zMAX CARS Tour

The Only Constant in Life is Change: A Special Look at the 2025 zMAX CARS Tour season.
By Julian Austin
February 28th, 2025

The Greek Philosopher Heraclitus is credited with stating "the only constant in life is change.”

As we are on the eve of the 11th season of the zMAX CARS Tour, change is everywhere you look down pit road. 

Out of the 17 races in 2024, 10 of them were won by drivers who are not on the entry list for this weekend's season opener in Jacksonville North Carolina. Let's take a look at the drivers who will not be returning in 2025 on a full time basis while we break down potential key players for this year's championship. 

Carson Kvapil won two straight Late Model Stock championships in 2022 and 2023 for JR Motorsports. Kvapil won three events last year on the tour which moved him in a tie for second on the all time list of race winners with Bobby McCarty.  In addition to the tour wins, he captured the IceBreaker at Florence and the prestigious Valley Star 300 at Martinsville. Kvapil didn't run the tour full time last season as he earned a handful of NASCAR Xfinity Series starts among other series. His performances had done enough earn a full time promotion to drive the number one Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet for JR Motorsports in the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series where he will battle for Rookie of the Year.

Brenden "Butterbean" Queen parlayed his runner up finish in the 2023 standings (behind Kvapil) to win his first tour championship for Lee Pulliam Performance last season. Butterbean started off on a relatively slow note but when the weather got warmer, so did Butterbean. He put up two wins on the campaign which was twice as less than the previous year but his consistency was unmatched. In the last 8 races, he didn't win but he also didn't finish worse than 5th which was highlighted with a runner up finish behind Ryan Millington at Florence. Like Kvapil, Queen's performance on the track and his ever growing fan base was hard to ignore as he received an opportunity to run a few Craftsman Truck Series events for TRICON Garage and ultimately, was tagged to drive the number 28 for Pinnacle Racing Group which is led by former Hooters Pro Cup champion, Shane Huffman full time in the ARCA Menards Series this season.

Brent Crews drove for Kevin Harvick Incorporated last season and immediately established himself a threat by leading the most laps in the series opener at Southern National Motorsports Park. Brent picked up three wins in 2024 and would be a contender for the championship. The last five races of the season proved to not be kind to Crews as he failed to register a top five but his season did enough to get him signed to a Toyota Racing Development Deal for 2025 and beyond. Crews will run limited NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and ARCA Schedule along with other forms of racing. 

Connor Zilisch ran part time in 2024 and picked up a win for Pinnacle Racing. He will be running full time for JR Motorsports in 2025 in the Xfinity Series while Treyton Lapcevich who won at North Wilkesboro doesn't have any plans for the season as of yet after a terrific 2024 campaign for Chad Bryant Racing which also saw him with the South Carolina 400 last fall. 

With these drivers moving up into other racing divisions or plans simply unknown due to funding or other factors. This opens the door for other drivers to step up and fill those gaps in addition to the returning winners from a season ago. 

Let's go through the list of changes for this season.

Carson Loftin will take over the Nelson Motorsports number 22 ride. From Bobby McCarty to Landon Huffman to Connor Hall, this ride has been one of the prestigious rides on the tour. Loftin will have big shoes to fill from the departing Hall. Loftin comes to the CARS Tour from the SMART Modified Tour which he won five races and was one of the SMART five competitors racing for the championship at North Wilkesboro. His talent is outstanding but how much of a learning curve will he have to these tires and these late model stock cars. He debuted at the South Carolina 400 last fall to a top five finish so perhaps the curve will not be that steep. Time will tell.

Speaking of Hall, Connor Hall moves over to JR Motorsports to the number 88 ride this year. Connor has done nearly everything on the CARS Tour except win the championship. Since joining the tour full time in 2022, he has five wins and has two runner up finishes in the championship battle (2022 and 2024). JR Motorsports has set themselves as the standard on the CARS Tour with Josh Berry and Carson Kvapil winning races and championships. Based on history, whoever steps into this ride is a bonafide favorite to hoist the cup. Hall is the two time defending NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Champion but a CARS Tour title would be the icing on the cake. 

14 year old Tristan McKee signed with Spire Motorsports to a developmental deal. He will run most of the Late Model and Pro Late Model schedule for Matt Piercy Racing. McKee has shown brilliance in his short career winning on the Pro Late Model side on multiple occasions along with other non tour wins. The future is apparently set for Tristan based on the organization he has aligned himself with and it’s not a question on when he gets his first tour LMSC win but how long it takes in the season to achieve it. 

Ryan Millington had an outstanding season in 2024. The hotshoe for Saville Millington Motorsports captured a win, four top five's and 12 top ten's but the big stat was the amount of laps led. He led 442 laps last season which was good for number one on the tour. After contact with Brenden Queen at Ace and the much publicized incident at Hickory, Millington could have easily have had more wins. When you spend all that time up front, it is bound to pay dividends with more race wins and top fives.

Landen Lewis has driven everything over the last few years. Whether it is legends, trucks, ARCA Menards West or the CARS Tour, Landen has done it. In 2024, he ran a part time schedule for Kevin Harvick Incorporated but if he wasn't driving, you would see him each week working on his teammate Brent Crews ride or whoever was in Landen's car. Landen picked up his first career win last season at Wake County Speedway and will be running full time this year in the number 29. Landen knows every inch of the race car he is racing since he works on them full time and that may give him the advantage to challenge Hall and Millington this season. 

Mini Tyrell returns to the tour this season coming off perhaps his best season of his career. Although Tyrell didn't win a race, he certainly knocked on the door. He had seven top five's which was fourth best on tour which included two runner up finishes at New River All American and at Ace Speedway. He also had 13 top ten finishes including seven finishes of seventh or better in the last eight events. He also finished fourth in the points and will be looking to build off this momentum this season and do what he hasn't done since 2021, win.

Conner Jones ended the 2024 season with two consecutive wins at Tri County and North Wilkesboro. Jones returns to Mike Darne Racing this season. Jones is an aggressive racer who has riled up many of his competitors but the talent is there and is hard to ignore. It will be hard for him to be in any issues when he's up front and that is where he has spent a lot of his time lately spanning back to non CARS Tour competition with winning the Battle of The Stars event at New River All American Speedway and by running extremely well at New Smyrna during the World Series of Asphalt. 

Ronnie Bassett Jr finally became a CARS Tour winner last season at Hickory Motor Speedway. But it wasn't all a successful season for Bassett as he failed to qualify for the Dominion race. Bassett comes into this season looking to repeat his trip to victory lane this season with a revamped effort from his small team. 

Bobby McCarty is starting his own venture this season. McCarty is 50 pounds lighter this year and hopes to use that to his advantage in a part time schedule this year. McCarty is the defending champion of the CARS Tour event at New River All American Speedway. 

Kade Brown moves from Matt Piercy Racing to R&S Race Cars. Brown struggled in his rookie campaign in 2024 but there is no question the talent is there with Brown. He has won big late model races and one has to figure that his first CARS Tour win is imminent this season. 

Parker Eatmon was out of the seat for two seasons but returned to late model competition late last year at Tri County and won in his first race back. Eatmon also stunned the racing world by winning the Thanksgiving Classic at Southern National Motorsports Park late last year. He will be driving for Mike Darne racing this year with Southern Bank supporting his effort. Eatmon will compete for Rookie of the Year this season.

Lee Pulliam Performance is back this season with Doug Barnes Jr and Lanie Buice. Barnes is a former Icebreaker winner at Florence and multiple time Dickie Boswell Memorial winner at Dominion Raceway where he has had a ton of success. Barnes has not been able to compete as much over the last two years but when he does, he's a threat to win. Hooking up with Lee Pulliam Performance should pay immediate dividends. Buice is the wild card. Buice has been successful in late model stock competition including a runner up earlier this month in the IceBreaker at Florence. She is running the same car number as Brenden Queen did last season. Buice will have incredible equipment to work with and the sky is the limit for this popular racer.

Chase Burrow is no stranger to CARS Tour competition. The former rookie of the year ran part time last season and registered four top fives including a career best runner up finish at Tri County. The Virginia native will be running under the Sellers umbrella.

Landon Huffman and Brandon Pierce will be teammates over at Carroll Speedshop. Pierce will join Deac McCaskill in the 100 race start category this year is looking to bounce back after a tough season that saw Pierce only register one top ten finish. This organization has regrouped and Pierce is hungry. Huffman also had a tough season on tour which saw him fail to qualify for a race and leave the team he started the team with to regroup. Huffman did just that by focusing on the local short track scene and running a race in Montana before landing with Carroll Speedshop. Huffman has the talent and the following but how will that correlate? Time will tell.

Other changes include Aaron Donnelly and Donovan Strauss teaming up for a two car effort for Hettinger Racing. Chad McCumbee returns driving for himself this season. Andrew Grady returns driving for the same team he was with last year. Deac McCaskill will be part time for his own team this season. Kaden Honeycutt will driving part time for Tom Usry Racing when his truck schedule allows. Buddy Isles Jr. returns for Kres Van Dyke. 

Two facilities also join the tour that were not on the tour last season. Cordele Motor Speedway in Georgia will not only host their first tour event but it will also be the first event held in the state of Georgia in tour history. Anderson Motor Speedway in South Carolina returns after not being on the schedule since 2017. North Wilkesboro will be the only track this season to host more than one event as the tour looks to expand to different markets while giving teams more of a break during the grind of summer. 

Hudson Bulger to run limited zMAX CARS Tour schedule in 2025
by: Julian Austin
February 11, 2025

Hudson Bulger climbs into his car during a weekend at North Wilkesboro. Photo by Karsyn Elledge of the CARS Tour

Kevin Powell Speed Motorsports in association with Team Hornaday have announced that 17-year-old Hudson Bulger will be running a limited schedule in the zMAX Cars Tour Late Model Stock division and various Late Model races around the Southeast.

With only five years behind the wheel, the youngster has amassed multiple wins in Legends Cars and Late Models and earned Rookie of the Year honors at two racetracks.

Kevin Powell, owner of KPSM, said, “We’re very excited to have Hudson as part of the team... When Candice Hornaday and Joey Coulter approached us about Hudson, we felt that, with his talent and work ethic, he would be a great fit here at KPSM.” 

Bulger comes to the team with a strong resume in Legends, Pro, and Super Late Model competitions. He won Rookie of the Year honors in Pro Late Models at Montgomery Motor Speedway and the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series at New Smyrna Speedway. He is the only driver other than Bubba Pollard to win the pole for both the Pro and Super Late Model portions of Speedfest in Cordele, GA. 

Marketing partners on the car will include longtime supporter Byron Outdoor Superstore, CB Free Realty, and Antler X-treme, with additional support from Simpson Race Products. 

Former NASCAR star Joey Coulter believes Bulger has the potential to be racing in the upper tiers of NASCAR. Of the young Bulger, Coulter said, “We’re really looking forward to this season and seeing where things go from here ... Hudson’s got a ton of potential; he’s accomplished a lot in the Late Model world in a short amount of time. His parents and Brett Ragan have picked a great direction they’re going in, like when and where he races and putting him in front of the right people like Candice Hornaday. When I talked to Kevin, I immediately thought of a driver like Hudson and thought they would be a real strong combination against the competition.” 

“I love this kid!” Hornaday Development’s Candice Hornaday said with excitement. “He’s just a good kid, he works hard and has a great personality and attitude towards racing.” 

Kevin Powell Speed Motorsports is a division of Kevin Powell Enterprises. They will also field teams  on the SMART Modified Tour, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, Dirt Late Models, and weekly at Bowman Gray Stadium and South Boston Speedway.

This organization won the 2023 Bowman Gray Stadium championship with Brandon Ward in the Brad’s Golf Cars Modified Division and was an affiliate for Trevor Ward’s 2023 Valley Star 300 win at Martinsville. 

For more information on Hudson Bulger visit www.hudsonbulgerracing.com or contact Director of Media and Public Relations for KPSM, Derek Pernesiglio, at derekp@kpmoto.com.

-PR Written by Derek Pernesiglio. 

Tyler Reif to run a partial CARS Tour Pro Late Model Schedule for Bryson Lopez Racing
By Julian Austin
January 25th, 2025

Tyler Reif poses for the media following winning the pole position for an ARCA Menards Series West race at Irwindale Speedway in 2024. (Photo from Tyler Reif's Facebook page)

Tyler Reif has signed with Bryson Lopez Racing to compete in at least eight zMAX CARS Tour Pro Late Model events in 2025.