Just prior to the CARS Tour season finale this past October, the Mooresville, NC based tour, announced their 2018 season schedule and a lineup of impressive incentives to go along with it. Late Model Stock teams will have a variety of options to receive a “kickback” from the series just for competing in the upcoming season.
The three programs that Late Model Stock teams have at their disposal impact every competitor no matter their budget, with the focus being on participation and not necessarily performance. Below is a breakdown of the 2018 programs that teams can look forward to.
Staubli Hometown Hero Award: For each track that the CARS LMSC Tour visits in 2018 that utilizes LMSC as its feature division, Staubli will award three (3) free Hoosier tires to the first driver who enters the CARS Tour event, that is in the top three in LMSC track points just prior to the CARS Tour race. The second driver to enter that sits inside the top three LMSC track points receives two (2) free tires, and the final driver to enter that is inside the top three of the track’s championship points standings will receive one (1) free tire. The following events will have Staubli Hometown Hero Awards up for grabs: 3/24 Myrtle Beach, 4/7 Wake County, 4/21 Orange County, 5/5 Hickory, 6/9 Ace, 6/23 Carteret County, 7/14 Kingsport, 8/4 Hickory, 9/8 Orange County, and 10/13 South Boston.
Three & Get Green Loyalty Bonus Money: Possibly the easiest way to earn CARS Tour incentive money is the “Three & Get Green” loyalty bonus money program. In 2018 any competitor that is not on the “Touring 12” program will receive $500 in bonus money for racing in any three consecutive events on the schedule. So plain and simple, at that third consecutive race a team competes in, they will receive $500 added to their winnings from the event. A competitor who competes in all twelve 2018 events will end up receiving $2,000 in bonus money throughout the year.
Touring 12 Program: Finally, the most talked about and lucrative program for competitors in 2018 is the Touring 12. Teams selected for the Touring 12 program will have annual entry costs reduced to $825 for all twelve events, a savings of almost $1,000. Each of the Touring 12 members will be guaranteed $1,000 (vs. race winnings) to compete in each event and will be able to purchase two (2) sets of race tires each event for a $100 discount per set. Additional Touring 12 benefits include four (4) general admission tickets to each race for promotional use, a guarantee of $500 per race attempted if they fail to qualify for the feature event and the driver will receive sales commission on a paid for merchandise line that will be available throughout the 2018 season. These benefits and others will put several thousand dollars in cash and/or savings into the pockets of all Touring 12 members.
The commitment from Touring 12 teams is that they compete in all 2018 events, excluding the May 18th Bristol event, along with several promotional appearances throughout the year in order to help promote the series and its events. Teams can apply for the Touring 12 program by visiting www.carsracingtour.com and clicking the “Touring 12” banner on the right side of the page. The deadline to apply for consideration is Friday, February 2nd with the 2018 Touring 12 drivers being announced on February 9th.
After a stellar year of Late Model Stock Car racing in 2017 and the announced programs for 2018, the chances of the CARS Tour producing some of the best Late Model Stock racing the region has seen in years is at an all-time high. The series will waste no time in kicking things off in a big way with its 2018 season opener at Tri-County Motor Speedway in Hudson, NC that will pay $10,000 to the winner on March 10th.
