All three CARS Late Model Stock Tour championship contenders are confident that they will win the championship but, there can only be one.

Myatt Snider, Deac McCaskill and Brayton Haws are locked in an epic championship battle with only three points separating the top-three. Once bonus points are accounted for, it could come down to whoever finishes highest among the three drivers will win the inaugural series championship.

“Our car’s really consistent so I’m really liking that fact,” CARS Late Model Stock Tour points leader Myatt Snider said. “That’s been the name of our game this year, cosistency, so, I don’t think there’s any reason we shouldn’t be as cosistent as we have been this year.  I have a lot of confidence that my team is going to give me what I need.”

Consistency has been key for Snider but it’s wins that have put Deac McCaskill and Brayton Haws in the picture.  McCaskill won at Southern National Motorsports Park in May and has worked hard on his car to get it dialed in at the always difficult Hickory Motor Speedway.

“I think we’re really good,” McCaskill remarked.  “We had a good test here a couple weeks ago, just made minor changes on it.  Track’s changed a lot today.  Weather’s thrown us a big of a curveball.  I thought we’d have a lot more sunshine.  I think we’re fine, we’re fast.  I don’t think there’s one car that stands out. This will be a really competitive race and we’ll go after it and see what we’ve got.”

Brayton Haws won at Hickory in May and hopes to repeat that performance in what would be a championship clinching fourth victory on the inaugural CARS Tour season.

“Really confident with the car, the team, the racetrack, the racing,” Haws commented.  “We’ll have a really good piece tonight.  Probably the best it’s felt since I was here in the springtime. I’m just very confident with everything we had.”

Having had a few run-ins with Snider this season, Haws hopes the championship battle comes down to him and McCaskill.

“If it’s me and Deac, we’re going to race clean like we did all year.  That’s really who I’m hoping to race with at the end.  If it’s Myatt, we’ll just see what happens I guess.”

Elite Eight Chase Elusive Double

Eight drivers are attempting to run both the Late Model Stock Car and Super Late Model races.  The reason, a $40,000 bonus from MTP Tire if one of those drivers can sweep both races.

Those drivers are Tyler Church, Spencer Davis, Jake Crum, Bradley McCaskill, Christopher Bell, Clay Rogers, Tyler Ankrum and Josh Berry.

Josh Berry is a former Late Model Stock Car champion at Hickory Motor Speedway but tonight will be his first race in a Super Late Model.  With that said, both cars are fast for Berry.

“It’s not going to be easy,” Berry explained.  “I definitely feel good about the Late Model Stock.  I think that car’s real good.  I have a lot of laps here, a lot of experience here.  Just going to be a wild race.  I expect some crashing and they have a point battle going on that will be interesting to watch.  You have to win the first race before you can win the second one.  We’re going to try our best to win that one.  On the Super side, unfortunately for me, I haven’t ran a race in that before and I really just need to get out there and race to really  see what I’ve got.  I still feel that car’s really good and a lot could happen before the end of the night.”

Christopher Bell also comes to Hickory with two fast racecars and, like Berry, has a challenge in store tonight.  The Kyle Busch Motorsports development driver is expected to be up front in the Super Late Model, but the Late Model Stock Car could be his achilles’ heel.  Yesterday, in practice, Bell blew an engine in his Late Model Stock Car, forcing his team to scramble to replace the engine so he could race today.

“I think I’ve got as good a shot as anyone,” Bell said.  “The Late Model Stock Car is going to be our weakest link. These guys have worked hard. We blew a motor in practice yesterday but, thankfully, they busted their butts and got it changed out. See if we can get it done.”

Bell has one of the fastest Late Model Stock Cars but his Super Late Model appears to be the class of the field, as it usually is and he should be a favorite to win in that 150 lap feature race.

“I’m not going to say we should win but I think we’ve got a good shot,” Bell commented.  “We have a nice piece so, if the cards play our way, we should have a shot at it.”

Christian Eckes Hopes to Play Spoiler

Christian Eckes could spoil everyone’s night in the Super Late Model race.  He was fastest in the first practice session and has shown speed throughout the day.  However, Eckes, who is racing an LFR Chassis racecar, knows that tire conservation will be key.

“I think we have a pretty good chance,” Eckes said.  “We should be up front, starting position wise.  During the race, pretty sure we’ll be good.  We didn’t show as much speed as we would like to in the second round for long runs.  I think this is going to be a tire conservation race and hopefully we’ll be good in the long run.”

2016 Schedule Changes

RACE22.com has learned that the previously announced CARS Tour race at Carteret County Speedway will not take place.  When the season schedule is released, within the next few weeks, Carteret will not be on there.  The series is citing concerns about sightlines around the track as well as a handful of other issues, but they hope to add Carteret County to the 2017 schedule — if the issues they cited are addressed.

The series will return to Concord Speedway in 2016.  Concord Speedway is joining Southern National Motorsports Park, which will host the season opener, Orange County Speedway, Hickory Motor Speedway, Myrtle Beach Speedway and Tri-County Speedway as tracks the series will return to in its second tour.  Greenville-Pickens Speedway will also host a CARS Tour race for the first time ever next season.