RIDGEWAY, VA :: Peyton Sellers has won just about everything there is to win in Late Model Stock Car racing. About the only thing missing from the 2005 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series National Champion’s resume is a win at Martinsville Speedway.
The Danville native will try, yet again, to win a famous grandfather clock trophy in the MDCU 300, Oct. 5th.
“Martinsville is home. It’s the Super Bowl. It’s the Indy 500. It’s everything for Late Model Stock Car racing,” Sellers said. “So many good cars show up and so many good drivers, but just because you have a good car and a good driver, it doesn’t mean you’re going to have success. It’s all about making your own luck and having everything go right and being in the right place at the right time.”
The field will most assuredly include both familiar names and up-and-coming drivers, as more than 80 teams fight for a spot in the 42-car field. Sellers believes that’s the attraction.
“There will be a lot of national champions lined up to get into the gate. There will be a lot of track champions lined up to get into the gate. And there is going to be a lot of young eager talent with good cars lined up to get into the gate,” Sellers said. “When you mix it all in, it makes for a pretty wild weekend.”
For the fans in the stands, Sellers said the show will be worth the price of admission.
“They can expect to see a lot of fenders laying around on the track. A lot of times it looks like a battlefield when the race is over, Sunday night,” Sellers said. “The competition level there is so high. There’s not a lot of room to race, but there’s a lot of opportunity to make something go wrong.
“At the end of the day, what makes it so exciting is you’ve got short intervals. You’re not going to go out there and race and work by guys and pass them. You’re going to have to bump and nudge your way to the front.”
Sellers, who has spent time in both the Camping World Truck Series and the Nationwide Series, wants nothing more than to win at the historic Martinsville Speedway.
“I’ve had the opportunity to race on a much larger stage. To be able to win in front of my hometown crowd, in front of the people that know and support us, that would be bigger than anything I have ever done,” said Sellers, who lives about 30 miles from the track. “I’ve had some solid runs, but I’ve never been able to bring that clock home. To bring that clock home would be a huge feather in my cap at this point in my career.”
The nation’s richest and most prestigious Late Model Stock race, which pays $25,000 to the winner, is sponsored by Martinsville DuPont Credit Union.
Race day will kick off on Sunday, Oct. 5 at 10 a.m. with an autograph session on the front stretch featuring the entire field of drivers. The first heat race will take the green at 12 p.m., with the 200-lap feature beginning at approximately 3 p.m.
Tickets for the MDCU 300 are on sale and may be purchased by calling 877.RACE.TIX or online at www.martinsvillespeedway.com. Adult tickets are $30 and youth 12-and-under tickets are $5.
