Three-Race Miniseries Begins This Weekend at South Boston Speedway
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (June 25, 2025) – The Virginia Late Model Triple Crown features three of the East Coast’s biggest Late Model Stock races, and 20-year-old Jonathan Shafer has cast his lot with Hettinger Racing for the popular grassroots miniseries that begins this weekend at South Boston Speedway.
Shafer will drive the No. 5 Chevrolet in Saturday night’s Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at the .4-mile oval before tackling the July 19 Hampton Heat at Larry King Law’s Langley Speedway in Hampton and the Sept. 27 ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway.
“Running up front and winning any one of these races would go a long way toward advancing my racing career,” Shafer said. “The Triple Crown carries a lot of prestige, and NASCAR and FloSports put a lot of promotion behind it. You want to win no matter where you’re racing, but the Triple Crown brings out the best. Any success is hard earned, and it resonates when you’re out there talking to companies trying to secure future partnerships.”
The entire Virginia Late Model Triple Crown is broadcast on FloSports, and beyond just streaming the racing action, FloSports partnered with NASCAR to raise the purse to $50,000, with the overall champion earning $20,000, making it the richest prize in the event’s 12-year history.
“At all three of these tracks in the Triple Crown, I’ve had quite a few starts,” Shafer said. “At Martinsville, in particular, we ran second until a mechanical failure in 2021, and in 2023, we went from 40th to 10th. And at South Boston in 2022, we were running up in the top-five, and that’s a place where I feel like I’ve always been strong and competitive. Being paired with Hettinger Racing for this year’s run, I know we can put some good finishes together.”
Shafer is an experienced racer with 35 starts on the zMAX CARS Tour, in addition to select starts across the ARCA Menards Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The Ashland, Ohio, native scored a breakout CARS Tour victory on Aug. 12, 2022 at Ace Speedway in Altamahaw, North Carolina, where in his 31st start, he led wire-to-wire after securing his second career CARS Tour pole.
“In my mind, the CARS Tour is the most competitive short-track series there is right now, just because of how close the field is and how tight the equipment is. The team has to be good, the driver can’t make a mistake, and everybody’s got to work together,” Shafer said.
“In the Triple Crown, you’ll have the series regulars and the same big hitters, but with a lot more cars. I think the experience from the CARS Tour sets you up really well for the Triple Crown because it seems like all the CARS Tour drivers run up front in the Triple Crown.”
Hettinger Racing is a staple of the CARS Tour, regularly fielding two or more cars for aspiring drivers as they climb the racing ladder. Owned by second-generation racer Chris Hettinger, the team also competes in select ARCA and Truck Series races. The operation serves as a one-stop shop for drivers looking to compete in these stepping-stone divisions and advance to the NASCAR Xfinity Series and, ultimately, the top-tier NASCAR Cup Series.
“Jonathan’s a talented racer who can compete at a high level,” said Hettinger, who began his racing career behind the wheel, winning in Midgets and Late Models before becoming a fulltime team owner. “We’ve known each other for a long time, so there’s a natural trust and familiarity there. The Triple Crown is a tough stretch of races, but I believe we’ve got the team and the driver to make a serious run at it.”
Shafer has known Hettinger for nearly as long as he has been racing. Hettinger’s daughter, Katie, raced quarter midgets and Junior Late Models, and Shafer raced with Katie while both were in their early teens.
“I’ve known Chris for a while, and he’s always had a really good program with really good people. The quality of his race team stands out,” Shafer said. “I think we can accomplish a lot together.”
Shafer and Hettinger Racing will take to the track for the first time on Friday at South Boston with two practice sessions, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. EDT and from 4:15 p.m. to 7:45 p.m., respectively. They will have Friday night and Saturday morning to review data before hitting the track again for three more practice sessions on Saturday afternoon – 1:15-1:50 p.m., 2:15-2:45 p.m. and 3:10-3:30 p.m. Qualifying starts at 4:15 p.m. and the green flag for the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 drops at 7 p.m.
