The penultimate race to the 2021 CARS Late Model Stock Tour season at Wake County Speedway will carry an extra incentive for drivers.
Through a partnership with presenting sponsor Puryear Trucking, the CARS Tour is putting up a total purse of $42,000 for Saturday’s 125-lap feature, with the winner receiving a paycheck of $10,000.
Just under 20 drivers have elected to battle each other for $10,000 in the Puryear Trucking 175, which will serve as the series’ second visit to Wake County and its first since the 2018 season.
An increased paycheck combined with the tight confines of the quarter-mile Wake County bullring are expected to challenge the four remaining championship contenders looking to go into next weekend’s season-finale at South Boston Speedway with momentum on their side.
Two-time champion Bobby McCarty leads the title hopefuls but saw his advantage evaporate following a disappointing eighth place finish at Florence Motor Speedway. His issues were further compounded when rookie Kaden Honeycutt, who trailed McCarty by ten points entering Florence, took home his second checkered flag of the year.
Honeycutt’s victory now leaves him just one point behind McCarty in the CARS Tour standings, all while his teammate and car owner Justin Johnson still has a realistic chance at his first title with a 12-point deficit in third.
Defending champion Jared Fryar is also mathematically eligible for the title in fourth. Despite this, Fryar faces astronomical odds to get back in contention down 20 points to McCarty.
The four title contenders will have to deal with a short but stellar field of cars including veterans like Deac McCaskill along with track regulars in Daniel Vuncannon and Ethan Johnson in order to win $10,000 and keep their championship hopes alive.
Saturday’s Puryear Trucking 175 can be seen live on carstour.tv, with the green flag for the Late Model Stock feature set to fly after the Vintage Outlaws feature at 7:30 p.m.. The complete entry list can be found below.
#08 Deac McCaskill
#1 Andrew Grady
#2 Brandon Pierce
#4 Jonathan Findley
#4H Kaden Honeycutt
#9 Conner Jones
#14 Jared Fryar
#17 Joe Valento
#22 Bobby McCarty
#24 Mason Diaz
#44 Justin Johnson
#50 Daniel Vuncannon
#51 Ethan Johnson
#77 Nathan Jones
#81 Mini Tyrrell
#91 Jonathan Shafer
#95 Sam Yarbrough
#99 Layne Riggs
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