around."
Brandon has tasted a win before at South Boston and is definitely not a stranger to this place. The pride of Oak Ridge North Carolina won his first career Late Model Stock Car Division race at South Boston Speedway in May of 2018 after competing full time at the track in 2016 and 2017. In 2018 he had his best finish in this event with a fourth place run and in 2019 he bagged a sixth place.
Brandon Pierce is all smiles before he gets into the car before a zMAX CARS Tour race at Langley Speedway in June of 2024.
"This race for me is the biggest one of the year for me." explained Pierce. "I was coming to this race as a kid when Thunder Road was sponsoring this race years before I started racing. We have a lot of family and staff members that come to this race and it's always great to see them. I take a lot of pride in this race and always want to have a good run and obviously the end goal is to win it"
Brandon's father Vann Pierce co-owns Thunder Road Harley-Davidson which serves as the namesake for this event. That may bring added pressure to most drivers but Brandon doesn't see it that way.
"As far as carrying the sponsor on the side, I'm just super blessed to be able to do it. It doesn't add any pressure on me but it definitely makes me work harder and try to be as accurate as I can be with the changes I want made on the car to give us the best chance possible at putting ourselves in position to win."
Brandon placed ninth in this event last season but it always comes down to what every driver in the field wants to do and that is pick up the $10,000 check and trophy.
"A win for me in this race would be a huge accomplishment." said Brandon. "It's been a goal of mine since I've started racing and I've come close a couple of times. To win this race would be a bucket list accomplishment for my career. It is a great deal of pride to carry Thunder Road Harley Davidson on the side of this Carroll Speedshop #2 Camaro and we hope to park it in victory lane Saturday night.
Recently, I spoke with three hungry Virginia natives and one of Toyota's biggest prospects and they shared their thoughts on what a Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 would mean to them. Stay tuned!