When the green flag drops on SummerFest this Saturday night August 18th at Southern National Motorsports Park, there will be a handful of new drivers looking to take on the top drivers in the Limited Late Model division.

To date there’s only been one multi-time winner in the Limited Late Model division as points leader Andrew Grady has two wins in the five races this season. Grady is joined by Limited Late Model veterans Clay Jones, Chris Chapman and Paul Williamson as the only four drivers to have visited victory lane.

Leading the charge of newcomers this weekend will be former Motor Mile Speedway Limited Late Model champion, Karl Budzevski. Budzevski spent most of the early part of the 2018 season racing at Virginia’s South Boston Speedway but after some bad luck he fell out of contention for the points championship and is looking to head to Southern National Motorsports Park with hopes of getting his luck turned around.

“We’re coming fresh off of a wreck at South Boston,” said Budzevski. “The car is going to have its first laps on the new front end this weekend so we will definitely have our work cut out for us. We ran third in the Thanksgiving Classic and we’re looking forward to running that event this year and this will give us a head start for that event.”

Budzevski is one of several drivers who run regularly on Hoosier F-50 tires and with Southern National changing from the Hoosier F-45 tires to the F-50 after drivers from area tracks suggested the change to save competitors money. Budzevski is looking forward to seeing how the tires hold up on the 4/10 mile track compared to other tracks.

“We don’t have any F-45 tires at all and I like that it will be everyone’s first time on the F-50 on race day. That tire holds up much better than the F-45 on other tracks but I know Southern National is probably the most abrasive track they will run on this year. So it will be interesting to see how they hold up.”

Budzevski won’t be the only driver making their first start in the Limited Late Models at Southern National Motorsports Park this weekend. Chris Gray from Orange County Speedway and Aaron Donnelly, who made his first Southern National start in the last Late Model Stock Car race on July 28th, will be back to run the Limited Late Model twin features. Donnelly has a win to his credit this season at Dominion Raceway in Virginia but will be looking for his first Southern National triumph.

Also on the schedule for this weekend is twin Charger features to help make up for races that have been rained out over the course of this season. The Chargers will be racing for a full purse in both races with bonuses for the best average finish as well. The Chargers have been one of the best divisions this season with budding car counts and intense racing from first to last.

The Legends cars will race in an INEX Legends Nationals Qualifier race with $750 on the line to the winner. Mini Stocks, Bandoleros, and Any Cars will also compete making it a full night of racing for the fans.

Saturday’s SummerFest will get underway at 7pm. Tickets are $15 for adults, $5 for kids ages 6-12 and kids five and under free.

For more information about Southern National Motorsports Park, check out SNMP’s website at www.snmpark.com, “like” Southern National Motorsports Park on Facebook or “follow” @SNM_Park on Twitter.