Landon Huffman had waited his entire career for a night like Saturday.
Long known for his efficiency in Hickory Motor Speedway’s weekly events, Huffman showcased his natural driving ability and determination on a national stage by taking home $30,000 in the Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour’s prestigious Old North State Nationals at Tri-County Motor Speedway.
Huffman had to survive an arduous 200-lap Late Model Stock feature dominated by attrition, tight racing and fuel strategy to claim his first crown jewel victory.
When Huffman joined Nelson Motorsports, he knew it would take time for everyone to build cohesion and regularly contend for victories.
Coming off a 2022 season with only one victory, Nelson turned to Huffman’s short track knowledge after parting ways with Cale Gale three races into the current year. Although the results were not to their immediate liking, Huffman worked hard with Nelson to get his Late Model Stock program back to the level of success that won them three CARS LMSC Tour titles.
A summer of rigorous effort culminated with the duo celebrating in victory lane at the end of Saturday’s Old North State Nationals at Tri-County Motor Speedway.
“It’s a surreal moment,” Huffman said. “I’m a hometown short track kid whose been working hard to get opportunities at any level of racing. I fought up the ladder, fell back down, and now we’re fighting back up. We’ve worked so hard on this car week in and week out, and we’ve been making slow but steady progress. Hopefully this is the first of many.”
After recording an average finish of 20th in his first three starts with Nelson, Huffman began to see gradual strides with long-run speed before finally earning his first Top 10 in the most recent LMSC Tour race at Ace Speedway.
Huffman’s No. 22 AutosByNelson.com Chevrolet had immediate pace from the first Tri-County practice session on Friday. He maintained solid track position for most of the Old North State Nationals and found himself inside the Top 3 with 20 laps remaining alongside Brenden Queen and Kaden Honeycutt.
With several teams being close on fuel, Huffman waited patiently to see whether Queen and Honeycutt would be able to make it to the checkered flag. Queen running out of gas left Huffman to settle the Old North State Nationals with Honeycutt, the latter of which also came up short with five laps remaining.
“I knew I was better than all of them,” Huffman said. “Track position is so key, but I knew [Queen] was going to be close [on fuel] and probably run out. I didn’t know Kaden [Honeycutt] was close, so I was just biding my time. I fell back on that one restart, but we got another shot at it and were able to drive around Kaden.”
Kvapil one spot away from a second Old North State Nationals win
The driver who followed Huffman across the start-finish line was Carson Kvapil, the defending winner of the Old North State Nationals.
Carson battled battery issues and poor track position to grind out a second place run at Tri-County Motor Speedway on Saturday. He was disappointed to not come away with another Old North State Nationals triumph but said his final showing reflects the strengths of JR Motorsports’ Late Model Stock program.
“It sucks being that close to the $30,000,” Carson said. “Looking back on it, we were probably going to finish in the same spot if it were a 125-lap race. We couldn’t really go forward sitting in eighth or ninth. Being able to make up positions like that and come home with a P2 finish is pretty good for the Bass Pro Shops Chevy.”
Carson’s strategy for the 2023 edition of the Old North State Nationals was to take fuel at the earliest opportunity before putting on tires at around Lap 100.
Everything played out the way Carson expected despite having to get a push start on pit road twice due to his faulty battery. The one caveat in Carson’s plan was the copious amount of caution laps that forced him and his competitors to expend their fuel during the closing stages.
While Carson was able to conserve enough fuel to salvage a strong night, he also gained significant ground in the CARS LMSC Tour point standings with Brenden Queen’s own fuel issues. Queen had led most of the Old North State Nationals until his fuel tank ran dry, which came as a major relief for Carson following an adventurous evening of his own.
“[Queen] was a little too close for comfort,” Carson said. “After this one, we gained a significant number of points on him. I’m happy even though we were one spot away from being happy, but I’ll take it.”
Being able to hoist the Old North State Nationals trophy in front of an ecstatic local crown was one of the most rewarding moments of Landon Huffman’s life.
Before earning his first track championship at Hickory last year, Huffman had worked meticulously during the late 2010s to fight his way into the top ranks of NASCAR like his father in five-time NASCAR Goody’s Dash Series champion Robert Huffman, but only made a handful of NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and ARCA Menards Series appearances.
Now a household name in Late Model Stock competition, Huffman has never been more excited about his immediate future in the discipline and is eagerly looking forward to seeing how he and Nelson Motorsports continue to excel over the rest of the 2023 season.
As for the paycheck, Huffman has no idea what will come of the $30,000, but he does have some ideas on how to celebrate in the short-term.
“You’ll have to ask Mr. Nelson about [the money],” Huffman said. “I do know that I’m about to go drink some beer.”
Following the biggest race of the 2023 season, the CARS LMSC Tour heads to the smallest track on the schedule in Wake County Speedway this coming Saturday.
Old North State Nationals
Tri County Motor Speedway
August 20 2023
- 22 Landon Huffman
- 8 Carson Kvapil
- 04 Ronnie Bassett Jr.
- 6 Bobby McCarty
- 15 Ryan Millington
- 14 Jared Fryar
- 24 Mason Diaz
- 81 Mini Tyrrell
- 62 Layne Riggs
- 67 Cameron Bolin
- 12 Austin McDaniel
- 2 Brandon Pierce
- 4 Dylon Wilson
- 95 Jacob Heafner
- 8B Chase Burrow
- 03 Brenden Queen -1
- 1 Andrew Grady -4
- 10 Kaden Honeycutt – OUT
- 44 Conner Jones – OUT
- 23 Kade Brown – OUT
- 08 Deac McCaskill – OUT
- 15C Logan Clark – OUT
- 09 Riley Gentry – OUT
- 7 Dylan Ward – OUT
- 5D Dexter Canipe Jr. – OUT
- 57 Daniel Webster – OUT
- 16 Chad McCumbee – OUT
- 19M Jeremy Mayfield – OUT
- 9W Charlie Watson – OUT
- 97 D.J. Canipe – OUT
- 45 Jonathan Findley – OUT
- 77 Ryan Wilson – OUT
