LUCAMA, NC – Matt McCall has come close to winning the Thanksgiving Classic, but has come up short in previous attempts. This year, he’s chasing the elusive Thanksgiving Classic victory once more.
McCall, 36, from Denver, North Caolina, is currently a crew chief for Jamie McMurray at Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. He is a multiple time Late Model Stock Car winner at Southern National Motorsports Park, most recently in May 2015 when he won a race that was held in memory of the late Jerry Moody.
This season, he is once again racing for Wendell Davis, who was McCall’s crew chief in 2009 when he won the UARA championship.
“Wendell and all these guys have worked hard on this car,” McCall said. “We basically rebuilt it because it sat around all year. We’re thrashing to get here. The plan is to come back and see if we can get a trophy.”
Working full-time in NASCAR racing keeps McCall out of the seat for most of the year. However, being a racer, he still races whenever he can and the Thanksgiving Classic, which falls one week after the NASCAR season concludes, provides him a rare opportunity to strap into a Late Model Stock Car.
“Once you’re a short track racer, that’s all you want to do is short track race,” McCall remarked. “I think, if you give me a chance to race, we’ll try to race for sure.”
Last season, McCall finished third in the Thanksgiving Classic to Tommy Lemons, Jr. and Brenden Queen. He ran inside the top-five throughout much of the race, but a series of late race cautions and a late race restart ultimately kept him from being able to make the winning move.
This year, he expects things to be different.
“To me, it will be different this year,” McCall commented. “The pace will be a lot different than the racing has been in previous years. Hopefully I can time that out correctly and be good at the end of the race.”
Having spent much of his career at Southern National, first racing for Jerry Moody and later, Wendell Davis, McCall sees the Thanksgiving Classic as something of a homecoming.
“Southern National is really close to Wendell’s shop and there’s a lot of value in this track,” McCall explained. “Basically, Jerry Moody gave me my chance to start racing here, racing for him, and later for Wendell. I think, to come back and race here is always fun. I would consider it a home track for sure.”
McCall will join a star-studded field of racers in the 200-lap Late Model Stock Car portion of the Thanksgiving Classic which will commence on Sunday, November 26th. Qualifying will be held on Saturday afternoon.
More information about the 17th Thanksgiving Classic presented by Solid Rock Carriers » https://snmpark.com/thanksgivingclassic
For more information about Southern National Motorsports Park, check out SNMP’s website at www.snmpark.com, “like” Southern National Motorsports Park on Facebook or “follow” @SNM_Park on Twitter.
