Dawson Motorsports well represented at South Boston Speedway
Just about every class at South Boston Speedway has a Dawson racing in it this season.
And not only are the four Dawsons competing all over the track in Southern Virginia, but all four of them are forces to be reckoned with.
Brothers Justin, Drew, and Jared Dawson and their cousin, Josh Dawson, all grew up within just a few minutes of South Boston, a NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series sanctioned asphalt track in South Boston, Virginia. They enjoyed watching NASCAR and would go as a family to races when they were growing up.
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It was 25-year-old Drew who first decided to get behind the wheel himself when South Boston started a hornets division in 2015.
“We kept going to the track at South Boston watching them race the hornets for I‘d say a year or so,” Drew said. “It was about the middle of 2015 I finally came up with enough money and got me a hornet. And as soon as I made two races, Justin and Jared, they had to get them one.”
By the next season, all three brothers were racing hornets. At the time, Jared was just 14 years old.
“We used to go bumper to bumper, three wide,” Drew said. “Dad came on the radio a few times and said Jared was catching me. I didn‘t like that too much, my little brother catching me.”
Justin, the oldest of the group at 27, won three races that first year.
“The 2016 season was pretty good for me,” Justin said. “I think back then was the funnest. We would actually hit each other on the track and we wouldn‘t get mad at each other. It was one wreck where Jared hit somebody and ended up taking me out but it is what it is. It wasn‘t any hard feelings. I think we had more fun in the hornets than we had all year.”
Justin has now moved up to the pure stock division at South Boston. He has a second place and another top-five finish, and is fourth in the standings through four races.
“We had a rough start to the season with a blown motor, but we came back pretty strong,” he said. “It‘s been an up and down season, but we‘re getting a whole lot better than it was last year. Just find out things at the end and keep things together.”
The oldest Dawson is also currently building a limited sportsman so he can try to be competitive in that division alongside his brother as quickly as possible. His main focus is to try to move up this year, while also getting a win in the pure stocks division.
Drew runs in South Boston‘s limited sportsman division, a series he picked up in his first career win in earlier this season. He also won the second of two 25-lap features this past Saturday.
“I feel like I have a pretty good car for now,” Drew said. “My dad and my crew chief, Tricky, they put a lot of hours into it trying to make it faster and faster.”
Josh, 20, currently leads the points in South Boston‘s hornets division, with two wins and a third-place finish in three races.
“I‘ve got a good car. Just trying to keep it in one piece. Don‘t want to bring it home in pieces. That‘s the main goal,” he said. “My main goal is to try to bring home as many trophies as possible. I don‘t know what the season is going to end but bring home many trophies.”
The 20-year-old is also known in the family as the one who works on the cars the most during the week. He‘s helping Justin build the limited sportsman to hopefully run soon.
“I‘ve been building the new one. Five days ahead of race day I have to work on another one,” Josh said.
Jared floats between the hornets, where he‘s currently second points, and the pure stock division. He has a win and two runner-up finishes this season.
“I feel like we can run for the championship this year,” Jared said. “I want to try to get better in the pure stock division and hopefully try to get a championship in the hornets division.”
Even though the family was extremely competitive when they first started racing, now they‘ve learned to work with each other and celebrate any success within Dawson Motorsports.
“I would say Drew, Jared, and Josh, they‘re all after championships,” Justin said. “All three of them have the car to do it.
“I love it. I actually enjoy watching the two younger brother and Josh, I enjoy watching them race more than I race myself. It‘s definitely exciting. We were on our toes the weekend before last when Jared was out front and Josh was running him down as far as the hornets. And then when Drew got out front in his limited, me and Jared, we were jumping up and down when Drew got that first win.”
Going to races is about getting to spend time with family. If they didn‘t have racing, Jared said he doesn‘t know any other way they would spend quality time together.
“It‘s more of we get to spend a whole lot more quality time with our family, because all of our family loves to race so it‘s more going out here, spending time with the family and going out there and being competitive and having fun,” Jared said.
“I think it‘s awesome because I don‘t really know what we would do if we didn‘t have racing,” Drew added.
NASCAR racing will return to South Boston on Saturday, May 15, featuring twin 75-lap late model lap races, 50-lap limited sportsman, twin 15-lap Budweiser Pure Stock, and and a 15-lap Budweiser Hornets, all beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets are on sale at SouthBostonSpeedway.com
