After a rough and tough battle on track, Landon Pembelton secured his second Grandfather Clock trophy, winning the 30th Anniversary edition of the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway.
Pembelton battled his way through all 200 laps of NASCAR’s biggest and most prestigious Late Model Stock Car race, navigating cautions, weather and the rest of the field to earn the victory. This marks Pembelton’s second ValleyStar Credit Union 300 win, previously winning in 2021.
“Winning this race is unbelievable. This one definitely came a lot harder than the first one did, but I was able to capitalize,” said Pembelton. “I was very emotional coming to the line there and I knew Lee was going use me up and he did. I used him up a little bit too, and that’s how it’s supposed to be.”
A restart in the second half of the race saw Pembelton take the lead from Lee Pulliam, causing a shift in the lineup. Pulliam and Pembelton swapped leads a few times following a brief weather delay with 25 to go, but Pembelton eventually came out on top ahead of Pulliam after a neck-and-neck finish to the checkered flag, making his way to victory lane.
Pulliam started the race on the front row beside Carson Loftin after both drivers won their respective Heats earlier on in the day. Loftin ended the race in tenth.
Trevor Ward and Tristan McKee, who made up the second row after winning Heat races No. 3 and 4, had late race troubles. Mckee’s night ended around lap 160 following an incident, while Ward was shown the black flag after jumping a restart around lap 111, ending his night in 27th.
Two-time Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Champion Connor Hall finished 11th in the field in the final leg of the Virginia Late Model Triple Crown, giving him the edge he needed and ultimately earning the title of Triple Crown Champion.
“This is a great first Triple Crown win, obviously a great edition to my Late Model Stock Car racing resume,” said Hall. “When I joined JR Motorsports, I thought it was going to be pretty hard to make a ‘first’ for a team that’s won pretty much everything, so to give JR Motorsports and everyone back at the shop their first opportunity for a Triple Crown was super special for me.”
Before heading into the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 race weekend, Connor Hall led the Triple crown standings with an average finish of 1.5. Hall locked himself into the feature race after earning the win during the first leg of the Triple Crown at Langley Speedway earlier this year.
Drivers Woody Howard and Ronnie Bassett Jr. were tied for second in the standings going into the final leg of the Virginia Late Model Triple Crown, however Bassett’s race ended early after an incident on lap 21 of the ValleyStar Credit Union 300. Howard failed to qualify for the feature race after finishing outside the Top 10 in Heat Race No. 4.
Parker Eatmon finished second in the Triple Crown standings while Carson Loftin finished third.
Next up at Martinsville Speedway will be the NASCAR Playoffs race weekend featuring an action-packed lineup of racing and entertainment. It all begins on Thursday, Oct. 23 with the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300 doubleheader, starting with the Whelen Madza MX-5 Cup, directly followed by the Whelen Modified Tour Championship under the lights at the famed short track.
Then, starting Friday, fans can witness drivers in all three NASCAR national series as they compete for the final chance to race their way into the Championship.
First up is the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoffs race on Friday, Oct. 24, followed by the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs on Saturday, Oct. 25. The weekend concludes on Sunday, Oct. 26, as drivers from the Cup Series compete in the penultimate race of the 2025 season, in the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
Fans can purchase tickets to the 2025 NASCAR Playoffs Race Weekend, as well as all other race weekends at Martinsville Speedway, via phone at 877-RACE-TIX or online at martinsvillespeedway.com.
