With competition at the track winding down for the 2017 season the Championship Auto Racing Series (CARS Tour) has announced a huge race to kick off the 2018 Late Model Stock (LMSC) season. The opening race to be held at Tri-County Motor Speedway in Hudson, North Carolina will pay the winner of the event $10,000 as part of a record purse for the Late Model Stock portion of the series.
“This will be our fourth season running the Late Model Stocks and we have had their support from the beginning. The consistent car counts at every event and the loyalty of the driver’s year after year allows us to go all in for the 2018 late model stock season. We look to make this a signature event by holding it early in the year and prior to the national and local point events beginning” said Jack McNelly, owner of the CARS Tour.
The Do The Dew 150 will be held at Tri-County Motor Speedway on the afternoon of March 10th as a daytime event. The Hudson, North Carolina oval has been on the CARS Tour series schedule since its inception and has consistently provided the best racing the series has to offer starting in 2015 with a 100 lap event won by Brayton Haws that saw seven lead changes amongst four different drivers. Just this season Garrett Campbell and Josh Berry dazzled the fans in attendance with racing that many dream to witness on a regular basis.
“Tri-County is such a great track and is so much fun to watch a race at. The drivers love the multiple groove racing, there isn’t a bad seat in the house and fans can tailgate and grill trackside. Our race there last year saw five leaders and a last lap crossover move coming to the checkered in just 100 laps, it was one of the best races I have ever seen” said McNelly.
Tri-County Motor Speedway is unique in that it has not raced Late Model Stocks on a regular basis in several years and is only open for special events. Because of this, and the track’s tight restrictions in the area, teams will not get an opportunity to test the track independently. Instead a single open test day on March 3rd, that will double as the CARS Tour Media Day presented by SRI Performance, will be the only chance outside of race weekend that teams can tune up for the $10,000 prize.
‘We expect this race to have a very strong turnout of cars. Along with $10,000 to win and $800 to start, we will soon be announcing loyalty programs that exceed anything currently being done in the region for the Late Model Stocks and I’d probably venture to say Super Late Models across the country. Point races and scheduling conflicts for most drivers won’t be an issue and prior experience isn’t a factor since the facility is rarely used. Put that together with the fantastic racing we have seen at Tri-County and we have the ingredients for one hell of a start to 2018 I really have to thank Doug Houser at Pepsi Cola of Hickory for helping make this major event possible. He’s been supporting us every step of the way and he was 100% on board when we brought him our idea about this race” said Chris Ragle, CARS Tour Series Director.
Entry forms, race format, and support divisions for the Do the Dew 150 will be released at a later time. General admission tickets and a limited number of trackside parking reservations are being made available in advance for this event for the reduced price of $15 through www.carsracingtour.com beginning in December.
For additional information on the CARS Late Model Stock Tour and the CARS Super Late Model Tour visit www.carsracingtour.com. Be sure to stay active and social with the tour by liking “CARS Tour” on Facebook, following @CARSTour on Twitter, and scrolling through photos on Instagram cars_tour. Additional series information can be obtained by calling the CARS Tour series office, located in Mooresville, NC, at 704.662.9212.
