CARS Tour returns to Anderson headlined by Dale Jr

After a seven-year absence, the zMAX CARS Tour is set to make its grand return to Anderson Motor Speedway on Saturday evening.

Constructed in 1963 as a dirt oval, Anderson has hosted many of the best asphalt short track competitors in the southeast since being paved in the late 1980s. The list of names who have won major touring events at Anderson include Chase Elliott, Matt Kenseth, Bubba Pollard and Jack Sprague, among others.

During its existence, the CARS Tour has visited Anderson on two separate occasions, with the last trip in 2018 being a combination event with the Southern Super Series. Saturday will be the first CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour event at Anderson since 2017, all while the CARS Pro Late Model Tour makes its inaugural appearance at the facility.

Many drivers who are entered across both CARS Tour divisions this weekend have either limited or no experience around Anderson’s layout. The unknowns surrounding the two features are expected to create an intense, competitive atmosphere in front of a capacity crowd for the CARS Tour’s long-awaited return to Anderson.

Track Facts:

Track: Anderson Motor Speedway
Location: Anderson, South Carolina
Length: .375 mile
Laps: 125 (LMSC) / 100 (PLM)
CARS LMSC Tour races: 1
Anderson LMSC winners: Josh Berry (1)

LMSC Entry List (27 cars): #00 Chase Burrow, #01 Thomas Beane, #03 Lanie Buice, #04 Ronnie Bassett Jr., #09 Riley Gentry, #2 Brandon Pierce, #2W Ryan Wilson, #4 Kade Brown, #4S Donovan Strauss, #7 Tristan McKee, #7H Ryan Howard, #8 Dale Earnhardt Jr., #14 Jared Fryar, #18 David Roberts, #22 Carson Loftin, #29 Landen Lewis, #36 William Meredith, #40 Taylor Satterfield, #44 Conner Jones, #57 Landon Huffman, #71 Parker Eatmon, #71B Jake Bollman, #74 TBA, #81 Mini Tyrrell, #88 Connor Hall, #88B Doug Barnes Jr., #88G Gary Greenwood Jr.

PLM Entry List (16 cars): #2 Hudson Canipe, #4 Trey Burke, #6 Ben Maier, #6L Brandon Lopez, #7 Tristan McKee, #8 Toro Rodriguez, #15 Rodney Dowless, #16 Tim Sozio, #24 Jade Avedisian, #25 Isaac Kitzmiller, #47 Tyler Reif, #51 Luke Baldwin, #54 Seth Christensen, #75 Tristan Pena, #82 Taylor Hull, #97 Dylan Garner

LMSC Standings:

1. Connor Hall
2. Landen Lewis -12
3. Kade Brown -14
4. Mini Tyrrell -27
5. Landon Huffman -36
6. Ronnie Bassett Jr. -41
7. Doug Barnes Jr. -45
8. Donovan Strauss -56
9. Conner Jones -61
10. Carson Loftin -82

PLM Standings:

1. Ben Maier
2. Keelan Harvick -12
3. Brandon Lopez -26
4. Dylan Garner -34
5. Rodney Dowless -41
6. Isaac Kitzmiller -82
7. Tristan McKee -85
8. Brody Monahan -119
9. Jade Avedisian -126
10. Kaden Honeycutt -129

Dale Plays Ball

One of the most recognizable Budweiser paint schemes in Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s storied career will be back on track for Saturday’s 125-lap Late Model Stock feature at Anderson Motor Speedway.

The No. 8 Chevrolet will carry the white and red colors Earnhardt Jr. utilized to promote the MLB All-Star Game back in 2001. That scheme was made famous during the 2001 Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway in which Earnhardt Jr. took home an emotional victory less than five months after the passing of Dale Earnhardt at the same track.

Earnhardt Jr. boasts an extensive background in Late Model Stock competition, but the NASCAR Hall of Famer never contested a major event at Anderson during his youth. The facility features similarities to other tracks Earnhardt Jr. has raced at, but also plenty of unique characteristics that will require a methodical approach from the seasoned veteran.

With hundreds of fans eager to see the white MLB All-Star Game scheme on track one more time, Earnhardt Jr. hopes to create more pleasant memories with those colors in his pursuit for a CARS LMSC Tour victory.

Riley Gentry makes a start

Although Riley Gentry only has one CARS LMSC Tour start this year, he made the most of it by climbing from 29^th to ninth in front of a nationally televised audience at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

The strong performance gave Gentry a jolt of momentum that he hopes will carry over into Saturday’s LMSC Tour event at his home track of Anderson. Although he is very familiar with the track, Gentry knows the competitive depth of the LMSC Tour roster will require him to be perfect to visit Cook Out Victory Lane.

“You don’t get many opportunities like this at your home track,” Gentry said. “I wouldn’t say I have an advantage because I know [the CARS Tour] guys are good. Everybody eventually figures it out, but I feel like we have a really good starting point overall.”

Gentry’s background at Anderson dates to when his father would regularly win Late Model Stock events in the facility’s weekly division. After Greenville-Pickens Speedway ceased operations, the younger Gentry shifted his focus over to Anderson, where he proudly carries on his father’s winning ways.

Unlike Greenville-Pickens, Gentry said the compact layout of Anderson only leaves room for one feasible groove, which usually translates to aggressive racing. With 30 cars all fighting for the bottom lane on Saturday, Gentry expects plenty of attrition that he intends to avoid by qualifying near the front of the field.

One tenth is all that could separate Gentry from a top five to a mid-pack starting position, but he feels the playing field is relatively level due to most of his competition’s inexperience at Anderson. Nothing will come easy for Gentry on Saturday, but he has confidence in himself and his team to put together a strong outing in front of the local crowd.

“The race is going to be won from inside the top 10,” Gentry said. “Lapped traffic is going to be crucial at a place like [Anderson] because it really isn’t that big, there’s a lot of heavy braking and the corners are tight. It would just mean the world to my whole team, my whole family and the hometown to keep the trophy in South Carolina.”

Fryar’s momentum

Of the drivers entered in the 125-lap CARS LMSC Tour feature at Anderson Motor Speedway, Jared Fryar is one of two who competed there in 2017 alongside Landon Huffman.

Fryar brought home a solid fifth place finish that evening after starting 13^th. A lot has changed for Fryar since the LMSC Tour’s most recent trip to Anderson, but he envisions Saturday’s race being a lot like the one eight years ago, especially with the track’s abrasive surface still in place.

“I think there’s an advantage [for me] knowing how the track is,” Fryar said. “I felt like Anderson was a pretty technical track with low grip, but once the tires [wore out], [the track] really chewed them up. Tire conservation is going to play a major factor in this race unlike some of the other tracks we go to where you don’t see much falloff.”

In the years following the 2017 race at Anderson, Fryar has gone on to win CARS Tour championships across two divisions, with Carson Kvapil being the only other driver to do so. Although he is now part-time on the LMSC Tour, Fryar is currently enjoying a career year that has seen him obtain multiple wins in a season for the first time.

Fryar nearly entered Anderson $50,000 richer, as he finished second to Mini Tyrrell in the Throwback Classic at Hickory Motor Speedway after pressuring him in the closing laps. Despite the disappointment, Fryar is proud of all the progress made, which he credits to having the right people surrounding him.

Achieving his third victory of 2025 on Saturday is something Fryar believes is feasible even with his limited experience at Anderson. Fryar plans to employ a similar strategy that has already guided him to his other two triumphs this year, which is to get solid track position in qualifying and stay patient through every lap.

“It’s going to be like always,” Fryar said. “You’ve got to have a car capable of winning by making the right adjustments in practice and playing the tire strategy the best you can. Any time you win a CARS Tour race, it’s a big deal. It’d be very special [to get win number three], especially to my team and all the guys that work on the car.

PLM leader needs a win

A consistent rookie season from Ben Maier currently has him atop the CARS PLM Tour standings with five races remaining, though he is still searching for that elusive maiden series victory.

Maier knows he can win in a Setzer Racing & Development car, having previously done so at Cordele Motor Speedway back in January. Every race has only served to make Maier more comfortable, which is why he is determined to finally notch a win in Saturday’s 100-lap Pro Late Model feature at Anderson Motor Speedway.

“I think the points lead is a great thing that’s happened so far this year,” Maier said. “We’ve been trying to keep [the car] clean and finish the races as well as we can. Getting a race win would be really nice, but [it has either] been bad luck or me making a mistake [that has made it] to where we couldn’t win, but it’s been good otherwise.”

With the 2025 season being Maier’s first in any kind of late model, he has been doing everything possible to ascertain all the key fundamentals to oval racing. Due to his background on road courses, qualifying was one of Maier’s biggest hurdles as he needed to learn how to get up to speed in a few seconds instead of a couple minutes.

Maier now has minimal issues with finding immediate pace, as he possesses two PLM Tour poles so far in 2025. Qualifying up front provided Maier his best opportunity to win at Ace Speedway in May, as he led 14 of the 15 opening laps before spinning in oil laid down on track, which ultimately kept him away from Victory Lane.

Despite the misfortune, Maier still finished second that evening, a performance that was crucial towards building a 12-point lead in the PLM Tour standings. Despite not having any laps at Anderson to his name, Maier knows he can contend on Saturday and extend his points advantage by being clean and efficient.

“We’ve got to have that good race pace and qualifying pace,” Maier said. “I need to not put myself in situations that will get us wrecked. We need to put a whole race together. Even though I’ve been fast all year, a win would show people that I know how to do it.”