While Tristan McKee won the pole for the CARS Late Model Stock Tour Throwback Classic at Hickory, Thomas Beane and Graham Hollar were the center of attention, as they tied for 24th, the final spot to lock-in to the race.
With so many entries for the $50,000 to win, 125-lap race, qualifying was do-or-die for a lot of drivers. The top 24 in time trials locked into the race. That 24th spot came down to Beane and Hollar, who both ran a fastest lap of 14.967 seconds on their second laps.
The tie-breaker came down to who had the fastest first lap, which was Beane, who set a 15.034 second lap, compared to Hollar’s 15.104 second lap, locking Beane into the race and sending Hollar to the Last Chance Qualifier, which will be ran on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET.
“It’s a lot of relief,” Beane said after the race. “I knew it was going to be close. We didn’t have the best lap, but luckily we got in. These guys worked hard all day and I’m glad we got in the field. Everybody’s worked hard the last couple of weeks and hopefully we can put [it] in victory lane tomorrow.”
While there was a lot of tension after qualifying while the CARS Tour officials were deciding who won the tiebreaker, Beane was confident he would get the nod.
“I knew what the rule was, so I was pretty confident as long as [the officials] didn’t do something crazy,” Beane said. “I was just more worried about all the people beating us. I knew we didn’t run the best lap we could. We’ve run way faster about every week we’ve been here. We got a little lucky there, but we’ll take it any way we can get it.”
On the other side of the cpin was Hollar, who will now have to go to the Last Chance Qualifier. The top two from the Last Chance Qualifier will advance to the race and start 29th and 30th respectively.
Even though Hollar was disappointed to not qualify in, he will start first in the Last Chance Qualifier, so he feels confident that he will transfer in.
“We got a way better race car than that,” Hollar said. “We went too high on air [pressure]. We thought the racetrack was going to be slick and I took the gamble and went the wrong way with it. We should be in the top 15 in qualifying, so we just put ourselves back a little bit.
“This is only the second CARS Tour race we’ve ever ran.These R&S race cars are really fast, and we’ve done really good with them. We’ve got a good car for tomorrow night. I’m not worried about it. We’ll make the race. We start first in the (Last Chance Qualifier), so we’ll be just fine. It’s not easy to come out here and run these races, so we’re just gonna make the best of it.”
While many eyes were on the cutoff, McKee won the pole with a 14.744 second lap. McKee has four wins in the CARS Pro Late Model Tour, but has yet to score a win in the Late Model Stock. Saturday will be just his ninth start in the Stock, but it could prove to be the biggest race of his career.
“It was really good,” McKee said. “I thought we had a really good race pace. I wasn’t quite sure about our qualifying pace. We mock (qualified) somewhere around the top five in practice [but] wasn’t quite sure about it. I didn’t know how good we were going to qualify, so it definitely felt really good to get the pole knowing we had that good of race pace. I think we have a really good piece for tomorrow.”
Not only will McKee be chasing $50,000 in the Late Model Stock, he will also be chasing $30,000 in the Pro Late Model race as well. The 14-year-old turns 15-years-old on Sunday, August 3, so not only could tomorrow be the biggest win of his career, it would also be a nice birthday present to himself.
“$50,000 is a lot of money,” McKee said. “Hopefully we can do that and [win] the $30,000 in the Pro. [That would] be a really good night.
While the top 24 in qualifying locked into the race, there were also four points provisionals given out to the four highest drivers in the points who qualified outside of the top 24. Those four drivers were points leader Connor Hall, Kade Brown, Ronnie Bassett Jr., and Donovan Strauss.
CARS Late Model Stock Tour Throwback Classic starting lineup
1. 7- Tristan McKee
2. 2R- Layne Riggs
3. 97- Landen Lewis
4. 17- Kaden Honeycutt
5. 22- Carson Loftin
6. 39- Landon Huffman
7. 98- Treyten Lapcevich
8. 16- Chad McCumbee
9. 81- Mini Tyrell
10. 12- Trevor Ward
11. 14- Jared Fryar
12. 16B- Jake Bollman
13. 2B- Sam Butler
14. 3- Doug Barnes Jr.
15. 03- Lanie Buice
16. 05- Mason Bailey
17. 00- Chase Burrow
18. 8- Caden Kvapil
19. 95- Michael Bumgarner
20. 31- Brody Monahan
21. 08- Deac McCaskill
22. 84- Landon S Huffman
23. 8D- Mason Diaz
24. X- Thomas Beane
25. 88- Connor Hall*
26. 14- Kade Brown*
27. 44- Ronnie Bassett Jr.
28. 4- Donovan Strauss
29. Last Chance Qualifier winner
30. Last Chance Qualifier runner-up
Last Chance Qualifier starting lineup
1. 25- Graham Hollar
2. 5- Aiden King
3. 48- Conner Jones
4. 19B- Kaeden Ballos
5. 15- Ryan Millington
6. 2E- Parker Eatmon
7. 2- Brandon Pierce
8. 17H Blayne Harrison
9. 9- Charlie Watson
10. 16S- Vicente Salas
11. 47- Chase Janes
12. 77- Darren Krantz Jr.
13. 32- Jordan McGregor
14. 66- Zack Wells
