If you had told me the day after the banquet last year that I would be attempting this again, I would have called you crazy. Never. And yet, here I am, and the insanity is real—not just because Connor Hall has managed to earn back-to-back Advance Auto Parts NASCAR Weekly Series National Championships, but also because he currently leads the CARS Tour points standings and is at the top of the Virginia Triple Crown championship standings, all heading into the biggest Late Model Stock race of the season—the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway.
“This race isn’t really part of a series,” Hall explained. “I don’t come here to race for points. My goal is to win a grandfather clock. If I don’t manage that, then yes, I want to maximize my race and make the most of whatever situation I’m in. But if you look at recent history, you’ll see that if you win the clock, you’re most likely the Triple Crown champion too.”But again, it’s absolutely crazy that Hall finds himself in this position.
Initially committed to a CARS Tour championship run with Nelson Motorsports, Hall thought his personal car would only make occasional appearances at Langley Speedway, his home track. However, once his success with the car carried over into 2024, Hall couldn’t resist.“So, after the banquet, we stripped our national championship car down to the bare chassis, tweaking it a little here and there to make it better,” Hall recalled. “Before long, it was sitting on the surface plate for the first time, looking perfect, and it’s easy to want to race it, right?”
His early races toward NASCAR national points came with the Nelson No. 22 team, as they entered the Florence Icebreaker and Southern National’s March Speed Week to prepare for the CARS Tour championship. These races, featuring full fields, counted for NASCAR points, and Hall ended up capturing the national championship, representing both the Nelson program and his personal No. 77 car, which primarily raced at Langley and Hickory.
Hall secured the championship with 18 wins.
Joey Dennewitz, a longtime agent, promoter, and racing enthusiast, left Spire Sports + Entertainment to become NASCAR’s Managing Director for weekly and touring divisions in 2023. Hall is the only champion he has known thus far.“Connor is as automatic as they come,” Dennewitz said. “He’s not only one of the best Late Model drivers of his era but also excels in whatever we ask him to do. He’s always available and is an incredible ambassador for NASCAR and the Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series.”Hall, who’s starting to receive a little more booing than he’s comfortable with, embraces it for the right reasons.“I mean, it’s obviously nice to be liked by people in that regard, but my goal when I first started chasing the national championship was to earn respect,” Hall said.
In the early stages of his Late Model career, Hall enjoyed some success, including a few wins in the weekly series and big shows. But he wanted to do something that would set him apart from the other 95 percent of weekly racers.At 27, Hall still has aspirations in national touring series, but he insists he’s never been driven by the desire to increase his ‘draft stock.’
“I grew up watching Philip Morris race,” Hall shared. “He was the one I wanted to emulate—a super decorated, incredibly successful short-track racer that everyone respected.”
“Lee Pulliam, Josh Berry. I want to go to the track with my son one day and have people say, ‘yeah, that’s Connor Hall; he accomplished X, Y, and Z.’ For me, I measure my success by where I stand among other great national champions.”
So, Hall still likes to believe he can make it to the Cup Series, because what good racing driver, in any discipline, isn’t he? But the difference between Connor Hall, 24, and today, three years later, is that he is older, wiser and more tolerant of what is coming.« We started to win a lot more big races, but once you have. tell the 30th team you don’t have the money to compete at nationals, the calls don’t come,” Hall said. “It took a while, but I realized I’m still luckier than 99% of Americans because I can work and drive a race car.”I decided I wanted to be a late model stock driver. If this is my peak, I wanted to make the most of it. ” I didn’t want to spend all my efforts stuck in a negative mindset, worried about all the “what ifs” and what ifs. to make it a possibility because there was about a 1.1% chance that I would be there at that time. Hall said he grew a lot during that three-year period, becoming more dedicated to building relationships and the mechanical engineering side of the business. What he learned was that this approach had more room to build a racing career than when he was focused on results at the expense of everything else.” It’s a cliché, but it also reminds us that the top of the mountain sometimes seems far away and makes you want to run, when you should take your time and look for the most efficient way to climb,” he said. “I felt like I could throw the hook over my shoulder and come back or just keep going up. Chad Bryant, who Hall has been away from for the previous three seasons, played a tremendous role in the teaching the young running back patience. Although they no longer compete together these days, Bryant and Hall are still the best of friends.”He completely changed my life,” Hall said. “Not just the possibilities or the relationship of the late model and the truck series, but also the way you approach the race. He was an incredible mentor.
“I cared so much about what I was doing behind the wheel that Chad drew me in and made me realize that I could get to where I wanted to be, just by changing my approach a little bit. I would like to consider going back to do my mechanical engineering degree. Chad brought a lot of things up to speed, but most importantly he made me realize that the 21 year old I thought I knew everything about was just young and ignorant. “Hall again highlighted Pulliam, who took a prominent place in racing as a team leader and team owner when he determined, even before turning 40, that there was more stable if he wanted to stay in the race.
He also mentioned Berry, who, while winning races in the Mid-Atlantic region, also managed JR Motorsports’ driver development program.”So now when my blue 77 comes off the trailer, I’m very proud because I’m much more involved in this project than I’ve ever been,” said Hall. “I want to win behind the wheel, but I’m very proud to win by putting my time and what I’ve learned into this car.”I look at this car and I’m like”. Damn, what a great race car “, and I want everyone to think so too. But at the end of the day, I truly believe that my calling in life is to be a racing driver and I have dedicated every ounce and resource of my life to that goal.
