The single visit to the Commonwealth of Virginia, at Motor Mile Speedway, kicks off the second half of the season for the CARS Tour this Saturday night. Deemed as one of the nicest facilities along the East Coast, Motor Mile Speedway presents a different type of racing compared to the more abrasive tracks the tour has competed at thus far in 2015. Motor Mile’s long straightaways and smooth gripping surface can handle the power to the rear wheels that CARS Tour competitors in both division have at their feet at any time. While Late Model Stock drivers are quite familiar with the .416 mile track, Super Late Models have not roared to life in the New River Valley since 2012. Plenty of new faces are planning their tour debuts in both divisions making the Food Country 250 presented by Heritage Truck Centers a race with lots of unanswered questions of what to expect.
Food Country USA 250 pres. by Heritage Truck Centers NOTES & QUOTES
NOTES:
Track/Location: Motor Mile Speedway-Radford, VA Track Size: .416
Event Name: Food Country USA 250 pres. by Heritage Truck Centers Laps/Distance:125/52 miles (each)
Event Schedule: 12:30PM-2:45PM Practice, 4:30PM Qualifying, 6PM Last Chance Races, 7PM Green: LMSC-SLM Twitter Handle/Event Hashtag: @CARSTour / #FoodCountryUSA250
CARS SLM Tour Pre Entered Drivers: #00 Lucas Ransone, #2 Joey Coulter IV, #2N Trevor Noles, #5M Vinnie Miller, #5W Spencer Wauters, #6 Brandon Setzer, #7 Tyler Church, #9 William Byron, #12 Harrison Burton, #12C Garrett Campbell, #14D Chris Davidson, #16 Lucas Jones, #17 Quin Houff, #24 Richard Gould, #25 Stephen Leicht, #31 Kyle Grissom, #42 Chad Finley, #45 Joey Mooch, #51N Stephen Nasse, #54 Matthew Craig, #56 Gus Dean, #57 Cole Timm, #66 Steve Wallace, #67 Clay Jones, #75 Clay Rogers, #77 Zane Smith, #98G Todd Gilliland, #99 JJ Haley (28 total)
CARS LMSC Tour Pre Entered Drivers: #08 Deac McCaskill, #1 Trent Barnes, #1 Trent Barnes, #2 Myatt Snider, #7 Justin Crider, #11 Caleb Holman, #12M Austin McDaniel, #16 Jeff Oakley, #16S RD Smith, #27 Tommy Lemons Jr, #28 Chris Hudspeth, #31 Thomas Beane, #41 Brayton Haws, #42 Craig Stallard, #51 Rusty Skewes, #54 Michael Fose, #54R Clay Rogers, #58 Tyler Ankrum, #59 Roddey Sterling, #77 Blake Stallings, #88B Josh Berry, #88D Doug Barnes, #98 Stefan Parsons, #98G Todd Gilliland (23 total)
***Official Entry Deadline Not Until Tuesday, July 7, 2015 at 4PM***
Media Coverage:
-Speed51 (speed51.com) will provide LIVE Trackside Now Live Updates
-RACEFEEDX (www.racefeedx.com) – LIVE Pay per View Video Coverage
-CARS Tour Facebook (facebook.com/CARSTour) and Twitter (@CARSTour)
-Race 22 (race22.com) will provide LIVE Twitter Updates (@race22)
QUOTES:
Houff on High Headed to Home Track:
Seventeen year old Quin Houff shocked the Super Late Model world in his last outing scoring his first career CARS Tour win at Tri-County behind the wheel of #17 LFR Chassis machine. Now the Virginia youngster gets his only chance of the season to compete at his home track of Motor Mile Speedway in this weekend’s Food Country USA 250. According to Houff it was the one race he felt confident in that he would be able to contend for the win. Now the outlook for Houff is much different.
“I’ve had Motor Mile circled on the calendar all season long. It’s my home track, growing up a couple of hours from there. Plus it’s always been my favorite track to race at and still is after going to all the places we have so far this year. I really felt that was the race that we would really contend for the win before we even showed up for the first race of year, simply because of my experience there. Now that we’ve already won this year, and the fact it was in our last outing, I think we’ve got a lot of confidence that we can make it two in a row. If we did, it would probably top that first one at Tri-County a couple of weeks ago.” #17 Quin Houff – LFR Chassis Chevy Super Late Model
Motor Mile vs CARS Tour Late Model Stock Racing:
2013 Martinsville 300 winner Tommy Lemons Jr, who is campaigning full time on the CARS Tour, has also competed in every Late Model Stock race at Motor Mile this season. So far Lemons hasn’t picked up a victory in either venture. Despite running both, Lemons isn’t quite sure that anything will apply to this weekend’s race when the tour crosses the border into Virginia.
“A few guys, including myself, have raced at both Motor Mile and on the CARS Tour. Personally, I feel like there is nothing that really applies to one or the other except driving line. It never hurts to gain that knowledge, but on the technical side of things it’s a whole new ballgame this weekend. We’ve been a little more successful on the Motor Mile side of things than we have on the tour. I think the main reason for that is that was what we were used to. I think this weekend we might be able to turn things around some. There’s some tough competition that shows up at these races, so if we want to start making a push in the points we are going to have to start winning races.” – #27 Tommy Lemons Jr – Jumpstart Motorsports Ford Late Model Stock Car
Support Through Thick and Thin:
The title sponsor for this weekend’s 250 lap CARS Tour event at Motor Mile is Food Country USA with presenting sponsorship from Heritage Truck Centers. Both companies have supported the CARS (Championship Auto Racing Series) sanctioning body for several years dating back to the Pro Cup Series days at Motor Mile. While the races from the past will not compare to what will be seen when the CARS Tour takes the green flag Saturday night; the support and value the CARS sanctioning body strives to develop has enabled the relationship with Food Country USA and Heritage Truck Centers to continue.
“We as a sanctioning body have always valued not only our competitors and fans, but the relationship with our sponsors. The folks at Food Country USA and Heritage Truck Centers have stuck with us through some pretty tough times when you look at the last year of the Pro Cup season. None the less, they jumped on board and saw the value we were trying to instill into their respective companies through motorsports marketing. With a very good product on the track, good crowds in the grandstands, and increased overall value to offer them it feels pretty good have their continued support. I encourage all fans or teams in the area to support their place of business or just tell them thank you for supporting short track racing.” – Jack McNelly – CARS Tour Owner/President
