Deac McCaskill has long been regarded as the elder statesman of the Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour.
Having been a part of the CARS LMSC Tour since its inaugural race at Southern National Motorsports Park in 2015, McCaskill has seen many drivers and teams come and go through his 95 starts in the series yet has remained among the best every time he shows up to the track.
McCaskill put together a signature driver in Saturday’s Autos By Nelson 250 pres. by Virginia is for Racing Lovers at South Boston Speedway by dominating the race from the outside pole for his 11th career win.
The last time Deac McCaskill won multiple CARS LMSC Tour races in the same season was back in 2017.
Reaching that milestone at South Boston Speedway on Saturday required McCaskill to put together a defensive clinic against Layne Riggs. Clean air on the top groove provided a McCaskill an advantage, but the Late Model Stock veteran still had to exert a tremendous amount of control and determination to keep the lead in the closing laps.
“I was just driving the crap out of this car,” McCaskill said. “I knew the top was going to be key, but I couldn’t believe Layne gave me the top at the start. We got the clean air and the car was turning too good in the middle of the corner. We’ve had an up and down season, but two wins? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
After opening the 2023 season with a victory at Southern National Motorsports Park, McCaskill had only amassed one more Top 5 prior to South Boston, which occurred at Hickory Motor Speedway in April.
Despite this, McCaskill had plenty of confidence on his side heading into Saturday night. He scored one previous LMSC Tour victory at the facility back in 2017 and knew his experience would be a pivotal factor, especially with the 125-lap feature taking place in cooler weather conditions.
Although South Boston did not tighten up in the cool weather like he predicted, McCaskill was still able to keep his No. 08 Puryear Tank Lines Ford on the top groove, which forced Riggs to repeatedly dive low to find clean air. Riggs made a couple stoic charges, but McCaskill never wavered until the checkered flag waved.
McCaskill considers himself fortunate to still be competitive against all the best Late Model Stock organizations that now have so much more money and technology to utilize. He added his family is the main motivation behind his commitment to racing and hopes to win many more races for them over the next few years.
“We just work hard and don’t give up,” McCaskill said. “To come out here and compete with these teams up and down pit road is a blessing. Layne Riggs is a lot of fun to race with along with Bobby McCarty. They rubbed me a little bit, but that’s racing. I had my dad and wife here, so I’m going to remember this night for a long time.”
Even though he was unable to secure his first CARS LMSC Tour win of 2023, Riggs could not help but smile afterwards.
Riggs did everything he could to find a preferred line around McCaskill as the veteran racer played defense on South Boston Speedway’s top groove. The rigorous effort yielded a second place effort for Riggs, who enjoyed the opportunity to battle against one of the best in the Late Model Stock discipline.
“I just needed track position,” Riggs said. “The top was really, really good. Deac is the master here and he’s been racing the top around this track before I was even born. Me and Deac are the only two people that can put that good of a race on. Even though we didn’t win the race, I still had a lot of fun.”
Riggs arrived at South Boston determined to claim his first victory in a Kevin Harvick Inc. Late Model Stock after their first triumph together at Caraway Speedway was taken away due to a post-race technical infraction.
The No. 62 proved to be the class of the field early after Riggs earned the pole with a time of 15.086. After losing the lead early to McCaskill, Riggs conserved his equipment before making a run for the lead during the final 30 laps, where he repeatedly tried but fail to pull alongside the veteran racer.
With another strong LMSC Tour performance in a KHI car behind him, Riggs is turning his attention towards his remaining NASCAR Xfinity Series starts. Riggs does not see too many contrasts between preparing for short tracks and big tracks, but stressed runs like Saturday are essential for him to keep his NASCAR dreams alive.
“You still have the same fundamentals as you would in any other car,” Riggs said. “This is really gritty short track racing, which is what I grew up on and I’m trying to translate that knowledge to the big tracks. It’s been a crazy journey, and all the stars are starting to align for me. It’s just awesome to be racing a good car.”
Results
08 Deac McCaskill
62 Layne Riggs
6 Bobby McCarty
03 Brenden Queen
8 Carson Kvapil
22 Landon Huffman
15 Ryan Millington
8B Chase Burrow
77 Trevor Ward
16 Chad McCumbee
04 Ronnie Bassett Jr.
23 Kade Brown
24 Mason Diaz
20 Joshua Dickens
15C Logan Clark
1 Andrew Grady
44 Conner Jones
67 Cameron Bolin
2 Brandon Pierce
95 Jacob Heafner
36 Kenny Wallace
4 Dylon Wilson -1
74 Ronald Hill -1
0 Landon Pembelton -1
77S Blake Stallings – OUT
25 Jacob Borst – OUT
5L Carter Langley – OUT
17 Stacy Puryear – OUT
81 Mini Tyrrell – OUT
