JACKSONVILLE, NC – One former New River All American Speedway champion has been honoring the legacy of a fallen racer and fellow speedway champion – and now Curtis Lanier hopes to be victorious in Saturday’s Gary Rochelle Memorial.
Lanier, 33, from Beulaville, North Carolina, has won 16 races and two championships since New River All American Speedway reopened in July 2021. Most of those wins and both championships have been in the four-cylinder class, but earlier this year, Lanier picked up a victory in the Street Stock division driving the car Gary Rochelle, Jr. won the 2022 Street Stock division championship in.
Last August, Rochelle tragically lost his life.
“Gary Sr. got my phone number from somebody, called me up, and asked if I would be interested in sitting in his car a little bit,” Lanier recalled. “I told him I’d sit in any seat that was around. It was sentimental for me and I felt like it was sentimental for Gary to see it on the track and running well.”
Winning on Saturday night in Rochelle’s no. 22 car would be a highlight for Lanier and the Rochelle family.
“It would mean the world to me to win the Gary Rochelle Memorial in Gary’s car,” Lanier said. “It would mean even more to his daddy, to be back in victory lane with this car, at this track. New River is one of his favorite tracks. Me and Gary were good acquaintances. I didn’t know him real well, but I knew him and I talked to him at the racetrack more than normal, and it would mean a lot to honor his memory with a win.”
On June 1, 2024, Lanier picked up a Street Stock victory at New River in the no. 22 Street Stock. That victory came on a night when Lanier ran 140 laps across eight different feature races in four different cars.
“Even Travis Miller said that was probably a record because he had never seen anybody run that many races,” Lanier commented. “That was probably a highlight of my career, just to get in and out of that many cars in one night and have to get your mind set to what you’re driving at the moment. To come away with a win in Gary’s car and seven podium finishes was pretty good.”
He has also won two races with the same car at Carteret County Speedway in Peletier, North Carolina.
Lanier intends to once again compete in multiple divisions. Along with the Street Stock race, he will compete in his Mini Stock, a car he leads the points with at Wake County Speedway, and possibly in a Champ Kart.
“I love to race and I like the challenge of getting out of one kind of car and jump into a different kind of car,” Lanier explained. “It’s a completely different mindset to get out of different kinds of cars. Front-wheel drive cars, rear-wheel drive cars, Champ Karts, different size cars. It’s a challenge and I enjoy it. Hopefully, I’ll come home with at least two wins this weekend. That’s my plan. I put a lot of work into trying to get them all set right.”
Lanier has been in the Eastern North Carolina racing scene for several years, scoring his first career win at Southern National Motorsports Park in 2019. After months of hard work and practice, things began to click in 2021 at both Carteret and New River. He’s gone on to win 16 times at New River alone – more than any other driver.
“It took me a good year and a hal to figure out Carteret, as far as the track,” Lanier stated. “I started out at New River and then it shut down, so I ran at Carteret and had to learn the track and figure the car out. It all clicked together finally and I was able to make some progress and put some wins in the book.”
The 2nd Annual Gary Rochelle Memorial is tentatively scheduled for Saturday night, August 10. The race features Street Stocks, Chargers, Champ Karts, Mini Stocks, Legends, and Bandoleros. The Street Stock race will be 44 laps, split into two 22-lap segments, while every division except the Bandoleros will run 22 laps for their features in honor of Gary Rochelle, Jr. The Bandolero race will compete for its standard 15-lap distance.
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).
