Story By: BEN SHELTON / TEAM SR1 MOTORSPORTS – COMMERCE, GA – Payton Freeman scored his first win of the 2023 season on Saturday night with his Shelton Trucking No. F1 Team SR1 Motorsports / Freeman Plumbing / Coltman Farms Racing / Capital Race Car / Cornett Racing Engine Super Late Model.
Freeman’s much anticipated trip to Victory Lane came at Sugar Creek Raceway (Blue Ridge, Ga.) in the Russell Thomas Memorial and was worth $10,570.
“This win means more than you can imagine. It’s has been a challenging year for my racing program on so many fronts, but my family, supporters, and fans have never stopped believing in me, and that’s kept me digging forward. This win is for all of them,” Freeman said. “We put ourselves in a good position with our qualifying effort and then was able to lead every lap of the feature to get the first win of the year. Now that the first one is out of the way, hopefully there’s many more to come before the year is over.”
On Saturday afternoon, Payton Freeman traveled to Sugar Creek Raceway (Blue Ridge, Ga.) to compete in the $10,570-to-win Russell Thomas Memorial.
With 26 Late Models checked in for the unsanctioned event, Freeman laid down the second-fastest lap in qualifying which automatically placed him in the dash, where he would finish in the runner-up position.
Rolling off from the front-row in the feature, Payton led all 57 laps en route to first victory of 2023. In his $10,570 triumph, Freeman topped David Payne, Kenny Collins, Will Roland, and Corey Roulette, who completed the Top-5.
Nex on the docket for the team is a pair of holiday weekend events, which includes a $10,000-to-win Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series program on Friday at Lavonia (Ga.) Speedway and a $10,034-to-win Southern All-Star Dirt Racing Series affair at Tri-County Racetrack (Brasstown, N.C.) on Monday.