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CARS Late Model Stock Tour

Jonathan Findley Captures First CARS Tour Victory as Points Battle Shifts Again

Jonathan Findley emerged victorious for the first time in CARS Tour Late Model Stock competition on Saturday night at Dominion Raceway in Virginia as the championship picture once again took several unexpected turns. The 21-year-old from Bristow, Virginia calls Dominion his home track and had something to prove in his backyard after moving to Lee […]

Jonathan Findley emerged victorious for the first time in CARS Tour Late Model Stock competition on Saturday night at Dominion Raceway in Virginia as the championship picture once again took several unexpected turns.

The 21-year-old from Bristow, Virginia calls Dominion his home track and had something to prove in his backyard after moving to Lee Faulk Racing and Development during the off-season. The victory is just his third career top-10 and second of the season.

“It feels so good to do this in front of my friends and family,” Findley said. “There’s been a black cloud over us the last two or three years and it’s just amazing to finally get rid of this bad luck.”

Findley took the lead from fellow Virginian Mini Tyrrell off a restart with 48 laps to go and never looked back. A caution for a stalled Chad McCumbee set up a green-white-checkered finish, but Findley drove away uncontested.

The battle for second was very much up for debate over the final lap.

Tyrrell, Brandon Pierce and Jonathan Shafer were three-wide off the final corner with Tyrell claiming the runner-up position. It was the second straight week posting a best finish for Tyrrell, who finished third last weekend at Hickory Motor Speedway.

“Jonathan clearly had the best car,” Tyrrell said. “I was trying my hardest to catch him there at the end. We got that caution, but we didn’t get the restart I would have liked. We still came home with a second and this definitely gives us some confidence.”

Pierce came across the line third, matching his 2019 result at Dominion, and giving him his first CARS Tour top-five of the season. It was an optimistic result given that he spent much of the race fighting a dangling radio cord.

“I’m running a new seat in this car and the halo fits tighter,” Pierce said. “The ear molds plug into the helmet, but with the banking and how fast we run here, my helmet kept leaning over on the seat and the pressure was pulling my ear mold out, so I couldn’t hear my spotter. I drove about 60 percent of the race without hearing my spotter, and I was driving with my rearview mirror until a caution came out so I could put it back in.”

Meanwhile, the championship battle remains wide-open following another chaotic race for all the expected contenders.

Jared Fryar retains the championship lead after Dominion, but had to drive back from the rear of the field following a right front tire failure. Layne Riggs also had to drive back from the rear and finished fifth, two spots ahead of Fryar.

Fryar leaves Dominion with a nine point championship advantage over Riggs.

Meanwhile, Corey Heim entered the event second in the standings but was eliminated on Saturday night when he ran into the back of Jonathan Shafer on a restart with 49 laps to go. Shafer struggled to get up to speed on restarts throughout the race and bottled up the field behind him on several occasions.

Bobby McCarty, one week after winning his first race of the year at Hickory, finished 11th after fighting several issues throughout the evening. Here are the updated standings following the Radley Chevrolet 125.

  1. Jared Fryar
  2. Layne Riggs -9
  3. Connor Mosack -12
  4. Bobby McCarty -14
  5. Corey Heim -15

The CARS Late Model Stock Tour was scheduled to resume its season alongside its Super Late Model counterpart on August 22 with the Mid-Atlantic Classic at the Orange County Speedway.

With North Carolina returning to Phase 2 of its reopening, CARS Tour is not committing to a race at Rougemont. The league says more information will be announced at a later date on the CARS Tour website.

The complete results from Dominion can be found below.

  1. 4 – Jonathan Findley
  2. 81– Mini Tyrrell
  3. 2 – Brandon Pierce
  4. 2s – Jonathan Shafer
  5. 99 – Layne Riggs
  6. 14 – Jared Fryar
  7. 08 – Justin Johnson
  8. 88 – Connor Mosack
  9. 51 – Matt Cox
  10. 19c – Jessica Cann
  11. 22 – Bobby McCarty
  12. 22c – Grayson Cullather OUT
  13. 16 – Chad McCumbee OUT
  14. 19 – Sammy Smith OUT
  15. 78 – Corey Heim OUT
  16. 63 – Tyler Matthews OUT
  17. 1 – Nolan Pope OUT
  18. 1m – Craig Moore OUT
  19. 74 – Ronald Hill OUT
  20. 77j – Logan Jones OUT

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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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