Kade Brown and Matt Piercy Racing continue to make statement after statement in big time Late Model Stock racing this season.
They started winning together in the spring at their home track, Hickory Motor Speedway. There has been a lot of subsequent chirping about their car over that time and how it has been inspected. More of the same followed when they won the Bobby Isaac Memorial.
Then came the seventh-place finish at Martinsville in the ValleyStar Credit Union 300, then they closed out on the track championship. They won the Fall Brawl last week over Connor Zilisch and Josh Berry and now comes a win in arguably the second biggest race of the year in the South Carolina 400.
“It means so much,” Brown said. “With all we’ve been through this year, first year with Matt Piercy Racing and I feel like we’ve proved a lot and have been competitive everywhere we go.”
Was there kind of a chip on the shoulder race?
“Absolutely,” Brown said. “We wanted this one. With all the talk on Facebook, whatever, all we can do is keep trying our best to win races and that’s what we’re doing.”
Brown was made to earn it on Saturday as Kaden Honeycutt gave him a nudge on the final restart but it was reciprocated. Honeycutt led one lap but Brown would not be denied.
“I tried to move him up the race track,” Honeycutt said. “I tried to make a winning move because I knew we didn’t have enough drive to come off the bottom and race him really hard. I probably should have went to the bottom and then move up in 3 and 4 but I tried to make a winning move.
“He used me right back up and I have no issue with that. I respect that. At the end of the day, I started it and he finished it. We finished second.”
Honeycutt explained that in person to Brown in Victory Lane too.
Kaden Honeycutt approaches Kade Brown and has a really cool exchange
Also Kade on those last couple restarts and proving something away from Hickory pic.twitter.com/7x0dPUyzeo
“You probably would have done it too … well, probably, not quite like that,” Honeycutt conceded in a charming back and forth that Brown appreciated having as well.
“This is the South Carolina 400, and anyone would do anything for this win,” Brown said.
Meanwhile, Berry dominated the first half after posting the fastest time in qualifying but built really tight over the course of the final several runs.
“We didn’t change anything at halfway and we just got tight, much tighter,” Berry said. “Being a longer run, I was worried about the tires, but really we just got tight. Then we started slipping and sliding at the end and we just never could get our track position back.
“I though we were in a good spot, fourth, on that final restart but Kaden bonsaied Kade and that checked me up, and I got hit or something, and lost a little bit of momentum.”
Carson Kvapil, who led some laps late in the JR Motorsports No. 8, lost some pace at the end and possibly due to hitting a divot on the backstretch that seemed to launch his car in the air.
Meanwhile, Dale Earnhardt Jr. spent most of the second half inside the top-10 before finishing eighth.
South Carolina 400 Florence Motor Speedway November 18 2023
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.
