Bobby McCarty said it so everyone else doesn’t have to.
“I’m back.”
That is a scary statement for anyone who was around for the five year stretch in which either McCarty won the CARS Tour championship or it ran through him in some shape or fashion and he looked like that guy on Saturday at New River All American Speedway.
McCarty raced near the front all night, only surrendering track position when others wanted to abuse their tires more and was in position when it mattered the most with Brenden Queen and Mini Tyrrell making contact with 25 laps to go.
It wasn’t a lot but it was enough to cut a left rear on the Lee Pulliam Performance No. 03 driven by Queen. Queen slipped through the field and eventually spun and Tyrrell didn’t have the same drive after the contact.
McCarty took the lead and never looked back, racing the track all the way to his first win of the season and first since last June at Dominion Raceway.
“We had a good strategy,” McCarty said. “We played the right strategy on each restart of being in the right position to be there when it was time to go. Then [Tyrrell] and [Queen], from my viewpoint, it was just a racing deal. They came together at the wrong time and allowed me to take the lead and once we got the lead, we just had to maintain.”
Tyrrell held on to finish second.
“It really stinks but happy for Bobby,” Tyrrell said. “He had a really good car there at the end. I think our car was really good until I got together with Brenden in turn 3.
“I’m not sure what exactly happened, whether it was my bad or not. If it was and it hurt those guys the rest of the night, I’m sorry to those Lee Pulliam guys. They work their tails off. I’m just really proud of this team. We’ve come a really long way from last year to this year.”
Queen echoed that sentiments.
“I need to see the replay too but I got the call late that he was to my inside,” Queen said. “I’d have to watch it to know if it were a dive bomb or not. But we’re racing for the lead, man.
“I’ve raced with Mini a lot so I can’t be mad at him. But I knew I had an issue. I thought I bent a rear end or moved the track bar. It started bottoming out and it let go in Turn 3 at full speed and that’s a scary feeling. …
“But we drove back to 11th and really salvaged our day.”
Connor Hall completed the podium and celebrated a spirited race he had in the closing laps with Carson Kvapil and Treyten Lapcevich. The only contact was ever so slight but given the history between Hall and Kvapil, a pretty deep feud in 2022, they talked it over immediately after the race.
Kvapil said he felt bad for getting into him and Hall said it was just hard racing.
“I parked it on the frontstretch and I asked my guys, ‘did I race the 8 too hard’ and they said I was good and I get out of the car and he’s standing there,” Hall said. “It’s really cool to me because most people know that our first year racing together, Carson and I were red pill and blue pill, but we’re getting a little older and getting a little wiser out there.”
As for McCarty, again, he is feeling like the same guy that won all those races and championships in the Nelson Motorsports No. 22.
“This is what we used to do a couple of years ago,” he said. “I’m pumped up man. Like, our worst races are still top-5s. We get involved in a crash at Kenly and thrash on it and get a top-10. We win tonight. Those top-10s are ow you win the championship and that’s all the things we were doing in the Nelson car.”
As for his celebration tonight, it’s not going to be the same as what Queen does.
“We were talking about what we were going to do and we’re going to do beers with me podcast and then we’re headed to the Ale House,” McCarty joked. “I know Waffle House and yada yada yada, but we’re adults so we’re going to the bar. We’re going to set the trophy on top of the bar.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished P14 in his first CARS Tour race of the season.
“I had a great time,” Earnhardt said. “I made a few mistakes on the racetracks that cost us an opportunity at a good finish but just a great racetrack, great turnout, great crowd. I signed a lot of autographs and met a lot of folks and definitely want to come back and try to race again and do better than I did tonight. I can’t say enough about the facility and the people who run this place and the effort they put into it.”
CARS Tour National Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram 125
New River All American Speedway
April 13 2024
- Bobby McCarty
- Mini Tyrrell
- Connor Hall
- Treyten Lapcevich
- Carson Kvapil
- Chad McCumbee
- Ryan Millington
- Landen Lewis
- Andrew Grady
- Isabella Robusto
- Brenden Queen
- Kade Brown
- Cody Dempster
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Bryce Applegate
- Brent Crews
- Buddy Isles
- Jacob Heafner
- Brandon Pierce
- Paul Williamson
- Katie Hettinger
- Logan Clark
- Deac McCaskill
- Landon Huffman
- Ronnie Bassett, Jr.
