The CARS Response Energy Tour will make their final visit of the 2018 season to the Orange County Speedway Saturday night for the running of the Puryear Tank Lines 300. The race will wind down the season, leaving just the season finale remaining to be run, nearly two months later, on November 3rd at South Boston Speedway. The Orange County Speedway, despite being further away than other tracks, has turned into a home base for the CARS Tour. Large crowds, stellar car counts, and action-packed racing occur each and every time the tour rolls into town. This weekend’s race should be no different as the first of two Fall races will set up a championship run to the finale.

The Late Model Stock division will see a stout battle between April race winner Deac McCaskill, championship points leader Bobby McCarty, Lee Pulliam, and Josh Berry, who missed the April event due to competing in an ARCA Series event. When it comes to Super Late Models, the door is wide open for a driver to get their first win of the season. Jared Fryar, Jeff Batten, Mike Speeney, and Durham’s own Tate Fogleman are all seeking their first win of the year. 2017 Mid Atlantic Classic race winner Steve Wallace will return to competition, and no one can rule out Matt Craig, who despite having an off year compared to a season ago, could break out for that first win at any time.

Puryear Tank Lines 300 NOTES & QUOTES

NOTES:
Track/Location: Orange County Speedway-Rougemont, NC
Track Size: .375 mile
Event Name: Puryear Tank Lines – Thrifty Tire 300
Laps/Distance: 150L (LMSC)/150L (SLM)
Event Schedule: Practice: 1:30PM-3:45PM, Qualifying: 5:45PM, Green: 7:30PM LMSC/SLM
Twitter Handle/Event Hashtag: @CARSTour / @OCS_track / #PuryearThrifty300

CARS LMSC Tour Pre Entered Drivers:
#07 Bradley McCaskill
#01 Camden Guillie
#1 Craig Moore
#2 Christopher Denny
#2P Brandon Pierce
#4 Mike Chambers
#5 Lee Pulliam
#9 Sam Mayer
#9W Charlie Watson
#18 Ty Gibbs
#22 Deac McCaskill
#22M Bobby McCarty
#27 Tommy Lemons Jr.
#44 TBD
#74 Ronald Hill
#77 Trevor Ward
#88 Josh Berry
#99 Layne Riggs
(18 total)

CARS SLM Tour Pre Entered Drivers:
#00 Anthony Cataldi
#2 Danny Gilchrist
#2T Gracie Trotter
#7 Tyler Church
#8 Tate Fogleman
#14 Jared Fryar
#16 Molly Helmuth
#17 Mike Speeney
#32 Harold Crooms
#37 Dan Speeney
#49 Jeff Batten
#51 Raphael Lessard
#54 Matt Craig
#78 Corey Heim
(14 total)

Media Coverage:
-Speed51 (speed51.com) will provide Trackside Now Live Coverage
-Race22 (race22.com) will provide Raceday Live Coverage
-Short Track Scene (shorttrackscene.com)
-CARS Tour TV (www.carstour.tv) – LIVE Broadcast Video Production Coverage
-CARS Tour Facebook (facebook.com/CARSTour) / CARS Tour Twitter (@CARSTour)

QUOTES:

Pierce Has Plans to Do One Spot Better This Go Around:

Brandon Pierce’s rookie campaign on the CARS Tour has been full of ups and downs. The Oak Ridge, North Carolina racer sits 10th in the championship standings and 3rd the TORP Chassis Rookie of the Year standings. The youngster has produced some head turning runs at times on the 2018 schedule. One of those runs came at the Orange County race in April. Pierce put his Fremont Properties Toyota on the pole in qualifying, and then backed things up with a second place finish to eventual winner, veteran Deac McCaskill. Now fueled with the knowledge of what it takes to race up front at Orange County, Pierce is hoping he can break through and get that elusive first CARS Tour win.

“My rookie year on the CARS Tour has been fun but has been pretty challenging at times, which is something I expected coming into this season. The Touring 12 program has been a huge asset to me this year. As far as the car goes, we’ve had speed in our race cars all season, but for some reason or another we haven’t been able to piece it all together, with the exception of the race at Orange County in April and at Carteret County. I’ve got two good tracks for me to close out the season, and those are two places I feel pretty confident in myself to get some good finishes in. I’m really looking forward to getting back to OCS this weekend, it’s been a race I’ve had circled on my calendar since last time here. I think if I can approach the race with the same strategy as we did last time and qualify up front and stay up front, then I’ve got a great chance of finishing one spot better and celebrating big time in Victory Lane.” Brandon Pierce – #2 Fremont Properties Toyota

Super Late Model Championship Setup to the Final:

The 2018 CARS Response Energy Super Late Model Tour has seen huge growth from a season ago. Bigger winning payouts, large car counts, and variety of winners throughout the season have been the story lines. Now with just two races left in the season the focus of crowning a champion takes focus. This weekend’s race at Orange County will setup the points standings heading into the championship-deciding race on November 3rd at South Boston. “Mr. Consistency”, Jared Fryar, has the best average finishing position this season with a 7.0, thus propelling him to a 7 point lead over Raphael Lessard. Lessard does have a pole and win on the season (Bristol), but a rough outing at Hickory put the Canadian in a bit of a hole heading in to Orange. For Fryar, the desire to get a win this weekend, far outweighs the championship hunt, for now.

“When we come to the track our focus is 100% on winning the race, that’s what it’s all about when you come through those gates. This weekend it won’t be any different. We might look at things a little different when we are at South Boston, but this weekend we need to look at getting that win for this race team. Without a doubt our attention to detail and consistent finishes have put us at the top of the standings, but man I want to get a win pretty bad right now. ” Jared Fryar – #14 Sterling Building Group Chevrolet

Respond, React, and Save on Tickets:

For this weekend’s race Response Energy is offering fans a chance to get a discount on their tickets to the CARS Tour race at Orange County Speedway. Fans can stop in at the following stores and purchase their can of Response Energy Drink, and then present the can at the admission gate and receive $3.00 off their ticket to the Puryear Tank Lines 300.

Handy Andy’s BP – 7136 NC HWY 57 Rougemont, NC

County Line Marathon – 11029 Durham Rd. Timberlake, NC

Twins Meat Market – 8741 Durham Rd. Timberlake, NC

Blalock’s Shell – 13210 N. Roxboro St. Rougemont, NC

“This is something we wanted to do to not only give the opportunity for fans to save a few dollars on their tickets to the CARS Tour race, but it also showcases some of the locations that have picked up and started carrying Response Energy drinks in their stores. So now they know where to get the drink when they need a pick me up every day of the week, and not just to get fired up for the CARS Tour races at Orange County. We’ll be out at all the locations on Friday and Saturday leading up to the green flag, so stop in and see us.” Erin Vandyke – Response Energy Motorsports Marketing Coordinator

For more information and to stay up with all the latest news and information about the CARS Response Energy Tour, featuring both Late Model Stock Car and Super Late Model divisions, visit www.carsracingtour.com or contact the tour’s office directly at 704-662-9212. Stay social with the tour by “liking” the CARS Tour Facebook page and following along on Twitter @CARSTour.