It all comes down to this. This weekend’s 2019 championship weekend at South Boston Speedway will see the fifth different champion crowned in five seasons for the Super Late Model division. Meanwhile, fans of the CARS Late Model Stock Tour will get treated to the best championship battle in series history. Matt Craig and his #54 Super Late Model team will easily end the season in the number one spot, while Late Model Stock veterans Bobby McCarty and Josh Berry will battle it out, with just nine points separating one of the two becoming the first driver in the series history to win two series championships.

NOTES:

Track/Location: South Boston Speedway-Virginia, VA
Track Size: .400 mile
Event Name: AutosByNelson.com 250
Laps/Distance: 125L/50 Miles
Event Schedule: Practice: 9:40AM-10:45AM, Qualifying: 12:40PM, Green Flag: 3PM
Twitter Handle/Event Hashtag: @CARSTour / @SoBoSpeedway57 / #AutosByNelson250

CARS LMSC Tour Pre Entered Drivers:
#08 Deac McCaskill
#07 Camden Guillie
#1 Craig Moore
#1D Terry Dease
#1P Brody Pope
#2 Brandon Pierce
#4 Jonathan Findley
#12 Timothy Peters
#17 Taylor Gray
#17P Jared Fryar
#19 Cameron Bowen
#19C Jessica Cann
#22 Bobby McCarty
#54 Drew Dollar
#57 Justin Carroll
#63 Tyler Matthews
#74 Ronald Hill
#77 Trevor Ward
#78 Corey Heim
#81 Mini Tyrrell
#88 Josh Berry
#98 Connor Mosack
#99 Layne Riggs
(23 total)

CARS SLM Tour Pre Entered Drivers:
#7 Justin Crider
#8 Tate Fogleman
#14 Jared Fryar
#16 Molly Helmuth
#21 Bronson Butcher
#24 Colin Garrett
#34 Nolan Pope
#21 Carson Kvapil
#40 Toby Grynewicz
#45 Kodie Connor
#49 Jeff Batten
#54 Matt Craig
#78 Corey Heim
(13 total)

Media Coverage:
-Race22 (race22.com) will provide Raceday Live Coverage
-CARS Tour TV (www.carstour.tv) – LIVE Broadcast Video Production Coverage
-CARS Tour Facebook (facebook.com/CARSTour) / CARS Tour Twitter (@CARSTour)

QUOTES:

Nine Point Deficit Puts Berry on the Offensive

Just as the impossible happened for Bobby McCarty at Orange County, the same could happen for Josh Berry Saturday afternoon. The loss of twenty championship points, due to a mechanical failure at Orange County has the JR Motorsports driver nine points behind leader McCarty. While most of the season it has been Berry in the lead, now the 2017 series champion, will be on the offensive to do everything possible to make up nine points in which he needs to be the first driver to win two CARS Tour championships. Berry is confident in himself and his race team, and know they have all of the dynamics in place to come out on top. Win the pole, lead laps, and win the race is what it will take to get the job done and for Berry, those are all things he has done more than anyone this season.

“We have had speed all season long so I’m pretty confident going into South Boston despite our lack of success there over the years. Ever since the repave, we have struggled to get a handle on the place, but we made big improvements when we raced there in July. When it comes to the points championship, I think it will be difficult to overcome being down by nine, but we have had instances all season long where the points numbers have had big swings one way or another. In racing, anything can happen, and we have been on both sides of those swings this year. We have to go into this race pretty aggressive on our approach, I think that’s our only way. We have to win this race and pick up as many bonus points as possible along the way.” Josh Berry – #88 All Things Automotive Chevrolet

McCarty Must Make Efforts to Maintain Position

Bobby McCarty made a twenty point swing up the championship points ladder at Orange County due to Josh Berry’s mechanical misfortunes. Now as he and his Nelson Motorsports team turn their attention to the season finale at South Boston, the team’s home track. The stats for McCarty at South Boston show a 4th (2017) and 9th (2018), which almost reflects the same results of Berry at the Virginia track. Despite the many numbers and scenarios of one of the greatest championship bouts in CARS Tour history, McCarty knows that if he can maintain his position on track over Berry, he can maintain the championship on the final checkered flag of the 2019 season.

“Well South Boston is a fast track with lots of a grip, and even though my team and I might have some home track advantage I think racing this weekend on the F-45s all the way around the car this time around should be a real equalizer for the whole field. We are coming there for the win, that’s why we are there if we win then the points will take care of themselves. When you look back at this season this has to be the strongest competition I’ve been involved in Late Model Stock racing. All year the points battle has been going back and forth between me and Josh, and now it is all going to come down to this race. Both of us have that exclusive opportunity to be the first two-time series champion, at the end of the day we have to show up with our car right and execute every time we hit the track.” Bobby McCarty – #22 AutosByNelson.com Toyota

Craig to be Crowned Super Late Model Champion at SoBo

This weekend Kannapolis, North Carolina native Matt Craig will be crowned the 2019 CARS Tour Super Late Model Champion just by taking the green flag. Craig will be the fifth different Super Late Model champion written in the history books in the tour’s five years of existence. Craig has amassed a stellar season thus far, racking up 1 win, 4 poles, 5 top fives, and never finishing outside of the top 10 all season long. Despite all the success, Craig still wants to end the year on a high note and not just cruise his way to a championship celebration Saturday night.

“The CARS Tour is probably the most competitive Super Late Model Tour around with all the different drivers that compete all year, so to win the tour championship mean the most to me and my team than any other title we’ve won. I’m glad my team and I finally decided to run the CARS Tour full time this year and it paid off. I have to thank Rowdy Manufacturing for such a good car all season long. Hopefully, we can end the year in Victory Lane with our Rowdy car and get the championship and race trophy all at once. ” Matt Craig – #54 C&C Boiler Sales and Service Chevrolet