The CARS Response Energy Late Model Stock Tour continues with the trend of first-time visits to facilities as the tour makes its debut at Kingsport Speedway Saturday night. This marks the second visit of the season to the Volunteer State of Tennessee having competed on May 19th at the Bristol Motor Speedway. The track often referred to as the “Concrete Jungle” should present some unique challenges, with it not only being a track that many of the tour regulars have not visited, plus just like Bristol, the Kingsport facility is an all-concrete racing surface.

Winners on the 2018 season including Bobby McCarty, Lee Pulliam, and Deac McCaskill will be contenders, but their biggest challenge may come from the host of local drivers including Trey Bayne, Wayne Hall, and current track points leader Kres Vandyke who have pre-entered the event. A pair of Touring 12 drivers, Layne Riggs and Ty Gibbs, could also be ones to watch after picking up some momentum from off weekend wins at Carteret County and Caraway. Without question the buzz around the Tri-Cities has been building for this week’s CARS Tour debut, leading to strong ticket pre sales and what should be a stellar show at the Concrete Jungle

Food Country USA 125 NOTES & QUOTES

NOTES:

Track/Location: Kingsport Speedway-Kingsport, TN

Track Size: .375-mile

Event Name: Food Country USA 125

Laps/Distance: 125L/48.87 miles

Event Schedule: Practice: 1:40PM-3:15PM, Qualifying: 5:30PM, Green: 7:30PM LMSC

Twitter Handle/Event Hashtag: @CARSTour / @KpSpeedway / #FoodCountryUSA125

CARS LMSC Tour Pre Entered Drivers:
#07 Bradley McCaskill
#1M Craig Moore
#2 Cody Haskins
#2P Brandon Pierce
#5 Lee Pulliam
#9 Sam Mayer
#9W Charlie Watson
#15 Kres Vandyke
#18 Ty Gibbs
#21 Trey Bayne
#22 Deac McCaskill
#22M Bobby McCarty
#27 Tommy Lemons Jr.
#31 Thomas Beane
#32 Nik Williams
#44 Wayne Hale
#74 Ronald Hill
#77 Trevor Ward
#88 Josh Berry
#96 Danny O’Quinn
#99 Layne Riggs (22 total)

***Official Entry Deadline: Tuesday, July 10, 2018 at 4PM***

Media Coverage:

-Speed51 (speed51.com) will provide Trackside Now Live Coverage

-Race22 (race22.com) will provide Raceday Live Coverage

-Short Track Scene (shorttrackscene.com)

-CARS Tour TV (www.carstour.tv) – LIVE Broadcast Video Production Coverage

-CARS Tour Facebook (facebook.com/CARSTour) / CARS Tour Twitter (@CARSTour)

QUOTES:

Could Kingsport be the Locals Kind of Place:

This season’s Staubli Hometown Hero award, which awards free Hoosier tires to the top three in points at the tracks weekly division, has paid off with many of the locals at each track signing up to do battle against the touring stars at their home track. Their performance against the tour regulars, however; has been an uphill battle with not a single track regular finishing in the top three at a race this season at their home track. With possibly the strongest field of local drivers competing this weekend, like multiple time track champion Kres Vandyke, could this be the weekend that a track regular steals the show from a touring star?

“I know the CARS Tour has been to a lot of new places this season but they haven’t been to the jungle yet, and it’s a tough place to get around. I think this might be the race that the CARS Tour guys will have their hands full with us, local drivers. I feel that the odds might go towards one of the local guys at Kingsport. As far as getting around the place, I guess that’s the $6,000 question that everyone will be trying to figure out Saturday night.” Kres Vandyke – #15 Food City/Italian Village Chevrolet

Moore Mixes Motorsports Marketing with Motorsports Performance:

To start the 2018 season Craig Moore was announced as part of the CARS Tour Touring 12 program which would see him compete full time on the tour for the first time in his career. The immediately lead to a team announcement that Visit Kingsport was signed on board as a sponsor with the team for the upcoming season. That partnership has blossomed with business-to-business opportunities via the series and away from the track. This weekend Moore and his Graphix Solutions race team will compete at Kingsport Speedway, directly in his sponsor’s backyard. He’s hoping that this weekend is the race that will set his team up for success to close out his first season full time on the tour.

“This is a race we’ve circled on the calendar since the beginning of the season. I’m extremely excited about being able to race in front of our Visit Kingsport partners and the loyal Kingsport Speedway fan base. It’s been a win, win partnership for both parties, and this weekend we even have a Kingsport Tennessee “The Original Long Island Ice Tea” logo on the hood. Even though I’ve never raced at Kingsport I think we’ll have a pretty good piece Saturday night. Our main goal is to just be there at the end. A good run at Kingsport Saturday night could put us in a good position to close out the 2018 season with some of my favorite tracks still ahead on the schedule.” Craig Moore – #1 Visit Kingsport/Graphix Solutions Chevy

Anticipation of CARS Tour is Jungle Fever:

About this time a year ago Kingsport Speedway promoter Karen Tunnell reached out to the CARS Tour on what it would take to get the tour to make a visit to the Tennessee track. Flash forward to this weekend, and fans of the Tri-Cities area and Southwest Virginia will get treated to the best Late Model Stock drivers in the country at the 3/8th-mile track known as the “Concrete Jungle”

“I’m really excited about the CARS Tour coming to Kingsport. I know the fans are too, we’ve been getting calls, pre ticket sales have been great. I feel like this might be the most exciting and anticipated event at Kingsport Speedway since I started here. I know many of the CARS Tour guys have never been here so this is an opportunity to showcase our track, and it’s also an opportunity for our local Late Model drivers to be on a touring stage unlike anything else. We’ve been promoting it as the “Biggest and Best Late Model Race of 2018” and I really feel like this exactly that.” Karen Tunnell – Kingsport Speedway, Promoter

For more information and to stay up with all the latest news and information about the CARS Response Energy Tour, featuring both Late Model Stock Car and Super Late Model divisions, visit www.carsracingtour.com or contact the tour’s office directly at 704-662-9212. Stay social with the tour by “liking” the CARS Tour Facebook page and following along on Twitter @CARSTour.