Several CARS Response Energy Late Model Stock Car Tour teams took advantage of the weekend before the Mid-Atlantic Classic at Orange County Speedway to compete at local short tracks around the East Coast. Orange County regular Chris Denny narrowly held off Carson Kvapil in the final laps to pick up a victory at his home track, while Justin Johnson returned to Southern National Motorsports Park for the first time since the controversial Thanksgiving Classic, and picked up a victory in one of the two Late Model races that evening.
Current CARS Response Energy LMSC Tour points leader Bobby McCarty spent the weekend away from the track, as he and his fiancé Brooke were officially married on Saturday afternoon. The wedding ceremony served as another important date in a busy 2018 for the Summerfield, North Carolina native, as he expanded his Late Model schedule to other states along the east coast after staying in Virginia during the early portion of his career.
McCarty’s 2018 season quickly got off to a strong start, as he won $10,000 in the Do the Dew 150 at Tri-County Motor Speedway after leading 110 of the 150 laps, and proceeded to back up that performance with another Top 5 finish at Myrtle Beach Speedway. McCarty credits his team, Nelson Motorsports, for his success every weekend, adding that they constantly strive to gain an advantage over their competition regardless of how they finish.
“We don’t quit, and we push as hard as we can,” McCarty said. “There is always room for improvement, and even though we had a dominant car at Tri-County, we went back through our notes and realized that we could have done better. Winning the race just isn’t enough for us, as we want our stuff to be perfect, and we do our homework. The races are won at the shop, not at the racetrack.”
McCarty has been a part of the Virginia Late Model scene since the 2013 season, where he made his debut at South Boston Speedway and finished 3rd in the track’s point standings that season with his family-owned team. McCarty’s success at the track caught the attention of owner Barry Nelson, who signed him as a replacement driver for Timothy Peters in the 2016 ValleyStar Credit Union 300, before joining the team full-time in 2017.
The partnership with Nelson Motorsports has proven to be a successful one, as McCarty picked up four wins at South Boston Speedway in 2017, and finished eighth in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Virginia State Championship. McCarty’s most notable accomplishment of the season came during the 2017 Hampton Heat 200, where he held off Brenden Queen and C.E. Falk III in the closing laps of the race to pick up the most prestigious victory of his Late Model career.
After a one-off appearance in the CARS Response Energy LMSC Tour season finale at South Boston last year, McCarty elected to add more CARS Tour races to his 2018 schedule and currently holds a comfortable points lead after two races. Despite the strong start, McCarty does not plan to run the full 2018 CARS Response Energy LMSC Tour schedule, as he will skip the U.S. Short Track Nationals at Bristol due to economic and safety concerns.
“The problem with Bristol is that these cars aren’t designed to race there,” McCarty said. “We would love to run for the championship, but I’m not going to risk demolishing a racecar over a championship. The race winner from last year had to get a new front clip on the car even though he didn’t touch anything due to the amount of G-forces exerted on the car. Plus, the Triple Crown starts in July, and Bristol is in May, so I would rather focus on the Triple Crown instead of taking a risk at tearing my car up.”
Although McCarty will not be competing for the championship, he admitted that he has enjoyed the variety of tracks on the CARS Response Energy Tour schedule to date, as South Boston was the only CARS Tour track he had competed on prior to the 2018 season. McCarty added that visiting all of the new tracks helps keep him focused and in shape, and he is looking forward to having a chance at competing for a victory at several historic tracks for the first time, including Hickory Motor Speedway and Wake County Speedway.
The next track on McCarty’s schedule will be Orange County Speedway in Rougemont, North Carolina, as both divisions of the CARS Response Energy Tour will descend to the 3/8 mile short track for the 2nd annual Mid-Atlantic Classic. McCarty has been studying video footage of past races at Orange County and is hoping to understand how to navigate the track before the green flag drops on Saturday evening.
“We’re definitely going to try and stay clean, and hopefully keep the car in one piece,” McCarty said. “One of the problems we had at Myrtle Beach was that we had some right-front contact that knocked the tow out a little bit. We’re going to try to keep the fenders on it, but the race is going to be grueling. There are a lot of things that we’re definitely going to have to take into consideration in order to get the best out of our car, and to be up at the front at the end.”
Despite having no prior experience at Orange County, McCarty is expected to enter Saturday’s Mid-Atlantic Classic as one of the favorites to win, as former winner Layne Riggs is not expected to compete due to a broken collarbone sustained during Easter. However, there will still be plenty of talented drivers for McCarty to compete with for the win, including 2017 CARS Response Energy LMSC Tour champion Josh Berry, as well as defending Mid-Atlantic Classic winner Deac McCaskill.
