Sometimes the stories just write themselves.
July 27’s Advanced Auto Parts Weekly Series action at Dominion Raceway was scheduled
simultaneously with National Chicken Tender Day.
For Dominion’s Late Model points leader, Landon Pembelton, chicken tenders are the food of
choice. So what an event it was entering the night with an eight point championship lead against rival Dustin Storm with Twin 50’s in the lineup.
While it may have been disappointing for Pembelton to see Storm win race one, it was certainly
triumphant to end the night with a race two trip to victory lane; an experience made easier to
savor when he was handed a plate of celebratory chicken tenders by track staff during his post
race interview.
“I’ll give the chicken tenders a solid 8/10,” said Pembelton. “But the race was 10/10.”
This latest chapter was another exciting entry in a late model story that has been as
suspenseful as a James Patterson novel. Eleven races in and only five weeks of late model
gotten smaller.
For Pembelton, it was race win number four for the 19 year old driver out of Amelia, Virginia in
what is becoming one of his best late model seasons to date. The driver of the #0 Sellers
Racing machine is famous for his 2021 ValleyStar Credit Union 300 win at Martinsville
Speedway, but continued success since then has not necessarily come easy.
“This has been an awesome season. I mean a year ago I won a race, the year before that I won
a race, but to have four right now is really incredible,” said Pembelton. “To win Martinsville back
then was a bucket list item and that grandfather clock is something I will always cherish, but to
win a late model track championship somewhere is also a bucket list item.”
Pembelton entered this season with championship intentions this year after running a handful of races at DR last season and mainly focusing on CARS Tour competition. For the past three
years the Dominion Raceway Late Model crown sat firmly on the head of Peyton Sellers, but
with Sellers mainly dedicating his time at South Boston this year, it has paved the way for
Pembelton.
But by absolutely no fault of Pembelton’s, it hasn’t been a cakewalk.
Dustin Storm, Aaron Donnelly, Davey Callihan, and Doug Barnes Jr have all won NASCAR
Regional races this year with Storm, Donnelly, and Callihan running full time. Chandler
Sherman, while not reaching victory lane this year, sits firmly in the top-5 in points and also
challenges the leaders on a weekly basis.
For Storm, the season has been a triumphant rebound. Last year the driver from Huntington,
Maryland finished 5th in Late Model Points with 176 points: 172 points behind the prevailing
Sellers. Storm’s highlights a year ago were a pair of third place finishes; however, this year he
matched that total of podium finishes in the first two races before breaking through to Victory
Lane in the third race back on April 6.
Storm got his third win of the season at the High-Banked Ring-of-Fire to kick off Saturday’s
Caliber Collision Night at the Races, and his four runner-up finishes on the year edge
Pembelton by one. Amazingly, both drivers have only missed the podium one race this season:
for both, it was not a DNF but a measly 4th place finish.
Simply put, the bad days have yet to arrive, and they have been unable to pull away from each
other.
In fact multiple drivers are feeling the pressure of “getting two” each night to maximize points
this late in the season. A nightly sweep of twin events seems like the only guarantee to gain
points. That did not happen Saturday night, which led to continued intrigue.
In race one Aaron Donnelly took the green flag after Pembelton got the Breg’s Environmental
Pole Award with a lap time of 15.338; Pembelton would start fourth. From third, Storm charged past Chandler Sherman before pulling alongside Donnelly for the lead on lap 7. A lap later, Storm would pull ahead as they crossed the stripe. Pembelton passed for second on lap 9 and the running order did not change amongst the leaders until Sherman passed Donnelly for third with 16 to-go.
A late caution came out on lap 38 when Trey Williams would spin the #31 of Aaron Donnell in turn 4.
The restart created a new opportunity for Pembelton and a new challenge for Storm, as they pulled alongside each other after the choose cone.
Storm initially looked to survive the late restart, but with eight to-go, Pembelton pulled
would wiggle coming out of Turn 2 and Storm would ride the momentum and pass the loose car.
Regaining the lead, Storm would pull away in the handful of closing laps as Pembelton faded.
If the exciting battle between Storm and Pembelton wasn’t enough, Sherman caught Pembelton and got inside position for the duration of the white flag lap. As the checkered flag flew, the two were separated by inches; Sherman was able to edge Pembelton for second in a photo finish.
Meanwhile, in race two, Pembelton had better position after the invert; The #0 would start 6th to Storm’s 8th. Trenton Kilgore jumped out to the lead, but Davey Callihan would shortly pass him.
After a handful of laps, Pembelton was passing Callihan to become the new leader while Storm
was passing Kilgore for P3. By lap 8, Storm was up to second. Pembelton had over a two
second lead on Storm, and it appeared like hope was lost for a Storm sweep.
Then Pembelton got tight.
With 20 to go the differential shrunk about two-tenths a lap and by lap 10, Storm was knocking
on the door. For the final 10, the championship contenders went back and forth with Storm on
the inside and Pembelton hanging on the outside. For as tight as the car was, the #0 was able
to ride the momentum of the higher lane on corner exit to stay ahead of the #28. On the final
lap, Storm would slip coming out of Turn 2, and it was the costly mistake Pembelton needed to
close out the dominating performance.
“I’ll tell you what man, it does not get much better than that racing wise. It’s not gonna be a
slugfest, but we are gonna race hard and not touch,” said Pembelton.
“To be honest I didn’t think we were gonna be able to run him down. It is not easy to run
someone down on the straightaway in 50 laps,” said Storm. “Dominion is a lot different from a lot of tracks because we are literally balls-to-the-wall every lap.”
It makes for a complex night for Pembelton: The emotions of winning, truly having a great night, but losing ground in the points battle. Regardless, Pembelton remains confident and optimistic.
“I wanted to get at least one, for sure. We’ve been working hard to get sweeps but lineups and
inverts happen,” said Pembelton. “I wish we could have got some bonus points from being
inverted back in the second race, but we had some cars pull off. We minimized what we could
and I think we lost two or so. If we keep getting better, we can work for sweeps.”
Storm also echoes the importance of hard work in this battle. The driver and his Scott Lang
Racing team make routine appearances to the Friday night practice sessions in an effort to
maximize the hours before race day.
“A whole lot of hard work [goes into the car] that’s for sure. People probably don’t realize the
amount of hours that go into these things on a weekly basis. You probably need a degree in
something to work on them,” said Storm. “Every week you just need to get a little bit more and a
little bit more. We have had amongst the best speed in the field with the time we have lap-wise.
Our car is in one piece again and we gained a couple points, so I can’t be too much happier.”
Regardless of the outcome, both competitors are having a blast in this points battle; They credit mutual respect for each other for the racing being so incredible and fun.
“It [mutual respect] is everything to me. You have to earn and give respect. I don’t wanna work
on this thing every week because I tore the nose off it,” said Storm. “I couldn’t be happier to race
someone like Landon and to be in this points battle. I think we put on a hell of a show and I
hope the fans enjoy it,”
“You race people how you wanna be raced and Dustin has raced me clean. If we are ever in the
same situation where I am under him, we are gonna continue to race clean,” said Pembelton. “I
like the idea of repaying the favor. I like people who race good and hard.”
Pembelton says that type of clean racing among competitors is special and hard to find at other
places. The driver recounted his experience of racing at Langley Speedway a week ago and
jockeying with all the drivers vying for the Triple Crown.
“Just look at the Hampton Heat,” said Pembelton. “You have one guy walking away mad, but
tonight Dustin and I are both walking away happy.”
Pembelton says he can encapsulate the greatness of Saturday night's battle and this year's
championship fight by pointing out what he does not see when he looks at his car.
“Two 50 lap races of hard racing and I have one tire mark on this thing and the door isn't bent
in,” said Pembelton. “It’s incredible.”
LMSCs return for The Blake Morris Memorial Twin 72’s August 10th along with BBQ cook off night at the races, you can get your tickets here https://drevents.ticketstobuy.com/event/234
