The first race of the 2022 Virginia Late Model Stock Car Triple Crown, the Thunder Road Harley Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway, is just days away, and the pre-entry list is already stacked for the $10,000-to-win race. With 48 names on the entry list as of Tuesday morning, it’s a who’s-who of the best Late Model Stock Car racing in Virginia and the Carolinas has to offer, as well as some from other Late Model disciplines across the country.

Headlining the entry list is defending race winner, Bobby McCarty. The Kernersville, North Carolina native powered by multi-time track champion Peyton Sellers with just three laps to go to win the 2021 edition of this race one year ago.

Even though it’s been a year, you can bet that Sellers hasn’t forgotten about how close he was to another victory at the track he often dominates. Sellers, fresh off a start in the Superstar Racing Experience series at South Boston last week, has his familiar No. 26 entered as well looking for his third win in this race since 2018.

For most of his career, Landon Pembleton was a relatively unknown driver. That all changed when he won the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway, the Virginia Triple Crown finale, last year in dominating fashion. Now, Pembleton enters the Thunder Road Harley Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway as one of the favorites for the big check.

The last driver we’d put in the “favorite” category has to be the South Boston points leader and the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national championship points leader. That man is second-generation racer, Layne Riggs. Riggs wasn’t intending on racing weekly at South Boston or racing for the national championship, but four wins in a row at “SoBo” to start the season kept the No. 99 coming back for more. Entering this weekend’s race, Riggs has won seven of the 10 races at South Boston Speedway.

Brenden Queen, the three-time champion at Langley Speedway on the east side of Virginia is still searching for his first top-five finish in the 200-lapper at South Boston. His best finish in this race was an eighth-place run in 2017. He’s hoping that first top five finish, or better yet a win, comes Saturday night.

Mike Looney and his white No. 87 car is one you can never count out. Although Looney has never won this race, he did win the 2016 edition of the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville, and he has two runner-up finishes in three starts at South Boston so far this season.

JR Motorsports driver Carson Kvapil has his No. 8 machine entered for Saturday’s race. Kvapil has been having a strong season racing with the CARS Tour Late Model Stock Cars where he has won twice at Caraway Speedway and Franklin County Speedway already this year.

Corey Heim is a two-time winner in the NASCAR Camping World Trucks Series so far this year, and he’s back in a Late Model Stock Car this weekend looking for another victory. Heim’s last LMSC win came in a CARS Tour race at Hickory Motor Speedway in 2020. The Georgia driver scored a fifth-place finish in this event in 2019. Heim also finished second in the 2018 ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville, his best finish in a Virginia Triple Crown event.

West coast Super Late Model ace Derek Thorn is heading east from Bakersfield, California to make his first start in a Late Model Stock Car Saturday night. Thorn is a two-time Snowflake 100 winner in a Pro Late Model, and a three-time pole winner for the Snowball Derby in a Super Late Model. In addition to Saturday’s race at South Boston, Thorn also plans on racing in the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway later this year. While he’s never run a Late Model of this type before, Thorn has proven throughout his career to be a fast learner and contend for wins regardless of the type of car he’s in. It should be no surprise if Thorn’s No. 43 is near the front of the field at the end of Saturday’s 200 laps.

Saturday’s Thunder Road Harley Davidson 200 will $10,000 to the winner, and will be broken into four 50-lap stages. There will be a controlled caution at the end of Lap 50 and Lap 150, and there will be a ten-minute halfway break at the end of Lap 100. No tire changes are allowed throughout the event.

The top 28 cars from qualifying will be locked into the 200-lap feature event. The rest of the cars will head to the Last Chance Race to try to get into the main event.

Racing will begin at 7 p.m. ET with the 25-lap Last Chance Race for the Late Model Stock Cars. The Limited Sportsman, Pure Stocks, and Hornets will all run features leading into the running of the Thunder Road Harley Davidson 200. Race fans can watch all of the racing live on FloRacing. If you do not yet have a FloRacing subscription, you can sign up here.

Thunder Road Harley Davidson 200 Entry List