Connor Hall has won at nearly every race track in his home state of Virginia, except at South Boston Speedway.
And the 25-year-old Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour regular would love nothing more than to check it off his list when the series heads to the four-tenths-mile oval on Oct. 22 for the Commonwealth 225.
“It would be really cool,” Hall said. “Especially after we had a really bad run at the SoBo 200, to have something to grow upon and change the pace of our current story would be nice.”
The late model stock car driver has experienced growing pains throughout his season, with it being his first year running the series full time. It was also the startup year for Hall’s team — Chad Bryant Racing. Since he was a kid, Hall has progressed from local competition in Legends cars, to jumping behind the wheel of a late model, to now traveling with the CARS Tour up and down the East Coast.
“I enjoyed running different places every week more than staying in the same place and the CARS Tour was the spot to find the competition,” Hall said.
He stunned the crowd in his CARS Tour debut at South Boston Speedway last fall, earning pole position in qualifying and coming across the finish line in third place. Though the car wasn’t exactly where he wanted it to be, Hall managed a solid performance.
This year, Hall is in a new position as the driver of the No. 77 Chad Bryant Racing late model, armed with a different program and a season full of experience.
“Hopefully, we can go back and just find a couple more spots and be better,” Hall said.
Hall has picked up a handful of triumphs this year, including two major victories at North Carolina tracks. He earned his first CARS Tour triumph at Goodyear All-American Speedway in April and later defeated William Sawalich to win the Throwback 276 at Hickory Motor Speedway in July.
However, Hall sees his victory at Dominion (Va.) Raceway in June as one of the best.
“We were by far the dominant car and just to have that capability felt really good,” Hall said.
The young driver has been dealt his fair share of hardships to balance out the good times in his rookie year. Some races, as Hall recalls, he’s run out of gas or been taken out by a crash. And others, he’s proven he can be a frontrunner and battle for the win.
All in all, Hall enters South Boston Speedway — the second to last CARS Tour race of the season — third in the late model stock car standings. And while he admits that there’s been plenty to learn this year, Hall isn’t quite happy where he’s at.
“Honestly, nobody cares about third. I wouldn’t even care if I finish second in points, it’s just not how I’m wired,” Hall said with a laugh.
The Virginia native is already looking to 2023 for another chance to fight for the championship, but first, he has South Boston Speedway to tame.
Saturday’s CARS Tour doubleheader that also includes the Pro Late Models can be seen on SPEED SPORT affiliate CARSTour.tv at 7 p.m. (ET).