SOUTH BOSTON, Va. – By virtually every measure, Peyton Sellers’ NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series season last year was a huge success.
The Danville, Va., resident finished the season as the national runner-up in points and captured the Virginia state title.
In the national picture, Sellers recorded 10 wins in 30 starts, with 26 top-five and 28 top-10 finishes during the NASCAR points season. He finished 28 points behind national champion Josh Berry.
While winning the Virginia state title, Sellers had 10 wins in 25 starts, with 24 top fives. He took the state title by a 70-point margin over Daniel Silvestri.
Sellers and his team are proud of their 2020 accomplishments, but one thing was different.
He and his team were unable to compete at South Boston Speedway, Sellers’ home track, as the track was idle last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“To not have our home track to come to was definitely different,” remarked Sellers. “We had to drive by South Boston to go to Dominion Raceway and Langley. Knowing we were going to have to stay in a motel room and that sort of thing was definitely different. We like to be at home every night.”
Sellers and his team will be returning to South Boston Speedway for Saturday’s season-opening Back On Track Twin 75s racing program. The event will be headlined by twin 75-lap races for the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series late model stock car division.
“I’m just glad to be back,” Sellers said. “All of our local sponsors want to come back out. They’ve been chomping at the bit to get out and see racing. So are all of our local fans.”
The defending South Boston Speedway track champion says racing at South Boston paves his way for success at other venues.
“We want to compete for wins at any level of racing, whether it be here (at South Boston Speedway) or traveling around to bigger shows. Any time we race South Boston it makes us better when we go to bigger shows,” Sellers noted. “If we can come here and hone-in, win a few races and run well it’s going to help us later in the year when we go to some of the bigger money races.”
Sellers enters the new season at South Boston Speedway having won the NASCAR track championship five times, including titles in each of the past three seasons (2017-’19).
A good start to the season is important in making a title bid. In 2019, Sellers earned a pair of second-place finishes in the twin races that opened South Boston Speedway’s season.
“Coming out of the box has always been a strong point,” Sellers pointed out. “We’ve been able to be competitive in the season opener a lot of years. We’ve been able to win a lot of races, whether it be us or our customers’ cars. I think that’s because we try to work hard over the winter and get our cars dialed in right.”
During a break in a recent testing session at South Boston, Sellers said he feels good about his cars for this year.
“The two cars I have are the same two cars we raced last year,” he pointed out. “I feel like we’ve got them figured out. I feel like we know what the characteristics of each car are. I look forward to getting back into that rhythm and racing them.”