Trio of local short tracks establish the Virginia Late Model Triple Crown Series

There was a certain level of excitement last October in the Martinsville Speedway media center when it was announced that South Boston Speedway’s big end-of-season race, the Danville Toyota 300, was moving to the beginning of the 2012 racing season.

The move opened the door to allow the three premier short track races in Virginia to join forces for an exciting opportunity for drivers and fans alike.

The Virginia Late Model Triple Crown Series was established Tuesday in conjunction with the big-money races at South Boston, Langley Speedway (the Hampton Heat) and Martinsville (Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300) to offer drivers an opportunity to earn an additional bonus for running well in the three events.

“I think it’s great. It should bring some added car count and bring some guys that would just stay at their home track on the weekend,” three-time defending Langley Speedway champion C.E. Falk III said. “It makes you think about racing in the 70’s and 80’s when guys would just go race and go for the money. It’s bringing that tradition back almost.”

The Triple Crown Series will award points based on a driver’s finish in the feature races at each track. The points for those three races will follow the points structure used by the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series — 40 points plus five bonus points to the winner and two points less for each following position (38 for second, 36 for third and down to two points for 20th or worse).

The driver who accumulates the most points over the three races will claim the Virginia Late Model Triple Crown Series title and a $5,000 bonus. The runner-up will win $3,000 and third-place gets a $2,000 check.

“I think the biggest thing is it’s just a bonus, that’s all it is. The pressure to win is there regardless,” Sellers Racing crew chief H.C. Sellers said. “Having a chance to win that is pretty big. If you look at the races last year, you had Philip [Morris] winning South Boston, C.E. winning Langley and Lee [Pulliam] winning at Martinsville. And that’s a good sign of how hard it is to be competitive.”

The Danville Toyota 300, which has run two weekends after the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300 at Martinsville the past two seasons, was moved to March 10 for this season and opened the door for the opportunity to have the Late Model Triple Crown Series.

The three race weekends are spaced out enough — March 10, July 28 and Oct. 21 — that it allows teams that run on a shoe-string budget to plan on making the three races. In years past, if cars were damaged during the race at Martinsville, some drivers would forgo the race at South Boston.

“I think the best thing they made it for is somebody is going to win,” Falk said. “Somebody’s going to win the thing and it might as well be us. Now this just gives another goal for our season.

“The level that Late Model Stock Car racing is in Virginia is the highest in the country,” Falk added. “I think the race tracks realize that we’re all working really hard to put on a competitive show.”

The Triple Crown consists of the three biggest paydays in Virginia short track racing — $10,000 to the winner of the Danville Toyota 300 and Hampton Heat, and $25,000 and the coveted Grandfather Clock to the winner at Martinsville.

“We are really excited about the Virginia Triple Crown Series,” Martinsville Speedway president Clay Campbell said in a written release. “We all know how big NASCAR Whelen Late Model Stock racing in Virginia is and this is just going to make it bigger.

“And, from a selfish point of view, with the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300 being the final race in the Triple Crown, it’s going to make our race more exciting than ever,” he added.