2015 has been a banner year for Brandon Setzer. Following a win in last weekend’s Championship Auto Racing Series (CARS) Super Late Model Tour 100-lap race at Myrtle Beach Speedway, he is now the proud owner of two wins in the series.

The season didn’t start out that way, though, as the first half of 2015 season was a struggle for the Newton, North Carolina native.

“It’s been up and down,” Setzer recalled. “We started out low. We weren’t where we needed to be, didn’t have the speed. Had some mechanical failures, had some crashes.”

However, his team started to find speed as the summer arrived. Setzer’s first glimpse at a turnaround came during the CARS Tour event at Tri-County Motor Speedway. Setzer was fast in the practice sessions and was battling in the top three during the race before an engine failure ended his day early.

“At Tri-County, we had some really good speed,” Setzer said. “We were running third before we lost an engine due to an oil pump.”

That was the beginning of what has been a magical second half of the season for Setzer. When the CARS Tour made its second trip to Orange County Speedway on August 1, Setzer established himself as a contender by qualifying on the pole for the 125-lap race. He backed it up by leading all but one lap en route to his first career Super Late Model victory.

“That was, by far, the biggest race I’ve ever won in my life,” Setzer said about the Orange County victory. “To beat some of the guys that we beat, the awesome cars we’re up against. It’s just me and my dad and a few other guys that love racing, so it’s awesome to beat those guys.”

Setzer followed the Orange County success with the Myrtle Beach victory last Saturday, joining Christopher Bell as the only drivers to win more than one race on the CARS Super Late Model Tour. Rather than outright speed, however, Setzer showed some veteran savvy at the half-mile known for abusing tires.

“We were just riding around, saving tires,” Setzer told RACE22.com in victory lane Saturday. “Those other guys went pretty early, you know, they started picking up speed. After that caution around halfway, we started laying around a little bit. We went with around 15 to go, and it gave us just enough time to get up there.”

“We started [the season] pretty slow, but we got this thing on track,” Setzer also said Saturday night. “I’ve really got to thank all these guys that help me. Gotta thank the sponsors, Romeo Guest Construction, Brown Brothers, Rudisill Frame Shop. I can’t thank those guys enough.”

Some of the experience Setzer demonstrated Saturday can be attributed to his bloodline. Brandon’s father, Dennis Setzer, won two NASCAR Busch Grand National Series and 18 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races. The elder Setzer also owns two track championships at Hickory Motor Speedway (1983 and 1993) and won the 2007 ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway.

“He’s got a good understanding of how a car works, and what makes it go fast,” Brandon said of his father. “Sometimes you’ve got to have a long run car versus a short run car. Fortunately we had both at Myrtle Beach, and he was good at keeping me calm on the radio. We held back until about 15 to go and we had a little bit left at the end.”

“I wasn’t expecting to be quite that good,” Setzer added.  “Whenever I went, I went 100 percent. I didn’t really know what I had until I went, and luckily we had enough.”

For Setzer, the CARS Tour finale will be a return to his home track of Hickory Motor Speedway. He also hopes it could be a chance for a massive payday, as he is searching for a Late Model Stock ride for the event. The CARS Tour announced a “Double Duty Dare” for the event on November 1st, which will award a $40,000 (plus the regular winner’s portion of the purse) to a driver if they win both the Late Model Stock and Super Late Model race.

“I want to do that, I’m really looking for a ride,” Setzer said. “If anybody’s looking for a shot at some big money, I’d love to do it. I don’t have anything locked in. I’ve run a lot of laps there, Hickory’s my home track.”

RACE22.com editor Andy Marquis contributed to this report.