The inaugural HSR NASCAR Classic was won by Petty’s Garage and team driver Mike Skeen, who secured Saturday afternoon’s feature race victory at VIRginia International Raceway in an original Petty Enterprises 2006 No. 45 Victory Junction Dodge Charger that was campaigned in its prime by Kyle Petty.
After finishing second in Saturday morning’s qualifying race to Joe Nemechek, who started from the pole in both races, Skeen pounced when Nemechek’s 2006 No. 47 NEMCO Toyota Camry slowed in the closing stages of that afternoon’s feature race.
Skeen took the checkered flag with a 5.646s margin of victory and shared the overall and Pro-class top-three with Ryan Gemmell in a 2009 No. 6 Toyota Camry and PJ Hyett in the AO Racing 2021 No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro.
“The camaraderie in this series is huge,” said Skeen, an accomplished sports car racing driver. “The competitors are all buddies, they paddock together, they hang out and camp together and then love battling and racing together on track. They welcomed me right into the fold, and these cars are just so much fun to get out there and race against each other. It is just a lot of fun and it was a blast to be part of the first-ever race, particularly driving for Petty’s Garage. It is just a huge privilege, and I am greatly honored they gave me a call and asked me to come drive for them. I am glad we could get them a win and keep the car clean and bring it home.”
Fourth overall and first in the SCA class was secured by Patrick Womack who put in a solid run in his NEMCO-prepared 2014 No. 11 Toyota Camry.
“It was a lot of fun,” Womack said. “It was a good start, clean through turns one, two and three, and I put new tires on for the second race. I was really sliding around in the morning qualifying race, a lot of understeer, but we fixed that and the car ran great. I just tried to stay out of trouble. I can’t thank Joe and NEMCO enough for taking care of the car and NASCAR Classic for such a great event. I hope it gets bigger and I hope we have even more competition. There is huge potential here, which is why I am involved.”
Nemechek came within three laps of sweeping Saturday’s races but still left VIR enthused for the future of historic stock car racing and the NASCAR Classic series.
“There is definitely a lot of potential here,” Nemechek said. “We are working hard on getting people better cars to drive. Better equipment, stuff that doesn’t break — unfortunately I broke today — but it was still so much fun with guys who want and are here to have fun. That’s what this whole vintage and historic stock car thing is about. More and more people are calling and asking about cars, buying cars, and we are staying busy.”
Other class winners in Saturday’s feature included longtime HSR team owner and driver Dennis Olthoff in his Olthoff Racing 2006 No. 44 Toyota Camry who garnered SCB honors after a stout overall run to sixth place overall. Mike Slutz won SCC in his 1990 No. 5 Chevrolet Lumina while Donnie Strickland stepped into a NEMCO Chevrolet Silverado after his stock car entry was sidelined with a mechanical issue earlier in the weekend and walked away the SCT winner.
Off the track, the HSR NASCAR Classic garage area in the IMSA paddock was popular with fans and the sports car racing competitors. NASCAR legend Richard Petty bolstered the buzz early in the weekend when he joined his teammates and met Skeen at the Petty’s Garage hauler area Friday afternoon.
Petty’s Garage had several race cars and a 1970s era transporter support truck vehicle on display while several more vintage and historic stock cars were available for an up-close and under-the-hood look at the VIR pavilion.
“By any standard of measure, the inaugural HSR NASCAR Classic presented by Petty’s Garage race weekend at the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR was a resounding success,” said HSR President Chris Ward. “This was our first time running on an IMSA weekend and the format clearly works. The interest race fans and competitors from all of the competing series this weekend showed in NASCAR Classic was incredible and we have to thank all of the teams and drivers competing with us at our debut race for delivering a quality and entertaining show, both on and off the track, all weekend. We look forward to building on the foundation established this weekend in the next couple of months at Watkins Glen and Charlotte and for many years to come.”
HSR Historic Stock Cars return to Watkins Glen for the second-straight year on NASCAR weekend, Sept. 13-14, for the HSR NASCAR Classic at the Go Bowling at the Glen.
The Glen will be followed in the new series by the HSR NASCAR Classic at the NASCAR Bank of America ROVAL 400, Oct. 11-12, in HSR’s first appearance at Charlotte Motor Speedway.