Stancill Sisters Score First Wins in Carteret Opener

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Deanna Stancill (right) and Maci Stancill (left) celebrate in victory lane after Deanna's first Bomber win at Bobby Watson's Carteret County Speedway. (Andy Marquis/Honey Badger Entertainment photo)

PELETIER, NC – Opening day at Bobby Watson’s Carteret County Speedway was bookended by first time winners – a pair of siblings from nearby Stella, North Carolina.

Maci “Moo Moo” Stancill,9, picked up the victory in the Jr. Mini Cup feature which kicked off the day’s racing program, leading every lap.  A few hours later, her older sister, 15-year-old Deanna Stancill, would go on to score her first win in a Bomber feature race.

“It was really exciting,” Maci Stancill said.  “I came out of my car, I put my arms up.  I was screaming.  I was so happy.  My radio fell out but I was telling my dad, I was screaming to him, ‘daddy, I won, I won.’  I’m hoping to win every race now.”

While the younger Stancill sibling was making her debut, the older sister had been trying for a year to get to victory lane.  After celebrating, she took a moment to appreciate the journey.

“I think it feels a lot better to win after you fail a whole bunch than if you come out here and win right from the start,” Deanna Stancill said.  “Looking back, it really did take a lot of practice and a lot of courage I think to get where I got.  Everything with racing is trial and error.  Hopefully we will win a bunch more.”

Deanna Stancill got her start in racing through the Kids Racing Camp program Carteret County Speedway does each summer.

“I came out here the summer of 2023 and did the kids camp,” she explained.  “Me and my dad came out here and watched the races sometimes.  On the last day of camp, I told my daddy that he better build me a car so we could get started.  In the kids camp, running a kart is much different from running a Bomber car but I learned the rules of the track, the different flags, the safety of it and everything like that.”

Deanna Stancill is affiliated with the Mercer Motorsports team, which saw another driver score a victory in thrilling fashion.

Defending Bomber division champion Charlie Mercer, who had dealt with heart complications in recent months, scored the victory in the Bomber A-Main after a duel with T.J. Medeiros.  Prior to battling for the top spot, Mercer had been involved in two on-track skirmishes, the first of which came while he was leading the race.

After taking the lead, his engine began sputtering, allowing Mercer to flash back by, but he was able to keep the car running in the closing laps and retake the top spot once more.

“It was wild,” Mercer said.  “I couldn’t think about nothing but getting to the front.  It feels good to do what I love to get back out here and do what I love doing.  Do it for Dale!”

Medeiros was content with his runner-up effort.

“Car tightened up halfway through the race,” Medeiros said.  “I was giving it all I had catching back up to him.  That was all I could do.  [Mercer] was fast.  It’s always nice to come out here and at least finish podium.

A week after winning at Southern National Motorsports Park for the first time, two-time defending Legend Car division champion Scotty Benford led wire-to-wire to pick up his second consecutive win.

“It’s a very great start,” Benford stated.  “Hopefully we keep this momentum through the end of this year and try to get these points racked up before going to Las Vegas and win championships.  This is my home track.  I’ve done a lot of laps here and I’ve got a very fast car.  I can’t be thankful enough.”

(The INEX Legend Car Asphalt Nationals will be held at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October.)

Rusty Daniels picked up the win in Charger competition, a race which was part of the Six Pack Series with Southern National Motorsprots Park.  Meanwhile, Mike Cooper was victorious in Street Stock, Travis Miller dominated in Mini Stock, and Mitchell Kerstetter won in U-CAR.

Racing resumes at Bobby Watson’s Carteret County Speedway on Saturday, April 19, 2025 with the Spring Showdown featuring Charger, Mini Stock ,Legend Car, U-CAR, Bomber and Jr. Mini Cup racing.