LUCAMA, NC – James Stroud is back in the saddle at Southern National Motorsports Park after spending the past few seasons away from his hometown track.
The Bailey, North Carolina driver and former Southern National Motorsports Park U-CAR division champion competed in the Mini-Stock feature race on March 3rd, finishing third. After a strong run in the season opener, he plans to be back on March 31st.
“I’m excited to be back at Southern National this year,” Stroud said. “I’ve spent the last two years supporting our son’s racing at East Carolina in the Bomber class. He won the championship last year, but he is in Florida now for college, so I can get back to racing. The U-CARs have advanced to Mini-Stocks in the past few years, so it will be fun, but not much different.”
Stroud has raced off and on in recent years, which includes a couple starts at Southern National in the Any Car class. This year, he will be able to race more often in a Mini-Stock.
“I have been blessed to put together a plan to race this year,” Stroud remarked. “I am going to race Richard Aliff’s car for most of the races, but also going to run Buckshot’s car after this baby arrives in May. Both cars are capable of winning, which will be fun.”
While Stroud will race regularly, he is undecided as to whether he’ll run full-time at Southern National and go for the division championship. Stroud plans to race for wins and have fun, but if he continues to run up front, he may decide to go for the championship again.
“We are going to run the first few races and see how it goes,” Stroud explained. “After winning the championship in 2014, we realized the stress and commitment it takes to chase it, which can take the fun out of it at times. So we’ll reevaluate after a few races. But we do race, we plan to run for the win.”
Stroud will once again compete at Southern National Motorsports Park on March 31st in the 35-lap Mini-Stock feature race which will kick off the Easter Bunny 100. In addition to the Mini-Stocks, the March 31st event will feature racing for the USAC Midgets, Limited Late Models, Bandoleros, Legends and Any Cars. The green flag will drop at 2pm.
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