Hornets Division Points Leader Jason Decarlo Quietly Compiling Impressive Record at South Boston Speedway

 HORNETS DIVISION POINTS LEADER JASON DECARLO QUIETLY COMPILING IMPRESSIVE RECORD AT SOUTH BOSTON SPEEDWAY

By Joe Chandler

Director, Public Relations

South Boston Speedway

SOUTH BOSTON, VA……When you look among the frontrunners across South Boston Speedway’s four NASCAR racing divisions that are compiling impressive records one of the drivers that stands out is Jason DeCarlo.

DeCarlo has quietly put together a notable string of races in which he has finished no worse than second in his last 10 starts in the Dollar General Hornets Division dating back to August 17 of last year. In that string of races, DeCarlo has four wins and six runner-up finishes.

“We’ve just been consistent, stayed on top of the car, and had luck on our side,” explained the 2022 South Boston Speedway Dollar General Hornets Division champion. “We’re making sure the car is safe, doing the little things that need to be touched up, making sure all of the bearings are good, staying up on the alignment and things like that, and come out and go racing.”

Consistency and a close eye on the maintenance of his car have contributed to the impressive record the Chase City, Virginia resident has achieved in the division. Over the four-plus years he has raced in the division DeCarlo has seven wins, six poles, 33 Top-5 finishes and 40 Top-10 finishes in his 42 career starts in the division.

“The consistency has always been there,” DeCarlo pointed out. “We’ve always had a consistent car and have been a consistent team. Besides last year when we blew up a motor and the year before when we missed a race we have mostly finished in the top five. The year we won the championship we weren’t as fast as everybody else, but we were consistently in the top five.”

DeCarlo is attempting to capture a second career Dollar General Hornets Division championship and knows he has a tough task ahead of him with just four races and three nights of racing remaining in the division championship chase. Entering the twin 15-lap Dollar General Hornets Division races that will be part of the Saturday, August 9 Davenport Energy Race Night event at South Boston Speedway DeCarlo holds a 10-point lead over Landon Milam of Keeling, Virginia and a 23-point edge over Dustin Davis of Nathalie, Virginia.

“More than likely, it (the championship battle) is going to go down to the final night,” DeCarlo said. “As fast as he is running, and as fast as the Milams have that car and as hard as he drives it 10 points is nowhere near enough. If I win both races, that gives me 62 points for the night. Landon is guaranteed to be in the top three if he continues to run the way he is, and that’s maybe six points difference, so that still gives you only about a 16-point lead. If I have one bad night, he can make up that kind of a difference in a heartbeat.

“The only reason I have the lead I have now,” DeCarlo added, “is that Landon had a bad beginning of the season. I feel I’m going to have to stay in the top three the rest of the season to stay on top. That can be a really hard task with the competition we have in the division.”

The twin 15-lap Dollar General Hornets Division races that will be part of the August 9 Davenport Energy Race Night event at South Boston Speedway will be the third twin-race event held in the division since the division debuted at the track in 2014. Milam swept last year’s twin-race event, and Milam and DeCarlo split wins in the twin-race event held on June 7 of this year.

While DeCarlo likes twin-race events, they do give him a small measure of concern.

“That’s because in the first twin-race event we ever had in the division we cooked a motor in practice and didn’t make the race,” he noted. “I enjoy them. I love to race. It does make for a long night. You have to make sure you have everything right on the car and have enough time between races to do that. These cars are not designed for what we do to them. The hubs, the tie-rod ends and things like that don’t like it, and the tires aren’t made to do it, so you have to make sure all of that is good.”

The twin 15-lap Dollar General Hornets Division races are among six races slated for the Saturday, August 9 Davenport Energy Race Night event at South Boston Speedway. Twin 75-lap races for the Sentara Health Late Model Stock Car Division headline the night’s racing action. A 50-lap race for the Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division and a 25-lap race for the Southside Disposal Pure Stock Division will round out the night’s racing action.

Advance adult tickets for the Saturday, August 9 Davenport Energy Race Night event are priced at $12. Tickets at the gate on race day will be $15 each. Suite tickets are available for $40 each. Seniors ages 65 and older, military, and students (with ID) can purchase tickets for $12 each at the gate only on the day of the event.

The tentative race-day schedule has registration and pit gates opening at 2 p.m. and practice starting at 3:25 p.m. Frontstretch grandstand gates open at 3:30 p.m. and backstretch and Turn 4 trackside parking gates open at 5:30 p.m. Qualifying starts at 6 p.m. and the first race of the night will get the green flag at 7 p.m.

The latest news and updates about the August 9 Davenport Energy Race Night event and all South Boston Speedway events can be found on the speedway’s website, www.southbostonspeedway.com, by calling the speedway office at 434-572-4947 or toll free at 1-877-440-1540 during regular business hours, and through the track’s social media channels.