Willis and McCarty Heating Things Up at South Boston; Bitter Rivalry Brewing

South Boston, VA(May 10, 2012) — Last Saturday night at South Boston Speedway, the Late Model Stock Car race gave fans little to be excited about as Lee Pulliam returned and dominated the race, but the Limited Late Models on the other hand gave the fans their money’s worth and more.

With twin races on the bill for the Limited Late Models, they started off the nights racing action and thrilled the fans as the top two competitors in the division from last season reignited an old flame and commenced to beating and banging their way to the finish. Those two drivers are none other than local favorite, second generation driver, Danny Willis, Jr., who is from South Boston and newcomer and outsider, Bobby McCarty, who is from Summerfield, NC.

Last season, the two began a rivalry when McCarty found his way to victory lane regularly and soon they were at odds, butting heads as the top two drivers. It was rookie versus veteran, hometown hero versus outsider and mixed in a championship battle. Willis eventually won the championship, while McCarty ended the season with the most wins, five, which was one more than Willis. One of Willis’ wins was the focal point of their rivalry as McCarty crossed the finish line first, but was disqualified and the win was awarded to Willis.

That race also effectively ended the championship battle and thus in McCarty’s opinion handed the championship to the hometown boy. There was no love loss between the two drivers from that moment forward.

With 2011 in the rearview mirror, McCarty opened the 2012 season much like he had spent the second half of last season in victory lane, but come race number two, Danny Willis, Jr. wasn’t going to be denied. Willis led the opening and middle portions of the first race of the night, but McCarty seemed to be saving some tires for the end of the race and after a late caution or two he was in the perfect spot to challenge for the lead lining up on the outside of Willis.

On one of those late restarts, Willis dove down into turn one with McCarty on his outside and the two door slammed into turn one and raced off of turn two. On one of the final restarts, McCarty would wrestle the lead away, with the two of them trading paint the whole way. After a couple spins behind them, Willis would eventually pull away from McCarty for the win, but the action wasn’t over with there.

As McCarty pulled onto pit road to be interviewed, just feet from victory lane, he began to talk with a NASCAR official about the beating and banging. He questioned why he was warned for his driving in the final stages of the race and why it was alright for Willis to door slam him. It was a heated discussion as McCarty was clearly upset and when he took the microphone for his interview he continued to talk about the on track action to the roar of the crowd, who favored Willis, the local boy.

Willis soon leaped from his car in excitement from winning gazing in the direction of McCarty’s car, almost taunting him as the crowd cheered on their hometown hero as he visited victory lane for the first time in 2012. Willis quickly also got caught up in the moment, and began talking about tearing up race cars and racing people the way he was raced.

For the fans it was the perfect storm. Standing in victory lane after an incredible race with the winner and the second place finisher throwing verbal jabs at one another on the microphone, but no one made a move to fight or even spoke directly towards one another. And, with twin races on the schedule, few fans had made their way to the exits when the green flag flew on the second race, which was the last of a seven race card.

The second race however was disappointing as few caution flags flew and the race for the lead never really materialized between McCarty and Willis, who picked up his second win on the night.

While this rivalry might not have had a chance to flourish during the second twin, by no means is it over. These are again, the top two drivers in the Limited division at South Boston Speedway and on the tight confines of the small 3/8 mile track, there’s another chance for fireworks around every corner.

Certainly all eyes will be on these two in the next Limited Late Model race coming up on Saturday night, May 11th and you never know what might happen ………..