Skyler Schoppe building confidence, enters Stockton second in CARS Tour West Limited Late Model points

Skyler Schoppe, 15, enters the weekend at Stockton 99 Speedway second in CARS Tour West Limited Late Model points through the first three races of his first full-time season in the division.

“We’re running second in points in our first year, so I feel like we’re doing pretty good,” Schoppe said.

The Northern California native has backed that up with a pair of third-place finishes, first at The Bullring to start the season in February and then at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway in early March.

When the series returned to The Bullring late last month, Schoppe showed that speed once again, running near the front and leading laps before late-race contact sent him to the rear of the field.

“Everybody’s going for it, I get it,” Schoppe said. “Somebody went three wide and it happens. It’s racing.”

He recovered to finish seventh, rallying back through the field and limiting the damage in the points standings, leaving Las Vegas 12 points behind Kenna Mitchell.

“We were able to recover some good points there,” Schoppe said. “We were 14 points behind Mitchell, and now I think we’re only about 12 back. We’re still trying to gain points everywhere we can.”

The consistency has carried through the opening stretch, with Schoppe adapting quickly after making the jump from Junior Late Models, where he found success in multiple series before moving up this year.

Schoppe’s success in the junior ranks included multiple wins in the 51FIFTY Junior Late Model Series at Madera Speedway and three victories at All American Speedway last season, including the season opener.

“I’m building a lot of confidence,” Schoppe said. “I feel like it was a good step to move up to Limiteds, and we’re doing pretty good.”

Competing against larger, more established teams, Schoppe and his team have continued to hold their own against drivers like Tanner Huddleston, Brendan Ruzbarsky and Mitchell.

“You’ve got a lot of these big teams, like the Huddlestons, Ruzbarskys and Mitchells, that we’re all trying to compete against,” Schoppe said. “We’re just a really small team that’s doing the best we can to be up there with all the big teams, so I feel like we’re doing pretty good.”

Entering Stockton, Schoppe remains focused on maximizing points wherever possible as the championship battle continues.

“Just trying to maximize all the points I can,” Schoppe said. “Everything from qualifying to leading laps, anywhere we can gain points is going to help. Obviously winning is great, but you want to come out of the night with a good points day.”

Stockton presents another opportunity for Schoppe to continue his strong start and get one step closer to the points lead and his first win in what has been a standout rookie campaign so far.