Jared Fryar outduels Ryan Millington in masterclass of respect in Krush 250

Short of being in the middle of it, the end of the Krush 250 was all Jeb Burton could ask for watching from atop the Sellers Racing hauler on Saturday evening at South Boston Speedway.

The de facto promoter of the event that benefits the Wildlife Foundation founded by his father, Ward, Burton had fallen out of the race after the second segment with a busted cylinder head.

But the race he watched at the end was worth the price of admission as Jared Fryer outdueled Ryan Millington over the course of two different runs across 50 green flag laps. It was objectively a tremendously compelling race.

In the end, Fryer kept working over the Saville Millington Motorsports No. 15 to win his first race driving the Nelson Motorsports No. 12. Beyond that, this was also the first win for the 2018 CARS Tour Super and 2020 CARS Tour Late Model Stock champion since the death of his previous car owner, Jimmy Mooring.

As a result, Fryar climbed out of the car in Victory Lane with tears in his eyes.

“We had a really good thing going, had really good race cars, had a great team behind me,” Fryar told Short Track Scene in Victory Lane. “Jimmy passed away in July, and that was a major setback in my racing career and my time in that 14 car came to end, and Jimmy meant a lot to me and did a lot for me.”

Then came this deal with Nelson Motorsports, which didn’t get off to the best start, having to adjust from an R&S Race Cars to a Forrest Reynolds chassis. Fryer had to tell Nelson to ‘keep with me’ and not give up on this combination.

It finally clicked on Saturday with both himself and teammate Bobby McCarty scoring podiums to close out a challenging season full of transition for the Barry Nelson owned cars.

Meanwhile, a quick glance at the top seven is an obvious reflection of why the final segment was so compelling and also relatively clean and uneventful. They were all professionals.

Jared Fryar
Ryan Millington
Bobby McCarty
Carson Kvapil
Kaden Honeycutt
Deac McCaskill

Adults and professionals, the lot of them.

Millington and Fryar alike praised the other for how they raced each other over the final segment.

“It’s all based off of whose head is under that helmet, plain and simple,” Millington said. “Me and Jared have always raced with respect and it’s up to the drivers as to how these races end, plain and simple.

“And if they want to go off in there and race like complete maniacs, that’s up to them. And me and Jared were going to race with respect. I don’t think there was any question about that.”

Fryar agreed.

“He was super comfortable and I was too,” Fryar said. “We weren’t out of control and couldn’t keep it off each other. That was a good showing for the younger generation and people who need to learn what race craft is. It’s that right there.

“We put on a really good show side-by-side. I have a lot of respect for Ryan. We’ve raced a lot over the last couple years and to race with him like that was super fun. And I was really comfortable. Like I said, with my race car, I knew he wasn’t going to do anything dumb. I didn’t have to worry about that with a veteran like him.”

From his perch atop the Sellers hauler, Burton certainly enjoyed the show too.

“I think you saw great racing all night,” Burton said. “It was two lanes and comers and goers. I feel like we’ve got a great strategy package. I feel like the two tires is the ticket because if you’d have put four tires on, I think it’s too much grip. We need even more fall off.

“So, I think things are in a good spot. It was really cold today that didn’t help us on the fan turnout. I think we still had a decent fan engagement, but we’ll reload and try to do it again.”

Also in the mix, and leading laps on Saturday, were two-time winner of this race Kaden Honeycutt and 2016 CARS Tour champion Deac McCaskill. Both drivers said they freed up their cars too much in advance of the right-side tires they took before the final stage.

McCarty finished third in his first start in the Nelson Motorsports No. 22 since he took that car to three CARS Tour championships in 2018, 2019 and 2021 and his departure after the 2022 season.

Krush 250 benefitting The Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation III
South Boston Speedway
November 14 2026