Of the 19 drivers that took the green flag in the Race at Ace 125 on May 7, one name was notably absent.
2016 ValleyStar Credit Union 300 winner Mike Looney decided to end his CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour championship bid by skipping Ace Speedway but is now ready to contend for a win at Caraway Speedway on Saturday.
Looney said that taking a race off was a necessary decision that he believes will enable his program to stay competitive through the remaining ten races.
“We put a lot of resources and effort into Orange County,” Looney said. “We didn’t get a very good result and I’ve done this long enough to know that you have to pace yourself and not burn out too early, so we decided to stop and regroup.”
Looney was concerned that something was wrong with his engine after a fuel pickup issue in the closing stages of the Old North State Nationals relegated him to a 19th place finish at Orange County.
No significant problems appeared in the engine after an investigation but Looney did not want to risk any further damage to his Late Model and elected to shift his focus towards Caraway, as he knew that Ace would likely be hard on his equipment.
Even though Looney last competed at Caraway during the early 2010s, he said that many of his fellow competitors are facing the same unknowns, which he hopes will even the playing field by the time the green flag drops on Saturday.
“Caraway has a lot of character,” Looney said. “The grip level is very similar to Franklin County, which is one of my favorite tracks. It’s not super abrasive like the South Carolina tracks but there isn’t a lot of grip either. You won’t be bored to death for 100 laps before you go racing.”
Looney is confident in his ability to be efficient against the regulars of the CARS LMSC Tour, as he is fresh off of winning a twin 75-lap feature at South Boston Speedway last weekend against Timothy Peters and Peyton Sellers.
The weekly success has not yet translated over to the CARS Tour for Looney in 2021. Despite running up front in all three of his starts so far, his best was a seventh in the season-opening race at Dillon Motor Speedway.
While the speed is prevalent, Looney said that responsibility falls upon him to maximize the potential of his cars and is determined to reward the hard work of his crew with that elusive first CARS LMSC Tour victory.
“We’re going to have to do a better job of closing the deal,” Looney said. “We’ve been fast everywhere but the circumstances just haven’t been on our side. We need to go down [to Caraway] and do our job so we can close the deal.”
Looney is still unsure if he will take part in every race still left on the CARS LMSC Tour schedule but he said that just a strong run would go a long way towards building confidence into the summer and fall.
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