MYRTLE BEACH, SC – Deac McCaskill makes it no secret that Myrtle Beach Speedway frustrates him and those frustrations continued in Saturday night’s CARS Late Model Stock Tour race at the half-mile track.
McCaskill entered Saturday night’s race with a 12 point lead and was optimistic prior to the drop of the green flag after qualifying third fastest for the 100 lap race. But, when the checkered flag waved, McCaskill’s points advantage narrowed as he faded to a fifth place finish while his main championship rival, Tommy Lemons, Jr., scored a runner-up finish.
“I thought we had something for a little while,” McCaskill said. “He put on a pretty good right rear tire coming through the field there. We lost a little bit of points. Just a frustrating weekend, just not a good racecar. I wasn’t real happy with it in practice but we qualified good. Just can’t figure this place out. Will have to go home, do some homework and come back better next year.”
Of the three remaining races, prior to the conclusion of Saturday night’s race, Myrtle Beach was the track McCaskill was most worried about. While he finished second in the Myrtle Beach race in 2015, it was a race he felt he was most likely to lose ground in.
“This was a race I knew Tommy was going to be tough to beat, tough to beat him at,” McCaskill said. “For a little while, I thought we were going to be able to beat him. I think Hickory and Southern National, I can hold my own against him. As long as we don’t have any bad luck, I think we can race it out.”
With two races remaining in the 2016 CARS Late Model Stock Tour campaign, McCaskill is not taking anything for granted. While he remains the favorite to win the championship, based on prior results at Hickory Motor Speedway and Southern National Motorsports Park, he knows anything can happen – as evidenced on Saturday night.
“I mean, anything can happen,” McCaskill commented. “Flat tires. Just have to have racing luck on your side. Tommy, could have been a really rough night for him but he was able to capitalize on it. It was a pretty good night, like us at Concord the other week.”
McCaskill led laps early in the race, which should minimize the points lost heading into the ninth race of the season on October 29th at Hickory Motor Speedway. The season finale will be held at Southern National Motorsports Park on November 12th.
