Saturday’s X-1R Performance Products 300 will be the true dawn of the CARS Tour era and, with it, an atmosphere that seemingly combines Martinsville with Winchester. Something special is about to happen at the high banks of Southern National Motorsports Park.
Motorsports writers have dreamed of it for years, a race that Super Late Model and Late Model Stock Car’s elite congregate to. When the Championship Auto Racing Series (CARS) announced last winter that they were doing away with the Pro Cup Series and replacing it with a Late Model and a Super Late Model tour, it seemed crazy. But, as racing elites have parked their haulers at Southern National on the eve of what feels like one of the biggest races in the history of short track racing, it appears it just might be a crazy enough idea to work.
When the series launched, they promised “the best of both worlds”. Make no mistake, they have delivered. On the eve of the X-1R Performance Products 300, dozens of haulers sit idle in the infield at Southern National Motorsports Park. Over 30 Late Model Stock Cars and over 30 Super Late Models are ready to roll out onto the racing surface tomorrow for one of the can’t miss shows of the year.
Despite the threat of below-freezing temperatures, hundreds, possibly thousands, of fans are ready to congregate to Southern National. Short track die-hards from all across the East Coast make the pilgrimage to the small town of Lucama, North Carolina in hopes of seeing short track stars shine under the bright lights which illuminate the track’s bright yellow walls.
When race fans think of the biggest races in the country, they tend to think of the Snowball Derby, the Winchester 400, the Martinsville Late Model race, the Myrtle Beach 400 and a handful of others. Saturday night’s race has combined the feel of Winchester and Martinsville for what feels like an early Christmas present for racing fans.
Some of the biggest names are here. Bubba Pollard, Harrison Burton, Kyle Grissom, Steve Wallace, Tommy Lemons Jr, Deac McCaskill, Jamey Caudill, Matt Waltz, Stephen Leicht, Stacy Compton, Mike Darne and Christopher Bell are among the all-star cast of characters in Saturday night’s X-1R Performance Products 300.
The race format is simple, two races for the price of one. $20 buys fans 150 laps of Late Model Stock Car racing and 150 laps of Super Late Model racing with fields so large, a last chance qualifier looks like it may be necessary. The prize: $4,500 to the victor of the Late Model race and $5,500 to the victor of the Super Late Model race but, more importantly, bragging rights. Every driver wants to be the one to say they won the first CARS Tour race.
Qualifying will get underway at 5pm with practice beginning in the morning hours and RACE22.com will be at the track all day with live, up to the minute coverage online and on Twitter (@RACE22). Along with RACE22.com coverage, RACEFEEDX will have live streaming pay-per-view video coverage for fans unable to make the trip to Southern National Motorsports Park.
For Late Model Stock Car and Super Late Model fans, the convergence of forces that has taken place under the CARS Tour has created short track racing’s perfect storm, and the perfect storm is set to make landfall in Lucama. If you are a race fan, you do not want to miss this race.
