MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Nov. 11, 2024) – Connor Hall made his first start for JR Motorsports a winning one on Saturday night at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway, winning the annual Fall Brawl for NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Late Models from the pole.
In his first start since being named the full-time driver, replacing two-time zMAX CARS Tour champion Carson Kvapil, Hall and team manager Bryan Shaffer crafted a solid strategy and the Virginia native made it stand up.
Hall led the first 40 laps from the pole before going into conservation mode, battling in the upper reaches of the top five.
At the lap-100 break, Hall came to the pits from third place, changing right-side tires and adding a small adjustment for the final 100-lap sprint.
Over the remainder of the race, Hall again saved tires and was in the mix with just 50 laps remaining when the yellow flag came out. Over the last segment of the event, Hall battled with Landon S. Huffman for the race lead and the victory, easing away to earn the checkered flag first.
It was the first extended run for Hall with JRM, and it took a little while to adjust to what he would feel and need over the course of 200 laps.
“Expectations were kind of high coming into this race, because I run well at Hickory and so does JRM,” Hall said. “We had a pretty good long-run car, a good car overall. After the first 50 laps, I had adjusted to what we needed, with my fans and things like that. The longest run I had before the race started was 10 laps and there are things you can’t learn in 10 laps.”
Hall said that the extra-distance event was a good chance for him, Shaffer and the title-winning JRM team to get used to working together as they will seek a third zMAX CARS Tour championship in four seasons in 2025.
“It was a great chance to get seated, hang out with everyone for the weekend and see how they work,” Hall said. “It’s different in the shop than the race track, and at the track we have more people. We all had fun and were able to put Bass Pro Shops in Victory Lane.”
As an added bonus, Hall found out that the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship had been earned at Phoenix Raceway that same night.
“When we were in (post-race) tech, some guy came by and said, ‘Hey, it’s pretty cool that both you and Justin (Allgaier) won,'” Hall said. “It’s pretty cool to put this win alongside the NXS team’s accomplishment.”
