After a long and wet offseason, the CARS Tour will kick off the 2019 season Saturday afternoon at Southern National Motorsports Park in the Eastern North Carolina town of Lucama. The Solid Rock Carriers 300 pres. by SRI Performance will feature 150 laps, four tires, and $10,000 to win features for both the Late Model Stock Car and Super Late Model divisions.
Saturday afternoon’s event will kick off the fifth anniversary season for the CARS Tour, and mark a return to the track that hosted the inaugural CARS Tour race back in March 2015. A large competitive field of cars is expected in both divisions. For the first time in CARS Tour series history, both Late Model Stock champion, Bobby McCarty, and Super Late Model champion, Jared Fryar, return to defend their series titles in the same year. With a record year for the series just a season ago, it appears this year could surpass those records leaving much to be desired for fans, drivers, and sponsors in 2019.
Solid Rock Carriers 300 NOTES & QUOTES
NOTES:
Track/Location: Southern National Motorsports Park-Lucama, NC
Track Size: .410mile
Event Name: Solid Rock Carriers 300 pres. by SRI Performance
Laps/Distance: 150L (LMSC)/150L (SLM)
Event Schedule: Practice: 9:40AM-11:15AM, Qualifying: 1:30PM, Green: 3PM LMSC/SLM
Twitter Handle/Event Hashtag: @CARSTour / @SNM_Park / #SolidRock300
CARS LMSC Tour Pre Entered Drivers:
#06 Terry Dease
#08 Deac McCaskill
#07 Bradley McCaskill
#01 Camden Guillie
#1 Craig Moore
#1P Brody Pope
#2 Brandon Pierce
#2S Myatt Snider
#4 Jonathan Findley
#4H Leland Honeyman
#12 Ryan Wilson
#16 Chad McCumbee
#16S RD Smith
#17 Taylor Gray
#17P Stacy Puryear
#18 Riley Herbst
#19 Cameron Bowen
#19C Jessica Cann
#22 Bobby McCarty
#23 Terry Brooks Jr.
#25 Zack St. Onge
#27 Tommy Lemons
#51 Matt Cox
#54 Drew Dollar
#57 Justin Carroll
#63 Tyler Matthews
#74 Ronald Hill
#77 Trevor Ward
#81 Mini Tyrrell
#88 Josh Berry
#98 Adam Lemke
#99 Layne Riggs
(32 total)
CARS SLM Tour Pre Entered Drivers:
#00 Anthony Cataldi
#2 Trevor Noles
#2T Gracie Trotter
#6 Brandon Setzer
#6W Matt Wallace
#7 Justin Crider
#8 Tate Fogleman
#14 Jared Fryar
#16 Molly Helmuth
#17 Mike Speeney
#21 Trey Bayne
#22 Tim Hollis
#24 Colin Garrett
#24D Mason Diaz
#26 Bubba Pollard
#27 Tyler Church
#33 Preston Peltier
#34 Nolan Pope
#37 Dan Speeney
#45 Kodie Conner
#49 Jeff Batten
#51 Stephen Nasse
#54 Matt Craig
#61 Gabriel Fogg
#66 Steve Wallace
#97 Brandon Lynn
#98 Jody Measamer
(27 total)
Media Coverage:
-Speed51 (speed51.com) will provide Trackside Now Live 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:
Batten Back at Southern National:
The 2019 season for the CARS Super Late Model Tour kicks off in a big way, with the first of three $10,000 to win races taking place at the season opener at Southern National. While the event is expected to attract a variety of drivers from afar, it is a small team from nearby Nashville, NC that might be the most excited about the weekend ahead. Jeff Batten, the driver of the #49 Digital Repair Chevrolet, is glad to see the CARS Tour return to the 4/10th-mile track that Batten refers to his home track. Even though the tour has not raced at this track since the 2016 season, Batten feels like this weekend’s race will look a lot different than it did almost three seasons ago.
“Honestly I think it will look a lot different, a lot of the drivers have changed since then, but I think the show will pretty much have the same feel. The track surface is starting to lose some grip, it’s been sitting a lot since the last time there was a CARS Tour race there. It’s going to be like any of these big Super Late Model races now, patience. You have to keep the fenders on it, save your tires, and be ready to go with twenty-five laps to go.” Jeff Batten – #49 Digital Repair/Batten Ceramic Tile Chevrolet
Deac “The Dominator” at Southern National:
If you look at the CARS Late Model Stock Tour track stats for Southern National, there is one driver who stands out by far from the rest. Raleigh, North Carolina native Deac McCaskill, who was the series 2016 champion, has led 424 of the 550 laps ran in CARS Tour competition around the 4/10th-mile track, in route to dominating two of the four races held. McCaskill is not only fast in race trim, but in qualifying as well. The former champion has captured every pole award but one, when he took the green flag instead. With CARS Tour returning to the track for the first time since 2016, McCaskill is the heavy favorite to take home the $10,000 winner’s check Saturday afternoon.
“I’m really excited to be returning back to Southern National, it’s a track where we’ve had a lot of success at with the CARS Tour. It’s been a few years since the tour has been to the track, so I’m sure the place has changed a lot since then. The tour I feel is so much more competitive than it was back in 2016, and with knockout qualifying, plus 150 green flag laps, it should be one of the best races there yet.” Dec McCaskill – #08 H&L Logging/Bobby Gregory Welding Ford
Back to where it all started:
The first ever CARS Tour race in history took place at Southern National Motorsports Park on March 28, 2015. The inaugural CARS Tour late model event summoned 67 different drivers from across the region. Todd Gilliland, now driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the NASCAR Truck Series, was the Late Model Stock winner. Cole Timm kicked off his 2015 championship with a win becoming the first Super Late Model winner in history. The tour started and ended the 2016 season at the 4/10th-mile track. Since that time the CARS Tour hasn’t revisited the track, so a return to Lucama, North Carolina is a welcome site for track owner Michael Diaz.
“I’m glad that Jack (McNelly) and Chris (Ragle) with the CARS Tour are returning to Southern National for their season opener for 2019. It’s really exciting that Kirk Ipock and his Solid Rock Carriers company are the title sponsor for this event as well. Kirk and his whole staff are great to work with, and we could not do what we do here at Southern National without them. I think Southern National should always be the track that the tour opens with. The very first CARS Tour event was held here and I hope for many years it will remain here. It has been an overwhelming response from all the fans to see the CARS Tour back at SNMP for their season opener. I have had calls from as far north as Maryland to as far south as Georgia about fans coming for the weekend.”
“The campground is going to be packed, just like the grandstands. The tack has worn out a little since the last time the tour has been here. In talking with several competitors over the past few weeks, that have been testing, they have all told me the same thing. Tire Management is going to be a key factor in the upcoming event. A lot of the competitors have not competed here is a few years so there is going to be an advantage to those that competed here in the 2018 Solid Rock Carriers Thanksgiving Classic. It should be some great racing on March 9th for sure.” Michael Diaz – Owner of Southern National Motorsports Park
For more information and to stay up to date with all the latest news and information about the CARS Solid Rock Carriers Tour presented by SRI, 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.
