Saturday marked the end of a busy and historic week at Pulaski County Motorsports Park. Following Thursday night’s Superstar Experience Racing debut, the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series returned to the track on Saturday and New Castle’s Mike Looney picked up another win.
The biggest night of stock car racing to ever roll into the New River Valley was last Thursday, July 27, and it ended with a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion parked in victory lane. In his Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) debut, Kyle Busch earned the victory with an impressive performance at the .416-mile Motor Mile Speedway inside of Pulaski County Motorsports Park.
A star-studded field of 12 drivers included some of the world’s best to ever get behind the wheel. The premier group, handpicked by SRX owner Tony Stewart, combined for 200 NASCAR Cup Series wins and 59 Indy Car Series wins. The list of competitors also held a combined six NASCAR Cup Series championships and one Daytona 500 victory as well as three Indy Car titles and five Indy 500 wins.
The SRX series came to southwest Virginia for the first time and put on a show in front of a packed house. A pair of 20-lap heats opened the night’s festivities before the 100-lap main event. Marco Andretti won the opening heat before the field was inverted, leading to a victory for 10-time NASCAR Cup Series winner Clint Bowyer in the second sprint.
A century of laps around the 15-degree banked oval highlighted the night. Kyle Busch worked his way up to the top spot, as he held off a quickly approaching Bowyer, who had found some serious speed on the bottom groove. A late-race crash involving Paul Tracy and 2023 Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden also collected Ken Schrader and Hailie Deegan. After the field was bunched back up, Busch maintained his lead for the final handful of laps to secure his first-ever SRX victory.
Earlier in the evening, fans were treated to a 50-lap feature for the Collision Plus Sportsman Series. Brad Foy led the majority of the race, starting the night off by parking his black and orange machine in victory lane.
Current points leader Kyle Barnes started on the front row and defending late model track champion Kyle Dudley started one spot behind him. Early mishaps at the start of the race sent the duo to the tail of the field.
Foy proved to be the class of the field, jumping out to an early lead that he never surrendered. Karl Budzevski stayed within reach of the race winner but was never able to make the final pass.
A strong showing of perseverance from Dudley pushed him back up through the field, a run good enough for the final podium spot.
On Saturday, after a brief battle with Mother Nature, the on-track action began just minutes after the scheduled start time. Shively Electric sponsored the evening and welcomed the Super Cup Stock Car Series to the .416-mile short track for the first time this season.
Pole-sitter Brian Harrison lost his transmission just a handful of laps into the race, which gave the lead to Brent Nelson. The Petersburg, W.Va. native led the remainder of the race to earn the first victory of the night.
The second race of the evening belonged to the Price’s Body Shop Late Model Stock Car Series. Dudley started in the third position, and it took the defending track champion just three laps to get to the top spot. A tight battle with current points leader Mike Looney of New Castle resulted in contact coming off Turn 2. While Looney was forced to pull his car off the track, Dudley regained a lengthy advantage and earn the checkered flag in the first 50-lap twin of the night.
The DCT Towing Super Streets took to the track next. Tristen Barnes picked up his second victory within a week while Ray Sowers tallied his second consecutive podium finish. Despite the early mishap, Bell fought
A 25-lap sprint for the Blue Ridge Church Pure-4s was the next race of the night. After starting at the back of the pack, Kirby Shipman quickly got to the front and crossed the line first to build on his already sizeable points lead.
The second half of the evening started with the second twin for the Super Cup Stock Car Series. The race was shortened to just 30 laps this time but resulted in the same three podium finishers as Nelson earned the double after another strong outing.
The second 50-lapper for the late model stocks went the way of Craig County’s Looney this time. After failing to complete the first twin, his team pieced his machine back together as the veteran led every lap enroute to his seventh win of the season.
The nightcap belonged to the Stock-6 Series. Caleb Sowers jumped past Phillip Miller at the drop of the green flag and led all 20 laps to secure the victory. Houston Miller worked his way
The weekly racers will have this Saturday off before returning to action on Saturday, August 12, for their first races of the month. The Tour of Destruction monster truck show and motocross experience will be in the New River Valley this weekend. Action begins at 5 pm.
