A day late but Sunday’s Championship Auto Racing Series (CARS) Tour season opener at Southern National Motorsports Park will be worth the wait.
Names like Matt Bowling, Josh Berry, Myatt Snider and Deac McCaskill lead a healthy Late Model Stock Car contingent into Southern National, proving that this year’s points battle may be even tighter than last year. As for last year’s champion, Brayton Haws, he may not be racing this season as of now but the car he dominated with is also at the track with an equally impressive driver.
Chase Purdy, racing for veteran crew chief Lee McCall and Hawk McCall Motorsports, has already scored three wins on the season and has proven to be, at least as of now, the hottest up and coming Late Model driver on the scene. However, Sunday’s race will be some of the stiffest competition the 16-year-old has faced so far this year.
The favorite in Sunday’s CARS Late Model Stock Tour race, however, is Deac McCaskill. McCaskill has four track championships at the Lucama, North Carolina speedplant and picked up a CARS Tour win at Southern National last May.
While the CARS Super Late Model Tour feature includes Brandon Setzer, Harrison Burton and Zane Smith, it could be local icon Clay Jones who steals the show. Jones raced full-time in Super Late Model racing last year, while making a handful of starts in a Late Model Stock Car, scoring victories at Southern National as well as in the first ever race held at Carteret County Speedway. Last May, Jones scored a top-five finish at Southern National.
Another driver who could emerge as a threat is the soon to be married Jake Crum. Crum has won a lot of big Late Model Stock Car races in his career, including a win at Martinsville in 2009. However, Crum has been every bit as smooth in his limited number of Super Late Model appearances.
Sunday’s race will have a very different feel to it for the drivers and the fans. It will be the first CARS Tour race ever held in daylight and will be the first trip to Southern National with Hoosier tires. Tire degradation will be the key factor in the race – much like in the Thanksgiving Classic last November. The winner of this race might not be the fastest car, but who saves the most tire … especially in the 150 lap Super Late Model race.
Complicating the tire strategy will be the fact that Southern National races are historically clean races known for long green flag runs. So, while tire management will be the key factor, drivers can’t lay back too long because they might find themselves too far back if the race ends with a long green flag run, like last May’s race.
Things will get underway at Southern National Motorsports Park at 12pm on Sunday with practice. Qualifying will commence at 2:30pm and the green flag will fly on the season opener at 4pm with 150 laps of Super Late Model kicking off the action followed immediately by 150 laps of Late Model Stock Car racing.
Tickets for the event are just $20, but for those unable to attend the race, RACEFEEDX.com will have live pay-per-view coverage of the race online in high definition. Short Track Scene will be on hand to cover the race and will have coverage throughout the day as well as complete postrace coverage.
