It wasn’t without some late race dramatics but Brayton Haws earned his first career CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car victory on Saturday night at Orange County Speedway in Roguemont, N.C.
Haws first took the lead from pole sitter Deac McCaskill on lap 35 and never looked back despite an onslaught of aggression from Myatt Snider in the closing laps of the race. Haws felt the most pressure from Snider following a lap 129 restart when the son of NASCAR broadcaster Marty, initiated contact between the two.
Haws, however, took everything Snider had and was pulling away when the caution fell with two laps to go as a result of Christian PaHud blowing a tire and connecting with the Turn 3 wall, setting up a three lap shootout.
Despite a spirited effort from Snider, Haws pulled away and won the second CARS Tour race of the season for the Late Model Stock contingent.
“We were fast from the beginning of the race and had to work to get by Deac a little bit,” Haws said. “We were really good once we got by him and led every lap after that.”
He made it sound easier than what it was, not admitting any nervousness about the always aggressive Snider nipping at his heels on the final couple of restarts.
“We were awesome on restarts all night,” Haws said. “We were just rolling through Turns 1 and 2 and I just eased off the corners a little bit when my spotter told me they were racing side-by-side for second.”
Haws praised his team at Hawk-McCall Motorsports for the fast car throughout the week and called it an awesome win for his team.
Todd Gilliland, the winner from Late Model Stock race No. 1 at Southern National Motorsports Park, finished 27th after getting involved in an accident with Michael Fose on lap 23. He did not finish the race.
- Brayton Haws
- Justin Crider
- Myatt Snider
- D. Smith, III
- Jamey Caudill
- Tommy Lemons, Jr.
- Justin Johnson
- Thomas Beane
- Jeffrey Oakley
- Deac McCaskill
- Clint King
- Blake Stallings
- Roddey Sterling
- Chris Davis
- Doug Barnes, Jr.
- Donnie Puryear, Jr.
- Chris Hudspeth
- Robert Tyler
- Garrett Campbell
- Christian PaHud
- Trent Barnes
- Mike Darne
- Stacy Puryear
- Stefan Parsons
- Michael Fose
- Austin McDaniel
- Todd Gilliland
- Tyler Ankrum
- Matt Waltz
