Kyle Campbell Takes ZMAX Cars Tour Pro Late Model Race at Southern National Motorsports Park

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Photo: Zmax Cars Tour

(Lucama NC) Kyle Campbell passed Kris Wright midway through the Egholm 100 Pro Late Model race at Southern National Motorsports Park on Saturday afternoon and held off a hard charging New Hampshire driver Jimmy Renfrew Jr to win the season opening race for the ZMAX CARS TOUR.

The win was the first for Campbell in his 12th series start. Prior to this race his best finish was 2nd last summer at Wake County Speedway.

Less than a year ago Campbell had no idea if he would be able to continue his racing career.

A bad crash at Hickory Motor Speedway left Campbell and his small team with a destroyed car and little funding to make repairs. Through hard work and perseverance, Campbell and his team were able to return last season and is now reaping the benefits.

“This car is bad fast,” Campbell said in victory lane. “I have never driven a piece that good. I don’t know what to think right now.”

Campbell’s Pro Late Model, which he obtained from the Kvapil family, delivered him a career-best starting position of fourth at Southern National Motorsports Park. He successfully maintained solid track position all afternoon and set a strong pace after overtaking Wright.

A late-race caution meant that Campbell would have to contend with Late Model Stock standout Kaden Honeycutt on the outside lane. Honeycutt got a great jump to immediately pull out in front, but it took Campbell less than a lap before he got back around with a flawless bump and run.

Remembering the adversity he dealt with in 2023, the last thing Campbell wanted was to deliberately tear up Honeycutt’s car while trying to re-take the lead.

“Family means a lot,” Campbell said. “We missed practice because [my father] was over doing tires and I was trying to set up the car. It was us two and we’re out here beating million-dollar teams. It feels so good.”

In his first two starts with the CARS PLM Tour, Kaden Honeycutt has yet to record a finish outside the Top 3.

Had he not sustained early damage to the front of his car while battling polesitter Tyler Tanner for the lead, Honeycutt felt like he would have had a better chance to obtain his second consecutive PLM tour victory.

“We struggled with drive off after the incident going into Turn 3,” Honeycutt said. “It knocked the tow in pretty good and took the wheel out of my hand at 180 degrees. I felt like we had a good car to start. I was trying to take control there and it didn’t work out.”

Honeycutt had an opportunity to take the lead early in the race after obtaining a strong run on Tanner down the backstretch. As Honeycutt dove to the inside, he and Tanner collided, but both drivers were able to save their cars and continue, albeit with damage.

Not once did Honeycutt think his race was over after the contact, but he knew the task of winning would be much harder with his car not at 100 percent. By utilizing patience, Honeycutt managed to briefly take the lead, yet he could not hold off the superior pace of Campbell on the last restart.

The Egholm 100 did translate into a solid points outing for Honeycutt as he prepares to chase a PLM Tour championship with Mavrick Page Motorsports. Starting 2024 with a victory would have been preferable for Honeycutt, but he expects the wins to start accumulating sooner rather than later.

“It sucked to lose this one for sure,” Honeycutt said. “[Campbell] was better than us. He took care of the car, and I didn’t really do a good job at it.”

As the Egholm 100 winded down, Jimmy Renfrew could see Kyle Campbell get closer in his windshield.

The northeastern short track veteran ultimately ran out of laps to mount a significant charge on Campbell for the win. Despite this, Renfrew considered the Egholm 100 to be a solid first outing on what he believes will be a busy but productive rookie year in the CARS PLM Tour.

“About 90 percent of these tracks I’ve never seen before,” Renfrew said. “To come down here and run [the PLM Tour] full-time is going to be a challenge, but if we keep having runs like that, we’re going to get more than one victory.”

Fresh off a stellar World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing run at New Smyrna Speedway that saw him finish third in the Pro Late Model point standings, Renfrew had high expectations ahead of the 2024 PLM Tour campaign.

The Egholm 100 reminded Renfrew of the difficulties with establishing consistency. After starting outside the Top 10, Renfrew had to gradually fight his way through several other strong cars throughout the 100-lap feature until he finally reached the second position with a handful of laps remaining.

Renfrew expects his qualifying speed to improve as the year progresses, especially with the support he is receiving from Donnie Wilson Motorsports. Finding his way to victory lane is something Renfrew believes will be much harder to come by with the competitive depth prevalent in the PLM Tour.

“It’s a lot to come down here being all the way from New Hampshire,” Renfrew said. “This tour is going to take off, I think. 28 cars were here at Southern National Motorsports Park, and they put on a great event at a great facility. I hope there are this many cars at every race this year.”

The zMAX CARS Pro Late Model Tour gets a whole month off before their next event at Hickory Motor Speedway on April 6. The zMAX CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour opens their 2024 campaign by wrapping up Speed Week at Southern National Motorsports Park on Saturday March 9th. Both races will be streamed live on FloRacing.

PLM Results for the Eglond 100 at Southern National on March 2, 2024