MYRTLE BEACH, SC – Four-time Myrtle Beach Speedway track champion Sam Yarbrough is hoping to continue his dominance at the ultra-competitive half-mile in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Yarbrough, 35, from Shallotte, North Carolina, has three wins on the 2019 season and leads the points by 18 markers over Justin Milliken. Yarbrough credits all his success in recent years to the work ethic of Robert Elliott and his race team.
“We pride ourselves in hard work and making sure everything is top notch,” Yarbrough told Race22.com. “We struggled for a couple years. We went through a lot of research and development, just trying to figure out where we needed to be. Once they did all the rule changes on the motors and the bump stops, we’re at a place now where I feel like we have a foot up on the competition – especially now that it’s getting hot, I think that’s playing into our favor.”
If the summer heat helps Yarbrough, he would most certainly be the favorite in Saturday night’s Late Model Stock Car doubleheader on a clear, 85° day in Myrtle Beach.
“It’s really fun to drive. The last couple years, we come to the track hoping we hit on something at the shop. Now we come to the track with a lot of confidence and it makes the weekend at lot easier.”
While there is a major event going on at South Boston Speedway, Myrtle Beach Speedway boasts a field of 27 cars and has consistently had the strongest car counts on a weekly basis. While Yarbrough races Myrtle Beach Speedway because it’s his home track, he feels the atmosphere at Myrtle Beach and the way general manager Steve Zacharias treats the competitors is the main reason competitors come in such strong numbers.
“I guess people really like Steve and everybody here at the track,” Yarbrough remarked. “The great thing about this place is, you can show up on Friday and run whenever you want. You can show up on Saturday. You’ve got all day. Time is not a crunch factor. You can pretty much take your time, it’s pretty lax. Aside from the track chewing up tires, that’s about the only downside to it.”
Sam Yarbrough currently drives for the Robert Elliott racing team and, this year, he feels like the team is in peak performance mode.
“Everything right now is clicking on all cylinders. If we need anything, Robert Elliott gets it. He’s fully behind us 100 percent. He builds all our motors, funds all our tires and cars. We’re pretty much doing everything in house now, except for a few small things. We’re really proud we’re doing it all in house. We’re not getting any outside information from any Cup teams or Truck teams or anybody else. Chad [McCumbee]’s really smart with all this stuff and I try to stick right there with him. Right now, we’re just rolling.”
Now, Yarbrough is hoping to keep rolling as he chases his fifth Myrtle Beach Speedway track championship.
FansChoice.TV will have a live broadcast of tonight’s doubleheader at Myrtle Beach and Race22.com will have coverage on Twitter (@race22) throughout the evening.
