A return to the lightning-fast Orange County Speedway falls on the calendar this Saturday night for all CARS Tour competitors. The seventh race of the ten race tour is when the championship point focus truly begins to set in for drivers and teams. A single point separates Late Model Stock championship leader Brayton Haws and second place Myatt Snider, while Cole Timm leads Kyle Grissom by only eight markers on the Super Late Model Tour. Those four drivers survived a wild Orange Blossom 300 race in April, each coming away with top five finishes in their respective divisions. They will need to duplicate those efforts in this weekend’s Summertime Showdown 250, a race which has all the ingredients of another “wild one at Orange County.” Hot, early August, summertime temperatures will make the high-banked .375-mile track slick and greasy, meaning grip will be at premium for all competitors. With less grip comes higher risk for trouble on the track. Those two elements – tire management and racing incident-free – are easier said than done at the North Carolina facility that labels itself as “America’s Fastest 3/8th Mile Track.”
Summertime Showdown 250 pres. by The Grilling Store & CV Products NOTES & QUOTES
NOTES:
Track/Location: Orange County Speedway-Rougemont, NC
Track Size: .375-mile
Event Name: Summertime Showdown 250
Laps/Distance: 125/46.88 miles (each)
Event Schedule: 12:30PM-2:45PM Practice, 5PM Qualifying, 6:30PM Last Chance Races, 7PM Green: SLM-LMSC
Twitter Handle/Event Hashtag: @CARSTour / @OCS_Track / #Summertime250
CARS SLM Tour Pre Entered Drivers: #00 Lucas Ransone, #2N Trevor Noles, #5D Dominique Van Wieringen, #6 Brandon Setzer, #12 Harrison Burton, #12C Garrett Campbell, #14D Chris Davidson, #15 Christian Eckes, #16 Lucas Jones, #17 Quin Houff, #24 Richard Gould, #25 Stephen Leicht, #31 Kyle Grissom, #33 Roger Lee Newton, #51 Kaz Grala, #51N Stephen Nasse, #56 Gus Dean, #57 Cole Timm, #66 Steve Wallace, #67 Clay Jones, #77 Zane Smith (21 total)
CARS LMSC Tour Pre Entered Drivers: #08 Deac McCaskill, #2 Myatt Snider, #7 Justin Crider, #12M Austin McDaniel, #16 Jeff Oakley, #16S RD Smith, #18 Bradley McCaskill, #27 Tommy Lemons Jr, #28 Chris Hudspeth, #31 Thomas Beane, #41 Brayton Haws, #42 Craig Stallard, #50 Jamey Caudill, #51 Rusty Skewes, #54 Michael Fose, #58 Tyler Ankrum, #59 Roddey Sterling, #74 Ronald Hill, #77 Blake Stallings, #88 Chris Davis, #88B Josh Berry, #88T Robert Tyler, #98 Stefan Parsons (23 total)
***Official Entry Deadline: Tuesday, July 28, 2015 at 4PM***
Media Coverage:
-Speed51 (speed51.com) will provide 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:
Championship Perspective-Leading the Way:
Cole Timm has led the CARS Tour Super Late Model championship points standings since winning the inaugural event at Southern National in March. Since that time Timm has been one of only two drivers to finish within the top ten in every event, with the other being fellow championship contender Kyle Grissom. With some bad luck in the last few outings for Timm, the return to Orange County is a welcoming sign, though his approach this time around may be different than the spring. Now this go around Timm is 100% focused on becoming the first ever CARS Tour Super Late Model champion
“I can’t say we came to the CARS tour looking to win the championship. We started out just racing for wins, but then I’d say at Tri-County, which was just a couple of races ago, is when I started really thinking about points. Winning poles, leading laps, and picking up bonus points along the way has been a priority now. Recently I’ve had a few bad luck things happen to us, but we’ve got to just keep on doing what we’ve been doing and see how it plays out. There’s no pressure on my end of things. I think this race at Orange County should be a little calmer hopefully than the last one, but still be a great show for the fans because that track has just so many grooves to race around. Look for longer green flag runs and more strategy style racing this event.” #57 Cole Timm – Smith General Contracting Toyota Super Late Model
Championship Perspective-Catching the Leader:
CARS Tour Late Model Stock championship contender Myatt Snider is in the opposite boat, trailing leader Brayton Haws by a single point, who has held to the top spot all season much like Timm. Snider has taken the approach of “points racing” all season and it’s paid off. Though he hasn’t won a CARS Tour race yet, Snider feels his return to Orange County might be the place for that to happen, however; he’s not willing to jeopardize championship points in doing so.
“Things are heating up when it comes to points that’s for sure. I feel like things are starting to go our way, but only time will tell. I came in this year to chase for the championship and I think it’s paid off. My approach at Orange County is to race for the win first and maximize our chance at earning points. This time around its 125 laps compared to when we were here in the spring, so it could be a quick race if the caution flags are limited. No doubt it will be a barn burner of a race, it’s just the nature of that track.” – #2 Myatt Snider – NASCAR American on NBCSN Chevy Late Model Stock Car
