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By Ronald Young
One of the most anticipated seasons in recent zMAX CARS Tour history is set to begin by bookending a full slate of events for the inaugural Speed Week at Southern National Motorsports Park.
Headlining the first day of racing on March 2 will be the Egholm 100 for the CARS Pro Late Model Tour. This will be the second time the PLM Tour has competed on the .4-mile oval in Lucama, North Carolina after northeast short track veteran Mike Hopkins led 57 laps to claim the win last year.
Hopkins is making another trip down south with the goal of claiming a second consecutive PLM Tour victory at Southern National. He will have to fend off an even mix of experienced veterans and young prospects, all of whom are seeking to build some early momentum for the 2024 season.
Throughout his career, Mike Hopkins has made a name for himself as one of the most consistent short track competitors from the northeast.
The past year saw Hopkins make occasional ventures down to the southeast as a part-time competitor in the CARS PLM Tour. Hopkins set the tone for the rest of the PLM Tour field by winning the first two races of the 2023 season, starting with a dominant win at Southern National Motorsports Park.
“It was awesome to go to a place I’d only been once before [and win],” Hopkins said. “The ideal thing is to win everywhere you go and in every series you enter, so I was very fortunate to have everything go my way. [The CARS Tour] is up and coming with the new ownership. They’re bringing short tracks back to where they should be.”
Although Hopkins previously competed in the now defunct CARS Super Late Model Tour, he said the surging popularity of the sanctioning body was a main catalyst behind him wanting to do more races with them, this time in the PLM Tour.
For Hopkins, Southern National is one of the most unorthodox tracks he has competed on across the United States. To obtain a second straight victory against another stout field on Saturday, Hopkins said it will be imperative to balance out aggression and patience around Southern National’s layout.
“[Southern National] is really unique,” Hopkins said. “You can drive the guts out of it, but you really can’t. It reminds me of [Five Flags Speedway], you have to be disciplined with how you get into the turns. There’s a lot of creativity to it, and once you figure the track out, it’s such a fun place to race.”
There are twenty-eight entries for the Egland 100 this Saturday including defending Cars Tour PLM champ Caden Kvapil in a car owned by his father, Travis Kvapil, a former NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion.
Another strong challenger for the win will be part-time NASCAR racer and winner at Caraway in the fall of 2023, Kaden Honeycutt, making a start with Mavrick Page Motorsports in what is expected to be a full season.
The 2022 and 2023 championship car from Highland Motorsports no.96 will be piloted by 17- year-old T.J. DeCaire.
Highlands Motorsports has claimed a CARS PLM Tour championship each year with Luke Fenhaus and Caden Kvapil respectively. DeCaire believes he can reach the same heights that Fenhaus and Kvapil did but is currently focused on an efficient first weekend with his new team at Southern National Motorsports Park.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” DeCaire said. “There’s a lot of nerves going into this first race since the CARS Tour is a pretty big deal. I have a lot to look forward to with a great group of guys behind me.”
A member of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program, DeCaire previously ran four PLM Tour events with his family-owned car during the 2023 season. Consistency followed DeCaire at nearly every track, as he scored three top 5s and led 14 laps at Dillon Motor Speedway.
Southern National presents a new obstacle for DeCaire, as the Land O’ Lakes, Florida native has yet to turn a competitive lap at the facility. DeCaire hopes preseason testing with Highlands Motorsports at Southern National will help him get acclimated to the track, but he has also been studying plenty of film ahead of the Egholm 100.
The goal for DeCaire is to lean on crew chief Josh Reeves for advice while simultaneously keeping an open mind on how Southern National will change during race day. Coming away from Southern National with a strong performance is something DeCaire believes will set the tone as he and Highlands Motorsports chase another PLM Tour title.
“Opening up with a win would be great to start the season off strong,” DeCaire said. “The competition [in the PLM Tour] is going to be hard to beat. We’re points racing, so every spot matters. If we can’t get a win, then I need to get as many points as I can.”
The Egholm 100 is sandwiched between features for the Charger, Bandolero and Any Car divisions at Southern National. On-track action begins at 3:30 p.m. ET, with the Egholm 100 set to get going at approximately 4:30 p.m. ET. FloRacing will have live flag-to-flag coverage.For more information on the zMAX CARS Late Model Stock Tour and the zMAX CARS Pro Late Model Tour, visit www.carsracingtour.com. Be sure to stay active and social with the tour by liking “CARS Tour” on Facebook, following @CARSTour on X (formerly known as Twitter) and scrolling through photos on Instagram cars_tour.
