If there was one ‘de facto’ home track for the CARS Racing
Tour, it might be Hickory Motor Speedway.
The Birthplace of the
NASCAR Stars is most known for its weekly sanctioned action but has built a
reputation for some of the biggest moments in CARS Tour history over the past
five years, especially as it pertains the overwhelming success of the Throwback 276 special event.
In fact, no other track has hosted more CARS Tour races than
Hickory’s nine.
Thus, the first Tour race of the season in the foothills of
the High Country comes with great anticipation, especially off a solid pair of
season-openers for both the Late Model Stocks and Super Late Models on March 9
at Southern National Motorsports Park.
And due to the track’s centralized location, the spring CARS
Tour race generally produces a great mix of series regulars and weekly
contenders geared up for a run towards the Hickory Motor Speedway track
championship later this summer.
LATE MODEL STOCK
PREVIEW
Josh Berry left Southern National feeling pretty dejected.
The pilot of the JR Motorsports No. 88 dominated the race
but finished second to Brandon Pierce following series of bump-and-runs over
the final two laps of the season opener.
But Berry has been the best driver at Hickory over the past half-decade
with 24 total victories across the CARS Tour and NASCAR Whelen All-American
Series. He’s also the 2014 track champion.
“We had a great run in the opener at Southern National,
but the finish has made me motived as ever for this weekend,” Berry said
in a press release. “Hickory has been a great track for me over the years,
and as strong as our cars are, I know that we will be up front in our All
Things Automotive Chevrolet.
“Hopefully we can have another great race that will
give us a great start to the season.”
Berry is also the only driver pulling double-duty as he is
set to drive the No. 97 Solid Rock Carriers Super Late Model owned by Buggy
Pletcher and DLP Motorsports.
CARS LMSC Tour Pre Entered Drivers: #08 Deac McCaskill, #07 Bradley McCaskill, #01 Camden Guillie, #1 Craig Moore, #1P Brody Pope, #2 Brandon Pierce, #4 Jonathan Findley, #4H Leland Honeyman, #12 Austin McDaniel, #14 Vince Midas, #17 Taylor Gray, #17P Stacy Puryear, #18 Ty Gibbs, #19 Cameron Bowen, #19C Jessica Cann, #22 Bobby McCarty, #25 Zack St. Onge, #27 Tommy Lemons, #54 Tanner Gray, #57 Justin Carroll, #63 Tyler Matthews, #74 Ronald Hill, #77 Trevor Ward, #81 Mini Tyrrell, #88 Josh Berry, #95 Jacob Heafner, #98 Adam Lemke, #99 Layne Riggs (28 total)
READ MORE: What’s going on with the Super Late Model engine debate?
SUPER LATE MODEL
PREVIEW
Pulling a double duty of a different kind is Super Late
Model veteran Brandon Setzer, who will begin his weekend at Martinsville
Speedway working with the Kyle Busch Motorsports Truck Series team.
But the 25-year-old will make his way west as soon as the
Truck race comes to a conclusion, hopefully in time for yet another foothill
checkered flag.
Across all nine CARS Tour races held at Hickory, Setzer has accumulated
two wins, five poles, and six top-10s. For all the track activity leading up to
the race, Setzer will hand the driving duties over to his father, NASCAR
veteran and winner Dennis Setzer to dial-in their No. 6.
“Hickory is going to be a lot different for us this
weekend,” Setzer said. “I’ll be in Martinsville Friday and Saturday
for the Truck Race working my normal job for Kyle Busch Motorsports.
“As soon as the race is over I’ll head to Hickory as
fast as I can. More than likely I won’t get any laps until they drop the green
flag, but we’ve got plenty of laps on the car there, so I’m confident it will
be right. Pops will hop in and shake it down and tune on it for practice, so
that will be really cool for him to be back behind the wheel. It’s going to be
a big challenge coming from the rear, but I think it can be done. It’s going to
be a blast this weekend, I can’t wait.”
CARS SLM Tour Pre Entered Drivers: #00 Anthony Cataldi, #6 Brandon Setzer, #8 Tate Fogleman, #14 Jared Fryar, #16 Molly Hulmuth, #17 Mike Speeney, #21B Bronson Butcher, #22 Tim Hollis, #24 Colin Garrett, #27 Tyler Church, #34 Nolan Pope, #37 Dan Speeney, #45 Kodie Conner, #49 Jeff Batten, #54 Matt Craig, #78 Corey Heim, #96 Wyatt Alexander, #97 Josh Berry (18 total)
The event, along with all CARS Tour races, can be viewed
online via a CARS Tour Dot TV subscription package for $24.99 a month.
This package includes an archive of all previous CARS Tour races.
Read more Short Track Scene:
