-Photos by Julian Austin
Points battles hotter than a firecracker. Our CARS Tour Firecracker 265 Preview
By Julian Austin
July 3rd, 2024
The zMAX CARS Pro and Late Model Tour resumes it's 2024 season for a midweek tilt at Caraway Speedway in Sophia North Carolina. Both divisions are in action and feature some of the closest points battles in tour history at this point in the season.
After over a month off, the Pro Late Models return to action at Caraway Speedway with three drivers locked into a close points battle.
Dawsonville Georgia's Spencer Davis holds a slim 2 point lead over Kaden Honeycutt and an eight point lead over Kyle Campbell. Davis has been the model of consistency this year not finishing any worse than six place all season. That came in the season opener. Ever since, he has finished second and third two times a piece and that consistency has vaulted him into the points lead. A win certainly is coming his way.
Honeycutt won his first Pro Late Model event last fall in the 2023 season finale at Caraway. He has finished no worse than ninth but that ninth place finish so far is the difference between him leading the points and being where he is in second. He led 95 laps on route to his lone victory at Orange County this season. Honeycutt may be the favorite to get another win this season tonight.
Kyle Campbell surprised a lot of people by winning the first two races of the season. Increased help from the Kvapil family has paid dividends for his race team. A mechanical problem at Orange County set him back but two more top seven finishes since then has put him within striking distance of the lead.
TJ Decaire is coming off his career best finish at Tri-County of second place and comes to Caraway fourth in the standings. The young driver for Highlands Motorsports comes into Caraway with momentum and history shows this race team can get it done as this same car dominated last summer with Caden Kvapil driving.
Amber Lynn is making her CARS Tour debut tonight. If you are not familiar with that name, you should be. She has been one of the stars at Bowman Gray Stadium over the last few years and has won numerous races at the stadium.
On the Late Model side, the points battle is also very close. Connor Hall who is coming off a huge win at South Boston in the first leg of the Virginia Triple Crown comes into this race with only a three point lead over Brenden "Butterbean" Queen. Hall has a runner up finish at Caraway in 2022 but no other top ten finishes in three additional starts. Hall will need a good result tonight to increase his lead over Queen.
Speaking of Queen, Butterbean has won two of the last three events. Those two wins at Tri-County and Dominion came in dominating fashion. That is usually the case when Queen wins a CARS Tour race as it was no different last fall when Queen led all 125 laps to win the event. He was sixth in this race a year ago.
Brent Crews is only twelve points back in third. He has a win already this season at Hickory but hasn't competed in a tour late model race at Caraway. He has shown that he adapts well and the team he drives for crossed the finish line first a year ago. Crews has shown a lot of speed this year and if he lines up near the front, look for him to stay there.
Speaking of Kevin Harvick Incorporated, Layne Riggs returns to the number 62 for KHI. Riggs crossed the finish line first a year ago before being disqualified. He has had an up and down season in the Craftsman Truck Series driving for Front Row Motorsports and is taking advantage of the off week to come back to his short track roots. Although he doesn't have a top ten here, look for Riggs and this team to be a factor tonight.
Jared Fryar was the one who was awarded the win last summer when Riggs was disqualified. Fryar returns to his familiar number 14 ride for the first time this season after an off track injury sidelined him for the first half of the year. Fryar has two tour wins at Caraway including two of the last three. This is his first race back so there may be some rust to shake off but no one runs this track better than Fryar.
Corey Heim returns to the CARS Tour driving the number 55 for Lee Pulliam Performance. He has a top ten in his only start at Caraway and will be looking to give his Toyota a solid performance.
William Byron returns to his short track roots by driving the HendrickCars.com number 24 for JR Motorsports. Byron came up through the late models driving for Dale Jr and given the equipment he is in, he should be a factor but it won't be easy. Kyle Larson was in a similar situation last year and found it to be tough sledding against stiff competition.
Carson Kvapil has two wins this season and is a former winner at Caraway. He missed the race at Hickory this season due to Xfinity Series commitments but cannot be ignored. He is only 27 points back but if he wants to become a three time consecutive champion, he must start getting those points back tonight.
Qualifying starts at 5:30 with fan fest starting shortly afterwards. The bandos and legends cars also join the fun tonight with the first green at 7:15 followed by the Pro Late Models and the Late Models to close the evening. If you can't be there, Flo Racing has you covered.
Deac McCaskill: Governor, Pillar and Proud Dad
by Julian Austin
May, 8th, 2024
When it was announced that Deac McCaskill would be joining powerhouse Marcus Richmond and R&S Race Cars for the 2024 racing season, the expectations were extraordinarily high. Coming off two wins in 2023 on a limited schedule, all the media members and prognosticators had Deac as one of the favorites to claim the 2024 zMax CARS Tour Championship.
Deac's 2023 racing season came to a screeching halt when he suffered a concussion during the Thanksgiving Classic at Southern National Motorsports Park. When Deac appeared on Deez Lug Nutz Podcast back in February, he revealed that he spent a lot of time just resting and taking off from work but the recovery was not as lengthy as it was for some other athletes. After all, brain injuries are not one in the same just like the human brain.
It has been a tough start for Deac McCaskill during the first five events on the 2024 zMAX CARS Tour. Besides a third place finish in the opening event at Southern National Motorsports Park in March, Deac has not fared any better than 16th place at Orange County Speedway. Mechanical gremlins crept up during the second event of the season at Hickory. New River All American saw Deac qualify 20th and finish 23rd. Orange County saw Deac qualify third in his 100th start of his career on tour. Expectations were high for this one but contact with another driver on track relegated Deac to 16th.
When the zMAX CARS Tour unloaded at Ace Speedway, insiders and media members could not help but to notice that Deac McCaskill was not at the race track. His competitors were getting precious practice time but that did not matter. Deac was attending something much bigger. Deac was on hand watching his oldest daughter Ashlyn graduate from Wake Technical Community College to become a Registered Dental Hygienist.
"Ashlyn worked so hard to get to this point." Deac said to Jody and myself. "Now this will allow her to pursue her dreams and work in the Dental Field and I couldn't be more prouder." When asked jokingly if he wore his fire suit underneath his dress clothes, he stated "I only had about 20-25 minutes to change into my driving suit but I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else." "Now I have to get my crazy youngest through and I'll be set." with a smile and a laugh.
Deac rolled off 22nd Friday night and battled through some issues during the race and ended up with a 16th place finish. He is now 13th in the standings
Deac is no stranger to tough times. He knows that racing and life will humble you. He stood vigorously by the side of his wife Sandy while she fought some of the biggest battles of their lives with her health issues.
100 starts on any racing tour in this day and age is difficult. He's been called the pillar for being one of the drivers that laid the foundation for the tour. The stats do not lie. In 101 starts, he has 11 wins which is tied for third all time with Carson Kvapil. The 2016 Tour Championship. 11 poles which is second all time. 47 top five finishes and 71 top tens. Basically in nearly half of his starts, he is finishing in the top five and in 3/4ths, it is a top ten. Deac wasn't in a hurry to talk about that on Friday and that is what makes Deac one of the most respected and likeable drivers in the entire sport by the way he supports his family.
Ace Is The Place For a Friday Night Delight: Our acceleratedgfx.com 285 Preview!
By: Julian Austin
May 3rd, 2024
After an eventful night at Orange County nearly two weeks ago, the zMAX CARS Pro and Late Model Stock Tour heads back to action Friday night at Ace Speedway in Elon, North Carolina. This event kicks off a busy month of May which features stops at North Wilkesboro for a mid week race following Mother's Day and finishes off at Tri County Speedway on Memorial Day Weekend.
For some teams, the week off was an opportunity to make repairs and regroup after the Orange County race that saw some bent race cars and some bent tempers. Bobby McCarty had the dominant car at Orange County but was involved in a much talked about incident with Connor Zilisch that put a damper on what could've been McCarty's second win of the season. McCarty heads to Ace where he is a former winner back in 2018.
McCarty leads a list of former winners at Ace which also includes Josh Berry, Layne Riggs, Jonathan Shafer, Kaden Honeycutt and Carson Kvapil.
Kvapil has had a busy month of racing. Kvapil started 21st in the last tour event at Orange County and finished in third position. An impressive drive at a place where track position is key with potential issues at every corner. This performance may be remembered fondly in October if he is contending for his third straight championship. Last week, Kvapil was the runner up in the NASCAR Xfinity Series event driving for JR Motorsports number 88 ride. Kvapil nearly pulled off a huge upset when he made a daring three wide move late in the race to take the lead but settled for second after Ryan Truex got by him on the last restart. For Kvapil, it was a learning experience and will be looking to take that experience to Ace where he swept both events in 2023. That may spell trouble for the rest of the competition as he led every single lap in the May race last year.
Ryan Millington scored his only zMAX CARS Tour win at Ace back in 2020. 2020 seems like it was decades ago for multiple reasons. For Millington, he has scored three top ten finishes in four races so far this season but it is Ace where he feels like he can contend for the win this week. In 2023, he finished in second behind Kvapil in the first race and was third in the race held in August. The pride of Statesville North Carolina has an average finish of third in six races which is second best of drivers who have run more than one event at Ace.
Brenden "Butterbean" Queen has had a quiet start to the season for his standards. He has not visited Cookout Victory Lane in 2024. He posted on X this week "Bean Nation, this is the week we turn it around. I feel it." This prediction isn't so bold as in 2023, he snagged two top five finishes at Ace. What better way to prepare for a big weekend in Wilkes County than to take a trip to Waffle House after a Friday Night Delight at Ace.
Mason Diaz gained 19 spots last May to finish in seventh spot. His August trip allowed him to finish in third place. Diaz has had a tough year in 2024 but a trip to Ace may be what the doctor needed as he continues to fill in for Jared Fryar in Jimmy Mooring's number 14 ride.
News and Notes.
Brandon Jones is taking advantage of an off weekend for the NASCAR Xfinity Series by running for Hawk McCall Driver Development on Friday Night. Former ARCA Menards West winner Landen Lewis will be driving the number 62 for Kevin Harvick Incorporated as a teammate to Brent Crews who won at Orange County two weeks ago. Isabella Robusto is back in the number 55 for Lee Pulliam Performance this week. Dillon Harville who is a local standout is entered in the field as is Dylan Ward who is also no stranger to Ace Speedway. Logan Clark is not running this weekend for R&S Race Cars as his number 15 was destroyed at Orange County. His status for North Wilkesboro is not yet known.
Pro Late Models
Kaden Honeycutt is a former Late Model Stock winner at Ace back in 2022. He is coming off his first Pro Late Model win of the season at Orange County. It will be another busy weekend for Honeycutt as he will be heading to Kansas Speedway on Saturday to compete for NIECE Motorsports in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event. Honeycutt will be looking to be the second driver to go back to back this season on the Pro Late Model scene.
Kyle Campbell came into Orange County as the only winner on tour this season. He had a tough weekend at Orange County after an incident where the track came up and literally bit him. A piece of the asphalt came up and caused a part failure in the Left Front Suspension. He will be looking to turn his luck back around at Ace where he only has one start previously back in 2023. He was 18th that night so he will be looking to increase that finish by quite a bit Friday night.
William Sawalich led all 75 laps from the pole to take the win back in August of 2022. Sawalich has been a fixture in the ARCA Menards East division and also making starts in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Sawalich returns to ACE this weekend driving for Rackley WAR which is the defending champion of this event as a team with Connor Zilisch winning last year.
Dawsonville Georgia's Spencer Davis has made his name in both the SMART Modified Tour and in selected NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events. In 2024, Davis is further making a name for himself on the zMAX CARS Pro Late Model Tour with finishes of sixth at Southern National, second at Hickory and third at Orange County. Davis is looking to improve one more spot at Ace.
Along with Sawalich, Caden Kvapil are former winners at ACE Speedway. Caden is looking to turn his season around. Kvapil has a runner up finish at Hickory but was 13th in the opener at Southern National and ninth at Orange County.
Nick Loden finished second last time out at Orange County. He has an additional top five and sits fourth in the points. He was running consistent with Kaden Honeycutt especially on the shorter runs at Florence and had to settle for second. Jimmy Renfrew Jr. has a top 5 finish this season and that was also at Orange County. Renfrew has ran well in each event this season and will look to repeat that Friday night.
Who gets a Friday Night Delight and parks it in Cookout Victory Lane?
Pro Late Models: It is hard to go against Honeycutt who has the experience of race wins at Ace and who is the last winner on tour. With that said, William Sawalich in a Rackley WAR car is going to be tough to beat and if practice is any indication, Sawalich may be the driver to beat. Keep an eye out on Renfrew Jr, Loden, Conner Jones who gave Honeycutt fits at Orange County and Caden Kvapil.
Jody's Pick: Caden Kvapil
Julian's Pick: Kaden Honeycutt
Late Model Stocks: Four different winners have visited Cookout Victory Lane in four late model stock events. Two of those were first time winners with Connor Zilisch at Hickory and Brent Crews last time out at Orange County. Carson Kvapil swept both races last season and no one will be surprised if he makes it three in a row. It is tough for that to happen with the quality of drivers in the field. Connor Hall has had an outstanding start to the season with top ten finishes in each event including a fourth place last time out at Orange County. We have already mentioned what Millington has done at Ace along with Butterbean. Treyton Lapcevich has four top tens in four races and has really taken to the tour well driving for Chad Bryant Racing. CBR had competitive runs last year at Ace with Hall and Diaz behind the wheel. He has a fantastic shot at becoming the third first time winner this season. Mini Tyrell has two top fives and three top tens this year and if it wasn't for an incident at Orange County, he may have challenged for the win as he was riding around the front for most of the event. Tyrell hasn't visited victory lane in a long time on the tour and the old saying is, if you run up front long enough, you are going to break through and get the w. 125 laps at Ace promises to be a wild one with the amount of competition near the front.
Jody's Pick: Treyton Lapcevich
Julian's Pick: Mini Tyrell
Below is the schedule for Thursday and Friday from Ace. If you cannot make it out to the speedway, you can check out all the action on Flo Racing. Stay tuned to Deez Lug Nutz next week as we will have all the coverage from Ace and so much more!
Who’s the Toughest out of the shed? It’s our Tuff Shed 250 preview!
By: Julian Austin
April 5th, 2024
After nearly a full month off from competition, the zMAX CARS Late Model Tour roars back into action at Hickory Motor Speedway for the start of three consecutive weeks of action. Saturday's Tuff Shed 250 will be the 20th event held at the speedway since the tour's inception in 2015 which leads all other facilities.
The tour had the extended break after a threat of inclement weather moved the March 25th event at New River All American Speedway to April 13th. Ironically, the season opener at Southern National was also affected by weather as that event was moved from Saturday March 9th to Sunday, March 10th.
You need to be Tuff to win at Hickory.
In the last nine races at Hickory in Late Models, each event has been won from a front row starting spot. So you’ll need to be fast and tough to maneuver your way through traffic but also avoid the bumper of the guy who desperately wants your spot. Perhaps no other track holds track position to this regard.
Looking back at Southern National.
Carson Kvapil picked right up where he left off for most of the last two seasons by winning at Southern National. Kvapil moved his way through traffic while saving his equipment to overtake Brent Crews with 25 to go to pick up his tenth career tour victory. Kvapil is no stranger to Hickory Motor Speedway victory lane as he is the defending champion of this event. Kvapil has yet to finish outside the top five in four starts but that streak will be coming to an end this weekend.
Carson looks to be fast as Xfinity 10G
On the heels of Bubba Pollard making his NASCAR Xfinity Series Debut at Richmond Raceway last weekend for JR Motorsports, Kvapil will step into the number 88 Chevy Camaro sponsored Chevrolet Truck Season and CorvetteParts.net. It will be Kvapil's debut and it will come Saturday night at Martinsville Speedway as the CARS Tour prepares to take their own green flag. For Kvapil, this has been in the works for a while and he told me on Saturday that he was been soaking everything in as he hung out with the crew last weekend. Live pitstops will also be a thing for him but he says that will be an expected adjustment he will have to make.
So who is going to seize the opportunity for a race win at Hickory on Saturday? Mason Diaz immediately comes to mind. Diaz won the last time the tour raced at Hickory for his long overdue first win on tour. Diaz came into the season not committing to a full season racing but was tapped to drive for Jimmy Mooring at Southern National in place of the injured Jared Fryar. On Saturday, Diaz will perhaps get the biggest opportunity of his career as he will be filling for Carson Kvapil in the Bass Pro Shops Club number 8. This deal came together during Ice Breaker Weekend as Dale Earnhardt Jr was parked alongside Mason for that event. Earnhardt mentioned Diaz on his podcast about how impressed he was with his driving back at North Wilkesboro in 2022. The decision was made during pace laps and when the pieces came together, Diaz was hired to drive the car. If Diaz is able to claim the win on Saturday, he will join Kvapil, Josh Berry and Anthony Alfredo as former winners for JR Motorsports at Hickory.
Who else you need to keep an eye on?
Connor Hall has nine wins to his credit this year in NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Competition including five wins at Hickory. Hall opened the 2024 season with a runner up finish to Kvapil. Hall captured a win back in 2022 during Throwback Weekend and just might be the favorite coming into this weekend based on the momentum that he has and his Nelson Motorsports team has since Connor first stepped into the ride.
Kade Brown won the pole position last summer at Hickory and waged a great battle with Diaz most of the event. Brown eventually had to settle for the runner up spot. The 2023 Late Model Track Champion at Hickory is looking to rebound from a tough start at Southern National.
Landon Huffman has had tremendous success at Hickory over the years however he is looking for something, anything to go his way this weekend. He failed to qualify at Southern National for the CARS Tour Opener and has experienced gremlins running Modifieds or his own stuff this season. One thing is for sure, Huffman is too talented to stay in this rut for long and a good run at Hickory may just be what the doctor ordered.
If you haven't heard the name Connor Zilisch over the last few weeks, you probably live under a rock with no wi-fi or have been unplugged on some beach somewhere. Zilisch has taken the racing world by storm this year by winning both the 12 hours of Sebring and 24 hours of Daytona. He won the pole position in his very first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start last month at COTA and finished in third. The Trackhouse development driver is going places and he is getting there very quickly. Zilisch will be running the Late Model event for Pinnacle Racing Group which is who he had a top five result last month in an ARCA East Series race. Zilisch is no stranger to the tour as he ran both races at Hickory last season with eighth as his best result so far.
Pro Late Models
The zMAX CARS Tour Pro Late Model Division returns to action after over a month being dormant. Kyle Campbell stunned everyone by driving his car to victory lane at Southern National back on March 2nd. Campbell told Deez Lug Nutz that he help he had received from the Kvapil family paid off huge and gave his small team a much needed boost. For Campbell to repeat, he will have to fend off an extremely talented list of drivers and we will mention a few here.
Jimmy Renfrew Jr comes down south to do one thing. Win. He was second at Southern National and had a tremendous showing at this year's World Series of Asphalt. Renfrew Jr. ran at Hickory during the St Patrick's Day 150 and Easter Bunny PASS series event in March and was third place and fifth respectively. Renfrew will be one to watch Saturday.
Max Cookson was also in the hunt on St Patrick's Day weekend. The 2023 Alan Kulwicki Cup winner is embarking on a full time venture on the zMAX CARS Pro Late Model Tour in 2024. He won 5 races, scored 28 top tens and was the PASS National and North Champion in addition to the track champion at Oxford Plains Speedway. Cookson was 12th at Southern National but with his credentials at places just as tough at Hickory, don't be surprised if you see him up front this weekend.
We made it this far and didn't talk about the defending series champion Caden Kvapil. Kvapil is back driving for his family owned team in 2024. In four previous starts at Hickory, he has a best finish of second with an additional top five and two more top ten's.
Kaden Honeycutt won his first Pro Late Model race last fall at Caraway. He was third to open the season at Southern National. Kaden is fresh off winning the Orange Krush 200 at Orange County and once again, he will be a busy man as he will be running the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville for NEICE Motorsports the night before.
With no former winners entered as of this writing this weekend, it is a wide open field this weekend for a victory. William Sawalich swept both races in 2022 while Mike Hopkins and Cole Butcher won last season.
The event schedule is posted below. If you can't make it out to Hickory this weekend, Flo Racing has it covered. We will dissect it all on next week's podcast!