Josh Berry set a new CARS Tour track record in Hedgecock Pole Qualifying, bettering the previous record by over a tenth of a second. Last year’s polesitter Myatt Snider flanked Berry when the field game to the green flag.

On the initial start, Snider took control from the outside of the front row and led the opening handful of circuits in his return to the tour. But just four laps later, he slipped in turn one and opened the door for Josh Berry to snag the lead for the first time of the night.

While Josh Berry began to pull away, series points leader Deac McCaskill fought his way forward after an internal engine part failure in qualifying forced him to start last on the field. By the latter portions of the race, McCaskill fought his way well into the top ten.

The lone caution of the race was displayed on lap 90 when Layne Riggs suffered a blown left rear tire. The No. 99 Ford spun in turn three and nosed up to the outside retaining wall in turn four with minimal damage, though Riggs did retire from the event.

Berry and Justin Carroll, who ran second for most of the event, dueled for the top spot in turn one on the ensuing restart. Carroll was unable to do anything with Berry’s Chevrolet and was forced to do battle with others including Snider, Christian Eckes and McCaskill.

The final ten laps were all Josh Berry’s for the taking as he cruised to his sixth career CARS Late Model Stock Tour victory. Snider trailed behind in second with Eckes, McCaskill and Carroll rounding out the top five.

“I heard it change tones with about 50 to go when I was in lapped traffic and at first I thought it was the cars I was around, but then I realized it was mine and I didn’t say anything until after the race because I didn’t want them to start worrying about it,” said Berry in victory lane when asked about the exhaust pipe that had worked its way loose and was hanging outside the door in Edelbrock Victory Lane. “Luckily, it didn’t hurt us too bad. What a great car we had, just a credit to these guys and they work so hard. It’s been hot and we’ve worked hard these last couple days to bring a great racecar here tonight and I feel very fortunate. This is another racetrack I’ve won at in my first try, and to my knowledge there’s only one left I’ve got to win at and that’s Martinsville, and I’d really like to get a clock.”

“It would take a lot of luck [to win the title], a whole lot of luck,” Berry said when asked about the championship picture. “He (McCaskill) had some misfortune tonight and I know he would’ve been tough to beat. I don’t wish any bad luck on those guys, I have a ton of respect for Deac and we’re going to work really hard to upset him because we know he’s going into next week as the favorite. I just have to thank everyone on this team from Speedco, my dad, Dale, Kelley, LW and anyone else who is watching on CARS Tour TV and here who stuck with us through the weather.”

CARS Late Model Stock Tour
Lead 2 Real Estate 200
Concord Speedway – August 27, 2016

POS NUM DRIVER LAPS REASON OUT
1. 88b Josh Berry 100
2. 2 Myatt Snider 100
3. 1 Christian Eckes 100
4. 08 Deac McCaskill 100
5. 57 Justin Carroll 100
6. 12m Austin McDaniel 100
7. 5 Stephen Leicht 100
8. 27 Tommy Lemons 100
9. 21 Travis Swaim 100
10. 98 Stefan Parsons 99
11. 28 Chris Hudspeth 99
12. 7 Justin Crider 99
13. 42 Craig Stallard 99
14. 23 Terry Brooks 98
15. 88 Chris Davis 98
16. 31 Thomas Beane 98
17. 99 Layne Riggs 89 Accident
18. 74 Ronald Hill 83 Mechanical
19. 25m Shaun Mangum 48 Mechanical
20. 32 Jerry Miracle 16 Mechanical