JACKSONVILLE, NC – Reigning Legend Car champion Aiden McConnaughey began the New Year with a statement victory in a thriller at New River All American Speedway on Monday afternoon.
McConnaughey, 17, from Jacksonville, North Carolina, spent much of the 30-lap race mired in a thrilling duel with Midlothian, Virginia standout Charlie Beals. The two drivers raced each other side-by-side for the majority of the race’s first half, swapping the lead eight times between them. On the race’s 17th lap, McConnaughey would finally take sole possession of the top spot for good from Beals to score his sixth career New River All American Speedway victory.
“From the very first corner, [Beals] gave me everything he had,” McConnaughey said in victory lane. “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever had to race three-wide here. It caught me a little off guard coming out of turn two. The back-and-forth between us was awesome. I just can’t thank him enough for racing me clean and I raced him as clean as I could.”
Despite leading 13 of the race’s 30 laps, Beals would fade in the closing laps, being relegated to a third-place finish after surrendering the runner-up spot to Mooresville, North Carolina driver Adam Brickley – who was a teammate to McConnaughey.
“Always fun racing like that, being able to race clean with other guys,” Beals said after the race. “Congratulations to Aiden and his team, Three Sixteen Motorsports, for taking the top two spots. They’ve definitely got this track figured out.”
Levi Canup finished in fourth while longtime Eastern North Carolina Legends standout Brenton Irving rounded out the top five in the 12-car field.
Reigning Bandolero champion Landon Burbage dominated the 15-lap Bandolero feature to score the win over Wake Forest, North Carolina’s Jay Hemenway, and Lucama, North Carolina’s Landon Strickland.
“I was praying earlier for the win and we got it,” Burbage stated. “I just found my line [on the last restart] that we had been running. In the beginning, we just didn’t have the speed that we wanted, but we pulled it off.”
Local racer Robert Drum, who originally came from a drag racing background, was finally able to score his first career Bomber division victory, holding off Richard Smith, also from Jacksonville, and Gates, North Carolina’s Stormy Butts.
“I knew it was coming sooner or later,” Drum stated. “It’s awesome to finally pull it off. Great feeling. Oval racing is different. I really enjoy it. I wanted to do circle track racing all my life. Started last year and it’s about time I get here.”
Robert’s wife, Kristin, picked up the win in the Powder Puff exhibition race over his daughter, Laney Drum. Defending Rumbler (U-CAR) champion Curtis Lanier picked up the victory in the division’s feature over Logan McCallister and Hunter Brown.
With the winter highlight in the books, New River All American Speedway will begin cooking for the 2024 season on Saturday, March 23, 2024 with the National Dodge Chrysler Jeep RAM of Jacksonville 250 featuring the zMAX CARS Tour and Grand National Super Series. The 2024 season is scheduled to be the biggest in speedway history, with the SRL National Super Late Models and SMART Modified Tour also making visits, giving the Onslow County track one of the strongest and most diverse schedules on the East Coast.
On Saturday, January 27, 2024, the champions and top points finishers will be honored for their success at the Celebration of Champions awards presentation at The Garden Pavilion at The Angry Ginger Irish Pub. The banquet, which is open to the public with limited seating and will be videotaped, will also feature a performance from Nashville recording artist Carsyn Gray [Gillikin] who finished 10th in the Legends feature on Monday.
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, follow @newriverswy on X (formerly known as Twitter), or follow the track on Instagram.
Unofficial Results for 1/1/2024 at New River All-American Speedway – Jacksonville, NC
Bomber | 25 Laps | 00:07:28.000
1. 83-Robert Drum; 2. 77-Richard Smith; 3. 42-Stormy Butts; 4. 71-Devin Axton; 5. 66-Ronnie Kropp; 6. 58-Summer Sullivan; 7. 34-Michael Withrow; 8. (DNF) 33-Nathan Hall; 9. (DNF) 79-Dominic Baez; 10. (DQ) 75-James Barbour; 11. (DQ) 88-Dale Drum; 12. (DQ) 01-Charlie Mercer
Legend Car | 30 Laps | 00:09:20.520
1. 71-Aiden McConnaughey; 2. 2B-Adam Brickley; 3. 5B-Charlie Beals; 4. 7-Levi Canup; 5. B1-Brenton Irving; 6. 75-Chase Singletary; 7. 8-Brian Sullivan; 8. 18-Tony Arnold; 9. 14-Mike Ridenour; 10. 99-Carsyn Gillikin; 11. T2-Camden Truett; 12. 69-David Braxton
Bandolero | 15 Laps | 00:03:35.910
1. 3-Landon Burbage; 2. 12-Jay Hemenway; 3. 10-Landon Strickland; 4. 45-Rylan Speight; 5. 5-Corbin Cannon
Rumbler | 30 Laps | 00:10:03.515
1. 2-Curtis Lanier; 2. 19-Logan McCallister; 3. 11-Timothy Brown; 4. 17-Brian Gooden; 5. 03-Cornell Williams; 6. (DNS) 77-Richard Smith
Powder Puff | 10 Laps | 00:09:08.073
1. 83-Kristin Drum; 2. 88-Laney Drum; 3. 71-Kelsey Baez; 4. 66-Kayla McCallister
