Taylor Mayhew won the CARS Tour West Super Late Model at The Bullring in Las Vegas in his first career Super Late Model start in the series.
“I don’t have many words for it if I’m being honest,” Mayhew said. “It’s cool running in a bigger class this year, I had a blast.”
The young Mayhew battled brake issues early in the race but remained unfazed by the mechanical problems, as the 15 year old waited for the right opportunity to use his equipment when he needed it most.
“Whenever you don’t have brakes, it’s in the back of your mind always. You just think happy thoughts and that’s what I did. I got two good restarts and just from there luck just went my way.”
Chris Clyne won pole position earlier in the afternoon and led the field of 24 cars to the green flag for the season opening 150 lap event for the Super Late Model division.
Defending series champion Jace Hansen started second and quickly took the lead from Clyne in the opening laps and pulled away from the field.
Pace slowed on Lap 40 for the competition caution. On the following restart Billy Coles and Ryan Phipps made contact in Turn 4 to bring out the first caution for an incident.
On Lap 43 Johvan Dillon spun around with help from behind and a multi-car crash ensued. Also involved in the crash was Vito Cancilla, Ethan Ebert, Amilleo Thompson and Jim Wulfenstein.
2025 Pro Late Model champion, Dylan Zampa gained control of the lead on the following restart, only for the caution to fly once again on Lap 50 for Dillon as his car came to a stop in Turn 4 with mechanical issues.
On the Lap 50 restart, officials deemed Zampa restarted too early, as they threw the caution and sent him one row back, with Hansen and Clyne again sharing the front row on the restart.
Clyne led briefly when racing resumed but Hansen took command, shortly thereafter.
The field settled back into a rhythm over the next 40 laps, drivers like Bryce Bezanson and Haeden Plybon made their way inside the top five, while Zampa, who restarted toward the front of the field, fell back through the Top 10.
A competition caution on Lap 90 turned into a red flag for work stoppage as teams attended to their cars to refuel and to make air pressure adjustments.
Racing resumed on Lap 91 with Hansen leading until another scheduled caution flew after 40 green flag laps.
Before the Lap 131 restart, the top three drivers all decided to line up on the bottom lane, with Mayhew lining up in second.
As the field raced their way off Turn 2, Clyne spun after he and Owen Riddle made contact while racing three wide, both drivers made heavy contact with the outside wall. The crash also collected Rowdy Rupinski as the three drivers’ nights ended 19 laps prematurely. The caution period turned into the second red flag of the race for cleanup.
As racing resumed Hansen and Mayhew battled for the top spot, with 10 laps remaining Hansen made a slight mistake entering Turn 3, giving Mayhew the opportunity he needed as he took the lead and drove away from the field to capture his maiden Super Late Model win.
“After the halfway break, the pace kind of picked up a little bit and I don’t know if I let them dictate the pace behind me, when I could have probably let him go and saved our stuff a little bit,” Hansen said. “I made a mistake getting into Turn 3 where there was speedy dry and got a little free and he got under us to take the lead. I tried like hell to run him back down, but we just didn’t have it.”
“I hate it for these guys, they worked so hard to be that dominant all race and then let it go like that, it’s gonna be one that will resonate with me for a long time. Luckily we get to come back here again at the end of the year and hopefully third time’s a charm.”
Bryce Bezanson finished in third with Haeden Plybon and Keelan Harvick rounding out the rest of the Top 5.
CARS Tour West Super Late Model Results:
- Taylor Mayhew
- Jace Hansen
- Bryce Bezanson
- Haeden Plybon
- Keelan Harvick
- Vito Canilla
- Weston Marthaler
- Dylan Zampa
- Kyle Ray
- Ryan Phipps
- Amilleo Thomson
- Hayden Hoogeveen
- Chris Clyne
- Owen Riddle
- Buddy Shepherd
- Rowdy Rupinski
- Johvan Dillon
- Blane Rocha’
- Aubree Christiani
- Ethan Ebert
- Jim Wulfenstein
- Billy Coles
- Tyler Emond
- Thane Alderman
