JACKSONVILLE, NC – One of the most successful drivers to ever compete at New River All-American Speedway will compete in the biggest race of his career on Saturday night before setting his sights on a second track championship in Jacksonville.
Daniels, 49, from Alliance, North Carolina, won the track championship at New River All-American Speedway, then called Coastal Plains Raceway, in 2009 and has around 20 wins at the track – 10 of those coming since the track’s reopening in 2021. However, he has never competed in a 200-lap race in his career and the $20,000 paycheck in the Solid Rock Carriers Battle of the Stars is the most money he has ever raced for.
“It would be the biggest race I’ve ever won,” Daniels said. “It’s the most money I’ve ever raced for, so it would mean a lot. Wouldn’t have to worry about anything the rest of the year money-wise. It would be special, it’s the largest purse and the longest race I’ve ever run. I don’t think I’ve ever run a 200-lap race. I’ve run several 150-lap races. This is a busy week for me. I want to make sure everything’s perfect, and I’ll be in the shop the next couple of nights doing my maintenance like always.”
This weekend will be the most challenging race of Daniels’ career at New River as he will face competition from familiar faces such as Brandon Clements, Tony Grady, Dylan Newsome, and Tim Allensworth, as well as challengers from the upper echelons of Late Model Stock Car racing, including Bobby McCarty, Brenden Queen, Connor Hall, Conner Jones, and Jared Fryar, among others.
Daniels is confident he will be able to piece together a top-five effort.
“This little motor’s been working mighty strong the last couple of weekends,” Daniels exclaimed. “This is my best track and they’re coming into my house, so everybody’s going to have to be ready for everybody I reckon.”
Despite winning the most races in 2022, Daniels had to settle for a runner-up finish in the Late Model championship standings. This season, he hopes to seal the deal and score his second title at the track and his first NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series track championship.
“It would be nice to win the championship,” Daniels remarked. “It’s a NASCAR title so that’s going to be even more special.”
Daniels has been racing for over 30 years. He began racing when he was 16, and has enjoyed plenty of success at New River, as well as at Lucama, North Carolina’s Southern National Motorsports Park, and at the now-defunct East Carolina Motor Speedway in Robersonville, North Carolina.
“I’ve raced over 30 years really,” Daniels commented. “It’s been a blast. It’s kept me out of trouble, all kinds of different things. You sacrifice a lot to race, that’s the way life is if you want to do this. You miss a lot of things, but everybody’s willing to be okay with it, so it works out.”
The 4/10-mile D-shaped New River All-American Speedway, however, is Daniels’ favorite track.
“It’s my best track,” Daniels explained. “It’s kind of a lot like East Carolina. It’s almost shaped just like it and I had a lot of success there. You can race side-by-side all over the place here, not a problem. Robersonville is tight but it’s shaped identically to New River. It’s just wider. The racetrack’s wider.”
Daniels has been racing at New River since the track opened in 1999 and has witnessed the track’s rise, fall, and rebirth under the leadership of Anthony and Tonya Goodyear. Now he’s looking forward to the NASCAR era of racing at New River All-American Speedway.
“I raced there when they first opened and it was busy,” Daniels recalled. “We had a lot of cars there in the 2000s. It would be nice to see it as strong as it used to be. NASCAR, the insurance, and everything that comes along with NASCAR is a plus.”
Daniels has been victorious in his last six consecutive starts at New River All-American Speedway and is tied with Mini-Stock driver Curtis Lanier for the most wins in the New River era at the Onslow County motorsports complex.
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.
