LUCAMA, NC – Andrew Watson swept a pair of Any Car features in Saturday night’s Wilson County Tourism Development Authority Summer Fest at Southern National Motorsports Park, but the wins did not come easy for the reigning champion.

In the first 15-lap feature, Watson had to chase down Sammy Pacitti after waiting out a two hour rain delay and two incidents in the opening laps of the race.  Mechanical problems for Pacitti allowed Watson to close in and make the pass for the lead and the win.

It was the second act that produced one of the most exhilarating races in speedway history.

A random draw allowed both drivers to start on the front row, with Pacitti starting on the inside.  The two drivers raced side-by-side for the lead for 13 straight laps before lapped traffic allowed Watson to navigate his way past Pacitti.  Watson drove away in the final two laps to complete the sweep.

“Anytime you’re hung out on the outside, you got to plan what you got to do,” Watson said in victory lane.  “I don’t know how long I was out there, I think it was all 15 laps, but that was a blast.  I can’t believe we got it.  I don’t know if I could have, but the lapped cars, they played in my favor since I was hung on the outside.”

Despite the disappointment of a pair of runner-up finishes, Pacitti was all smiles after the race.

“Man, that was a blast,” Pacitti said.  “You know, Andrew is a tough competitor.  It was clean racing.  We had to deal with the rain.  The track, it wasn’t really the greatest conditions, but we were good.  I hate that we had to come home in second but at least we finished.”

With the win, Watson’s lead over T.J. Medeiros in the division championship standings grew to an almost insurmountable 25 points with just one race remaining in the spring season.  Watson is in position to potentially clinch his second straight title just by starting on Saturday, June 14.

Brody Rhodes came into Saturday’s Legends doubleheader with just a six point lead over Scotty Benford.

Benford’s night was cut short when the right front tire on his car became detached on the sixth lap of the first race, relegating him to a 21^st place finish.  The damage was too severe for Benford to be able to compete in the second feature.

While Joshua Lowe and Ryan Zima would pick up the victories, Benford’s misfortunes and a pair of runner-up finishes gives Rhodes a 56 point lead in the chase for the division championship.  If Legends are only scheduled to compete once on Championship Night on June 14, Rhodes will enter the race as the division champion.

The KNOI Shocks Chargers double feature saw Rusty Daniels continue his dominance in Eastern North Carolina.  Daniels swept the twins with a late race pass on Brandon Head in the first race and on Wesley Johnson in the second after starting in sixth.

“We weren’t sure what we had and what we burned up in the first race,” Daniels explained.  “Once we run three or four laps, I felt like we were pretty good and, you know, made a good charge at them.  I could see picking them off one at a time.  Just take them as they come.”

Championship contenders Hunter Brown and Davis Renfrow each finished within a position of each other in both races – with Renfrow besting Brown for fourth in the first race and again holding Brown off for fifth in the second feature.  Those finishes allowed Renfrow to close the gap to just 11 points heading into the season finale on June 14.

The June 14 season finale at Southern National Motorsports Park will also feature round three of the I-95 Showdown Late Model Stock Car series between Southern National and South Carolina’s Florence Motor Speedway.  The Southern Ground Pounders will also be in action at the Wilson County track.

Sammy Pacitti (43) and Andrew Watson (08) battle for the lead during a May 31, 2025 Any Car race at Southern National Motorsports Park. (Andy Marquis photo)

Results

Twin 1 (35 Laps): 1. 16-Rusty Daniels[7]; 2. 61H-Brandon Head[1]; 3. 10-Justin Mitchell[3]; 4. 14-Davis Renfrow[6]; 5. 11-Timothy Brown[2]; 6. J12-Wesley Johnson[4]; 7. 41-Austin Ferrell[9]; 8. 21-Gerald Benton[5]; 9. 22-PJ Flowers[8]; 10. 5-Haley Brown[11]; 11. 77-Tracey Chambers[12]; 12. 06-Camryn Rice[10]

Twin 2 (35 Laps): 1. 16-Rusty Daniels[6]; 2. 61H-Brandon Head[5]; 3. J12-Wesley Johnson[1]; 4. 41-Austin Ferrell[7]; 5. 14-Davis Renfrow[3]; 6. 11-Timothy Brown[2]; 7. 21-Gerald Benton[8]; 8. 5-Haley Brown[10]; 9. 22-PJ Flowers[9]; 10. 77-Tracey Chambers[11]; 11. 10-Justin Mitchell[4]; 12. (DNS) 06-Camryn Rice

Twin 1 (25 Laps): 1. 23-Josh Lowe[1]; 2. 9-Brody Rhodes[3]; 3. 27N-Nick Bulkeley[7]; 4. 4W-Ryan Zima[4]; 5. 2W-Peyton Worm[9]; 6. 00-Aaron Crumpler[10]; 7. 428-Oliver Missner[6]; 8. 16-Sam Macedo[8]; 9. 6E-Austin Eckert[11]; 10. 2B-Aaron Linsky[5]; 11. 97-Michael Bivens[14]; 12. 100-Kaedin Ridenhour[12]; 13. 006-Landon Barefoot[13]; 14. 78-collin vanasse[15]; 15. 21-David Hall[19]; 16. 29-Nathan Orlowski[17]; 17. 35-Daniel Thompson[16]; 18. 77-Danny Glenn[20]; 19. 72-Jon Miller[18]; 20. 13C-Bret Hicks[21]; 21. 51B-Scotty Benford[2]

Twin 2 (25 Laps): 1. 4W-Ryan Zima[4]; 2. 9-Brody Rhodes[2]; 3. 23-Josh Lowe[3]; 4. 2W-Peyton Worm[5]; 5. 00-Aaron Crumpler[6]; 6. 428-Oliver Missner[7]; 7. 16-Sam Macedo[8]; 8. 97-Michael Bivens[11]; 9. 6E-Austin Eckert[9]; 10. 2B-Aaron Linsky[10]; 11. 100-Kaedin Ridenhour[12]; 12. 006-Landon Barefoot[13]; 13. 78-collin vanasse[14]; 14. 35-Daniel Thompson[17]; 15. 21-David Hall[15]; 16. 29-Nathan Orlowski[16]; 17. 77-Danny Glenn[18]; 18. 27N-Nick Bulkeley[1]; 19. 13C-Bret Hicks[20]; 20. (DNS) 72-Jon Miller; 21. (DNS) 51B-Scotty Benford

Twin 1 (15 Laps): 1. 08-Andrew Watson[5]; 2. 43P-Sam Pacitti[6]; 3. 91-Timothy Medeiros[3]; 4. 45-Mike Sliger[1]; 5. 75-James Barbour[7]; 6. 06-Celeste Clevinger[4]; 7. 22-Linwood Mozingo[8]; 8. (DNF) 82-Dylan Page[2]

Twin 2 (15 Laps): 1. 08-Andrew Watson[2]; 2. 43P-Sam Pacitti[1]; 3. 91-Timothy Medeiros[3]; 4. 45-Mike Sliger[4]; 5. 06-Celeste Clevinger[6]; 6. 75-James Barbour[5]; 7. 22-Linwood Mozingo[7]; 8. (DNS) 82-Dylan Page