JACKSONVILLE, NC – Brandon Clements is hoping to start his Late Model season with what would be the biggest win of his career in Saturday’s Solid Rock Carriers Battle of the Stars at New River All-American Speedway.
The Swansboro driver won the track championship at New River, then called Coastal Plains, in 2013 and has a track championship at Carteret County Speedway. This weekend, he believes less may be more in the first race of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series season – and that’s because he is running a motor that generates less horsepower, but that horsepower disadvantage will likely help him conserve tires.
“We just want to be competitive really, competitive and run up front,” Clements said. “If we can win, that would be great, but just be competitive. I think the crate motor will help us do that in the long run. We did realize the crate motor helped save tires so much the last race here. The first time we ran this race, we ran with a Harrington Enforcer and it was so much tougher on the equipment, so that’s what we’re hoping for is the crate motor will set us apart.”
Clements picked up a win with the same motor and same rules package in October 2022, driving past Chase Burrow midway through a 100-lap race and cruising to the win.
“I think [Burrow] burned his stuff up a little quicker than you think,” Clements explained. “We rode around a lot, waiting to see what was going to happen, to see if he had anything left. I think, in 50 laps here, in 20 laps here, you can completely kill your tires, so, if you play it smart and keep the tires on, even that last stage, the first couple laps, I think you still have a shot in 50.”
Competing on a lower-budget operation, with the help of longtime car owner and crew chief Wendell Davis, alters how aggressive Clements can be during long-distance races. While he has been successful in Late Model racing, having to be more conservative in bigger races, combined with suboptimal luck, has stood in the way of glory in big money races like Saturday night’s event.
“Being a low budget team, you just have to take everything a little different,” Clements remarked. “You can’t take the chances you want to take. Those guys, they seem to be able to take more chances because they have more money to fix their stuff when they get tore up, but I think we’re going to take a different approach than what we’ve been taking and just be really patient and be there at the end. That’s the biggest thing for us.”
What would a win on Saturday mean?
“It would pay for two years worth of racing for us,” Clements stated. “It would be huge. As long as we can be competitive and have a shot at the win, that’s what we’re looking for.”
Since beginning his racing career in 2004, Clements has become one of the most successful, and most recognizable, drivers in Eastern North Carolina – predominantly in the Mini-Stock division. He grew up watching his dad, Lewis, race at Southern National Motorsports Park and then began racing at New River. In 2007, he won his first championship, a Mini-Stock title.
However, he does not believe experience will be a pronounced advantage with the caliber of competition coming to Jacksonville.
“The experience doesn’t hurt but these guys coming here, they’re professionals, they do it every week,” Clements said. “The experience will help a little bit but it doesn’t take those guys long to figure it out either.”
New River All-American Speedway first opened in 1999, as Coastal Plains Raceway, and operated through the mid-2010s before closing down three different times. Clements has witnessed the track’s birth, fall, and its rebirth under the leadership of Anthony and Tonya Goodyear – and he is excited to see the track’s renaissance.
“These huge events coming here, it’s awesome,” Clements commented. “This is where I first started my driving career. We were around Southern National when I was little and everything, but this is where I started driving myself. Just to see the paint on the walls here and everything the Goodyears have done and the whole staff is just amazing.”
Saturday night’s Solid Rock Carriers Battle of the Stars will usher in a new era as it will be the first race at the track under the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series banner.
Qualifying for the Solid Rock Carriers Battle of the Stars will take place on Saturday, March 4, at 4:30 pm and the feature racing program will commence at 7:00 pm, with the 200-lap, $20,000-to-win Late Model Stock Car race expected to go green around 8-8:15 pm. Tickets are available online on MyRacePass and at the gate on race day for $25, and the event will be broadcast live on the FloRacing streaming platform, which is the official streaming partner of NASCAR Roots.
The complete weekend schedule and additional information about the Solid Rock Carriers Battle of the Stars is available online at newriverspeedway.com/battle.
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 Twitter, or follow the track on Instagram.
