LUCAMA, NC – Brandon Head returned to victory lane for the first time in nearly 20 years in the second act of a KONI Charger double feature at Southern National Motorsports Park on Saturday.
Head, 47, from Goldsboro, won the track championship at Southern National Motorsports Park in 2005. Since the Diaz family took over Southern National and reopened the venue in 2013, Head has raced off and on, but had not been back to victory lane until Saturday.
“It’s been a while,” Head said in victory lane after the race. “Wins are hard to come by. This Charger crowd, they ain’t no slouches. You’ve got to get up on the wheel. I love it. The guys are good competition and there ain’t no giving anyone anything. If you only knew how much junk I’ve had talked to me and I’ve had to grin and eat humble pie. That thing’s served both ways. It makes me better, even as old as I am, I learn something every time I come to the track. I’ve always said you can out-drove me, out-dollar me, but it’s going to be hard to out-work me.”
Head made the race winning pass on Austin Farrell on the opening laps and never looked back. Behind him, Justin Mitchell finished second while Hunter Brown, Farrell and Davis Renfrow rounded out the top-five. Brown, who leads the division championship standings, won in the first of the two races held.
Brown’s sister, Haley Williamson, picked up a pair of podium finishes in her first two races back behind the wheel in Any Car competition after marrying two-time Coastal Plains track champion Paul Williamson and having a baby during the spring.
“It feels really good,” Williamson said. “I haven’t raced or sat in the car in eight months and, you know, dig real hard at it. To come out here and finish on the podium means a lot.”
Williamson plans to move up to Charger this season. She broke a pulley in the car during practice earlier this week, but intends to race her new car later this month at Southern National.
Both Any Car races were won by Andrew Watson, with Watson making the move on Williamson on the outside midway through the second Bomber feature.
“It never feels like it’s two different events when you do a twin race like this,” Watson stated. “Anytime you can battle somebody and get around them on the outside, that just gets your blood pumping.
Brody Rhodes propelled himself atop the Legend Car division standings with wins on Saturday while his primary championship rival, Scotty Benford, struggled with finishes of ninth and fifth.
“I know Scotty had a rough night tonight, and there’s not a question that it could happen to me next race, but I feel like we’ve got a decent cushion now and we’re always looking forward to the next one. It’s such a great feeling to win, especially out here. I haven’t had the best of luck, but it’s all coming around.”
Wesley Warriner scored the win in the first of two Virginia Mini Cup features while Johnny Shonk was victorious in the second act.
The 2025 racing season at Southern National Motorsports Park resumes on Saturday, May 31, with the penultimate race of the championship season at the Wilson County track.
Chargers Presented by KONI
Twin 1 (35 Laps): 1. 11-Timothy Brown[4]; 2. 98-Matt Morgan[1]; 3. J12-Wesley Johnson[2]; 4. 16H-Brandon Head[12]; 5. 02-Jonathan Kluge[3]; 6. 41-Austin Ferrell[9]; 7. 61-Michael O’Brien[11]; 8. 06-Camryn Rice[10]; 9. 14-Davis Renfrow[6]; 10. 22-PJ Flowers[7]; 11. 21-Gerald Benton[8]; 12. 10-Justin Mitchell[5]
Twin 2 (35 Laps): 1. 16H-Brandon Head[3]; 2. 10-Justin Mitchell[12]; 3. 11-Timothy Brown[6]; 4. 41-Austin Ferrell[1]; 5. 14-Davis Renfrow[9]; 6. 02-Jonathan Kluge[2]; 7. 21-Gerald Benton[11]; 8. 06-Camryn Rice[8]; 9. 61-Michael O’Brien[7]; 10. 98-Matt Morgan[5]; 11. J12-Wesley Johnson[4]; 12. (DNS) 22-PJ Flowers
Legends
Twin 1 (25 Laps): 1. 9-Brody Rhodes[1]; 2. 15C-Case James[3]; 3. 18A-Tony Arnold[2]; 4. 74-Sean McElearney[6]; 5. 00-Aaron Crumpler[8]; 6. 18-Knox Bryant[10]; 7. 316-Kaedin Ridenhour[7]; 8. 006-Landon Barefoot[9]; 9. 51-Scotty Benford[5]; 10. 28-Oliver Missner[4]; 11. 72-Dylan Abramo[11]; 12. 11-Michael Diaz[15]; 13. 35-Daniel Thompson[14]; 14. 97-Michael Bivens[12]; 15. G7-Colby Gurganus[13]
Twin 2 (25 Laps): 1. 9-Brody Rhodes[3]; 2. 15C-Case James[2]; 3. 18A-Tony Arnold[1]; 4. 74-Sean McElearney[4]; 5. 51-Scotty Benford[9]; 6. 28-Oliver Missner[10]; 7. 00-Aaron Crumpler[5]; 8. 316-Kaedin Ridenhour[7]; 9. 18-Knox Bryant[6]; 10. 006-Landon Barefoot[8]; 11. 97-Michael Bivens[14]; 12. 72-Dylan Abramo[11]; 13. G7-Colby Gurganus[15]; 14. 11-Michael Diaz[12]; 15. 35-Daniel Thompson[13]
Any Cars
Twin 1 (15 Laps): 1. 08-Andrew Watson[7]; 2. 9-Bradley Morgan[10]; 3. 5-Haley Brown[11]; 4. 17-Duane Walker[6]; 5. 91-Timothy Medeiros[9]; 6. 08Z-Mark Hood[2]; 7. 75-James Barbour[5]; 8. 5L-Joe Lazarczyk[4]; 9. 48S-Simon Stroud[3]; 10. 45-Mike Sliger[8]; 11. 88-Doug Smoot[1]
Twin 2 (15 Laps): 1. 08-Andrew Watson[6]; 2. 5-Haley Brown[4]; 3. 9-Bradley Morgan[5]; 4. 91-Timothy Medeiros[2]; 5. 17-Duane Walker[3]; 6. 08Z-Mark Hood[1]; 7. 75-James Barbour[7]; 8. 45-Mike Sliger[10]; 9. 48S-Simon Stroud[9]; 10. 88-Doug Smoot[11]; 11. 5L-Joe Lazarczyk[8]
Virginia Mini Cup Racing Association
Twin 1 (20 Laps): 1. 2-Wesley Warriner[3]; 2. 11-Noah Matthews[1]; 3. 25-Tyler Warriner[2]; 4. 7-Nate Thomas[5]; 5. 34-Johnny Shonk[4]; 6. 05-Tyler Thorn[7]; 7. 74-Jim Grady JR[6]; 8. 91-John Alford[8]; 9. 38-Ronnie Schneider[9]
Twin 2 (20 Laps): 1. 34-Johnny Shonk[5]; 2. 2-Wesley Warriner[4]; 3. 25-Tyler Warriner[2]; 4. 11-Noah Matthews[3]; 5. 7-Nate Thomas[1]; 6. 74-Jim Grady JR[7]; 7. 91-John Alford[8]; 8. 05-Tyler Thorn[6]; 9. 38-Ronnie Schneider[9]
