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CARS Late Model Stock Tour

CARS Tour moves Late Model Stocks back to Hoosier F45s this week

Following a season’s worth of challenges and frustrations, the CARS Tour Late Model Stock division is switching back to the Hoosier F-45s from the still new ST2s unveiled at the start of the year.

Teams were sent the following memo on Monday:

“Beginning with this weekend’s race at Florence Motor Speedway, the Late Model Stock Car teams will be on the Hoosier F-45s. The catalogue number is 37181F45 and the rollout measurement is 85 1/2″, +/- 1/4”. The Pro Late Models will continue to compete on the ST1 and ST2s as they have been throughout the season.

“Also, this week, because it will be our first week back on the F-45s, teams will be allowed to purchase two sets of practice tires and one set to qualify/begin the race on.”

This follows a race weekend at Wake County Speedway where teams were provided tires that featured six different codes for 19 teams. There were protests that delayed practice by an hour and eventually a big meeting on the frontstretch to determine a short term fix for Saturday night with the expectation that a change could be made before Florence.

Beyond the inconsistencies from one batch of ST2 to the others, racers also attributed the tire to the extremely aggressive and cutthroat racing product seen on the tour this season. The Hoosier ST line are grippier tires with less falloff that have minimized tire management and made clean passes harder to complete.

As the season has progressed, the calls for CARS Tour and Hoosier to bring back the F-45s have grown louder and louder.

The only question to this point is how many of them are still in stock, as there are still events and tracks using the platform, and is pushing Hoosier to begin development on the F-45s again also a risky proposition given the lessons learned during the supply chain shortage of 2020 and 2021.

Matt Weaver is the owner and founder of Short Track Scene. Weaver grew up in the sport, having raced himself before becoming a reporter in college at the University of South Alabama. He also has extensive experience covering NASCAR, IndyCar and Dirt Sprint Cars.

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