JACKSONVILLE, NC – Dylan Newsome picked up his second career New River All American Speedway victory in the headline race at the Jacksonville, North Carolina speedway on Saturday night.
Newsome, who won the 2022 Late Model championship at New River, spent several laps racing for the lead in the closing stages of the race with defending track champion Paul Williamson. Newsome was able to make the pass with 22 laps to go.
“We’ve been chasing Rusty [Daniels] for the last two years,” Newsome said in victory lane. “Not gonna lie, it’s chapped my ass being behind him. We had a really good run. I just saved a little bit. I thought I’d rather go early and make it to the front than come backwards and not make it to the front at all.”
The win was the first since March 2022 for Newsome. Last year, the Goldsboro driver spent much of his season racing at Carteret County Speedway, where he picked up the track championship.
Daniels, who has more wins in Late Model competition than any other competitor in the New River All American Speedway era, was involved in an early race incident when Ross “Boo Boo” Dalton spun off his front bumper. He was able to rebound for a third place finish and apologized about the unintentional contact during postrace interviews.
“I want to apologize to Ross,” Daniels remarked. “That wasn’t anything with intention, I just touched him. Sorry for spinning him out.”
Reigning Legends division Aiden McConnaughey outdueled Brody Rhodes in a riveting feature. The two drivers, who are teammates under the Three Sixteen Motorsports banner, raced nose-to-tail for the win in the closing laps, but Rhodes was never able to get close enough to make a clean pass.
“Wow,” McConnaghey exclaimed. “That was a really good race with Brody. Really good car with Three Sixteen Motorsports. Willie Ridenhour, fantastic job all around. Brody, can’t thank him enough for racing me clean. I know, one or two times there, he could have sent one in and given me the bumper but didn’t, so I thank him for racing me clean. As a teammate, I appreciate that.”
Landon Burbage picked up the victory in an equally exciting Bandolero race over Jay Hemenway and Delaney Gray. Tyler Horne, returning to New River for the first time in several years, swept in the Charger division while Robert Drum won in Bomber and his wife, Kristin, took home the checkered flag in the Powder Puff feature, and Jacob Tingen was victorious in Champ Kart competition.
Next up at New River is the Ronnie Hetu Memorial on Saturday, May 18, featuring a $1,000-to-win Mini Stock race, Street Stocks, Legends and more.
New River All-American Speedway is Jacksonville’s Action Attraction featuring racing and other events. For more information about New River All-American Speedway, check out the speedway’s website, like/follow “New River Speedway” on Facebook and/or follow @newriverswy on X (formerly known as Twitter).
