David Roberts Wins Second Late Model Championship

SIMPSONVILLE, SC :: David Roberts may have only won one race in 2014 but he was able to score the championship at South Carolina’s Anderson Motor Speedway – his second Late Model Stock Car championship.

Roberts, 53, previously won a track championship at Greenville-Pickens Speedway back in 2007.  However, winning a championship at Anderson, which is where he first started racing, meant the world to him.

“To me, it means a whole lot,” Roberts explained.  “That’s the first place I ever drove at my life, Anderson when I was 14 years old.  Even though that was the first place I ever drove, this is the first time I’ve run a complte season at Anderson Speedway.

“Back when I was 14, we ran there and we ran off and on for the next 10 years or so, then they went asphalt and we were still running dirt.  When we came back to asphalt, we’d drop in every once in a while and won.  We won a good many races over the past few years.  It’s my home track.  It’s real fulfilling to win the championship where you started – especially with the competition we had there.  I call it a hornet’s nest – it’s one of the toughest places around to run.”

Roberts reminisced on the 2014 season, saying he started out strong but just couldn’t get that win until he finally rolled in to Victory Lane on June 27^th.

“We started out real strong at the beginning of the year, had some chances to win and it just wasn’t meant to be,” Roberts remarked.  “Then, we got that win and stayed real consistent which is what you have to do to win the points – especially when you have five past champions from Greenville and Anderson running there.”

Roberts says he will look to defend his championship at Anderson Motor Speedway while also running some at Greenville, Myrtle Beach Speedway and possibly some races in the CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour.

“The biggest thing is going back to Anderson and run some at Myrtle Beach during the year.  We’ll see what Greenville’s going to do and we might run a couple races there and maybe a couple in this new tour deal.  We’d really like to try some of those.  We’ll see and play it by ear.”

Along with his two Late Model Stock Car championships, David Roberts is also a four time Dirt Late Model champion.  Roberts was formally recognized for his track championship at the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series (NWAAS) Awards Banquet in Charlotte on Friday night.  He finished 43^rd in the national standings with one win, 13 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes in 17 starts during the 2014 regular season.