The CARS Tour cemented itself as the premier series for Late Model Stock Car racing on the East Coast in 2018 with a season that produced great competition, thrilling finishes and many intriguing developments for the future of the division.
The series had found success during its first three years with the presence of veteran Late Model drivers such as Josh Berry and Deac McCaskill and special events like the Throwback 276, but Competition Director Chris Ragle wanted to keep searching for ways to boost the growing popularity of the CARS LMSC Tour. Ragle believes that the series accomplished that goal in 2018 with new innovations that improved the quality of the races as well as the number of drivers participating on a regular basis.
“What I think really turned things up on the Late Model Stock side was the Touring 12 program, as well as our loyalty program,” Ragle said. “Bobby McCarty and Lee Pulliam weren’t even part of the Touring 12 program, but they earned $500 by running three races in a row, and they did that all year. The Touring 12 also provided discounts on tires and entry fees, as well as free race tickets. Those programs, along with our stellar purse and our few major events really helped us out.”
The first major event for the CARS LMSC Tour during the 2018 season was the Do the Dew 150 at Tri-County Motor Speedway, which featured a race-winning purse of $10,000 that attracted a plethora of notable Late Model drivers from around the East Coast, such as Timothy Peters and 2016 Whelen All-American Series champion Matt Bowling. Despite persistent issues with the track surface, the race featured intense racing throughout the afternoon that concluded with Bobby McCarty picking up his first CARS LMSC Tour victory.
The BakerDist.com 100 would serve as Lee Pulliam’s turn to pick up his first CARS LMSC Tour win, but the four-time Whelen All-American Series champion used the race to give the rest of the drivers in the 27-car field a lesson in how to win at Myrtle Beach Speedway. After spending most of the race at the tail end of the field, Pulliam picked off his competitors one-by-one during the closing stages of the race before passing Ronald Hill with 10 laps remaining to take the checkered flag first.
Pulliam would only pick up one more victory during the 2018 season, which came during the rain-shortened Response Energy Drink 100 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Pulliam and the rest of the CARS LMSC Tour field had nothing for McCarty during the months of May and June, as he would go on to secure three more victories at Hickory Motor Speedway, Ace Speedway and Carteret County Speedway, all of which helped him solidify his grip on the series points lead.
The summer months saw the CARS LMSC Tour travel to a variety of different tracks that challenged some drivers, but rewarded others like Layne Riggs, who scored his first victory of the season at Kingsport Speedway following a controversial finish at Carteret County in which he was sent to the rear of the field after being spun by Josh Berry while leading. Riggs and Berry would renew their rivalry in the Throwback 276 at Hickory, but Berry would be the one to come out on top in a #73 Late Model that paid tribute to former driver L.W. Miller.
The final weekend in August saw the CARS LMSC Tour make its first visit to the quarter-mile bullring in Wake County Speedway for the Solid Rock Carriers 123, which featured many great battles throughout the field and an entertaining finish that saw Sam Mayer hold off several late challenges to pick up his first victory. Despite many uncertainties leading up to the race, the Solid Rock Carriers 123 became one of the best races of the season in the eyes of many within the CARS Tour, including series owner Jack McNelly.
“Everybody thought we were nuts for going to Wake County because it was such a bullring,” McNelly said. “The fact of the matter is that it was the cleanest race we had all year, there was passing, there was side-by-side racing and Sam Mayer coming from the 10th position all the way to the front and winning it made the event pretty big.”
After Berry picked up his second win of the season in the CARS LMSC Tour’s second visit to Orange County, the series traveled to South Boston Speedway for what turned out to be a wild and eventful season finale. Several drivers, such as Riggs, McCarty and Timothy Peters were all plagued by different issues that took them out of contention for the win, which opened the door for Late Model veteran Craig Moore to take the lead and pull away with his first CARS LMSC Tour victory.
As Moore and his team celebrated in victory lane, McCarty and his crew started their own celebrations, as head clinched the 2018 CARS LMSC Tour championship with a 15-point gap over Pulliam in the standings. Despite not winning a race following his triumph at Carteret County, McCarty maintained his consistency by completing every single lap and finishing inside the Top 10 in all 12 races, with his worst finish of the season coming in the season-finale at South Boston where he brought his #22 AutosbyNelson.com Late Model home in ninth.
Both McNelly and Ragle consider the 2018 CARS LMSC Tour season to be a success, but both intend to keep looking for ways to lower costs for competitors, attract more sponsorship revenue and boost the attendance levels at all the tracks in order to maintain the series’ growing popularity. The new year is expected to bring a lot of changes to the Late Model racing industry, but Ragle is prepared to embrace those changes and is eagerly looking forward to the 2019 CARS LMSC Tour season.
“It’s easy to get on top, but it’s significantly harder to maintain and stay on top,” Ragle said. “Some of the engine stuff got figured out, so that’s better, but the biggest thing we have planned when it comes to improving things in 2019 is the biggest race in Late Model Stock history at Orange County. We have to make that race as big as it needs to be, but we’re just going to keep doing what we’re doing to improve a little bit and stay on top.”
The 2019 season for the CARS LMSC Tour will kick off at Southern National Motorsports Park on March 9 for the CARS Tour 300, which will feature a $10,000 paycheck to the winner of the 150-lap Late Model feature. The season-opener at Southern National will serve as one of several prestigious events for the CARS LMSC Tour that include the 3rd Throwback 276 at Hickory, as well as the Old North State Nationals at Orange County that will pay $30,000 to the driver who takes the checkered flag first.
