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(North Wilkesboro NC) After a wild race last weekend at Hickory Motor Speedway the ZMax Cars Tour returns to action this weekend at North Wilkesboro Speedway for the Window World 125 Late Model Stock and Reverend 100 Pro Late Model races that were postponed from May.
To date the competition has been fierce and somewhat controversial at times this season due to on-track contact between multiple drivers. This contact has resulted in several close finishes but also a post-race war of words between drivers and crews.
The Late Model Stock race at Hickory continued this trend as Ryan Millington and Connor Hall traded paint over the last 10 laps of the race on several occasions before Hall got into Millington’s driver side door as the pair raced to the white flag. Then Millington spun Hall in the 4th turn on the final lap.
After crossing the finish line first, Cars Tour officials took the win away from Millington- giving the victory to Ronnie Bassett Jr. who was running well behind the leaders at the time.
The decision was not an unprecedented action. Pro Late Model events in both 2022 and 2023 ended with the winner not crossing the finish line first after late race contact.
On Tuesday Millington was placed on probation by the sanctioning body for rough driving till the end of the season.
. With Hickory in the rear-view mirror, the race at North Wilkesboro is shaping up to be a lot different than the races held previously because the track has been repaved. Most drivers believe after recent test runs that the corners will have multiple race grooves.
No driver is more excited to return than Brenden Queen. Queen made his NASCAR truck debut at the Wilkes County oval in May and came home in 4th. He also won the Cars Tour event last year and currently sits 3rd in points
“It is huge,” Queen said recently. “Being the defending Late Model winner their and having a really good truck race I think the track is going to be a lot more racy than I first thought it would be and it was in the trucks.”
Connor Hall continues to lead the point standings after recovering from his spin at Hickory to finish 3rd . Now he is ready to turn his focus to the biggest and fastest track the tour competes.
I would say Wilkesboro is probably about a quarter-mile bigger than most of our (tracks)and just the overall speed will present a big challenge, Hall stated during a recent test at the track. “ This track will most likely allow us to run in different grooves and it will be interesting to see what the new pavement brings us throughout the race.”
Ronnie Bassett Jr’s surprise win was a relief to the young driver who had only recorded two top-10 finishes this year and had failed to qualify for one race. The North Carolina driver believes better times are ahead for his family-owned race team that finished last season seventh in points after several years running in the Xfinity Series.
“ We’ve been working hard this past year and a half since we got back to Late Model [Stock] racing,” Bassett said. “It’s nice to put a night together where we had good speed and were in contention to be in that position all night long.”
“It was cool to pick up our first win at Hickory, but it’d be nice to go to [North] Wilkesboro and be able to cross the finish line first,” Bassett said. “Being consistent week in and week out is what matters, whether that’s a top five or something else. We just need to be there.”
Joining the Cars Tour regulars for the race will be series co-owner, Kevin Harvick, who will be making his 2nd Late Model start at North Wilkesboro. Harvick also owns a team that competes regularly in the series, but he intends to focus on enjoying the event, while also trying to put on a competitive show.
“That’s really what it’s about for me is having fun and being able to race and not have to worry about what the result is,” Harvick said. “Obviously we want to do good, the best that we can, but whether I finish first or last when I leave here, as long as I’m a part of the event and enjoying it and having a good time and being a part of our competitors on weekends helps me learn about the series. So I want to have fun with it and be involved in the event and rub elbows with the guys that put on the shows every week.”
Spectator gates for the Aug. 3rd Reverend 100 and Window World 125 open at 9:15 a.m., followed by practices and qualifying for each series. A driver autograph session is scheduled at 6:45 p.m., with pre-race ceremonies and driver introductions at 7:45 p.m. The Pro Late Model race goes green at 8:30 pm and will be followed by the Late Model Stock feature. Both races will be televised by FloRacing.
ZMAX Cars Tour Entries as of July 30th, 2024
LMSC Entry List (42 cars): #00 Chase Burrow, #00R Layne Riggs, #03 Brenden Queen, #04 Ronnie Bassett Jr., #0 Landon Pembelton, #2 Brandon Pierce, #4 Dylon Wilson, #4B Josh Berry, #5 Dexter Canipe Jr., #7 Dylan Ward, #7M Tristan McKee, #8 Carson Kvapil, #9 Brandon Jones, #11 Buddy Isles Jr., #15 Ryan Millington, #16 Chad McCumbee, #17 Kaden Honeycutt, #21 Tyler Tomassi, #22 Connor Hall, #22R Gio Ruggiero, #23 Kade Brown, #26 Peyton Sellers, #28 Connor Mosack, #29 Brent Crews, #44 Conner Jones, #45 Mason Diaz, #51 Stephen Nasse, #55 Isabella Robusto, #57 Landon Huffman, #61 Justin Hicks, #62 Kevin Harvick, #67 Cameron Bolin, #71 Katie Hettinger, #71W Daniel Wilk, #77 Treyten Lapcevich, #77G Tyler Gregory, #77W Trevor Ward, #81 Mini Tyrrell, #82 Connor Zilisch, #87 Tate Fogleman, #88 Sammy Smith, #95 Jacob Heafner
PLM Entry List (34 cars): #00 Jimmy Renfrew Jr., #03 Kyle Campbell, #6 Tristan McKee, #6L Brandon Lopez, #7 Justin Crider, #7T Tyler Church, #7NY Luke Baldwin, #9 Ashton Higgins, #15 Jonathan Shafer, #17 Hudson Bulger, #17R Blaise Rutherford, #20 Corey Heim, #24 Jake Bollman, #24J Austin Jones, #26 Dawson Sutton, #27 Jeb Burton, #29 Spencer Davis, #35 Caden Kvapil, #43 Nick Loden, #43H Joshua Horniman, #44 Conner Jones, #45 Seth Christensen, #47 Dustin Bryson, #51 Kaden Honeycutt, #51N Stephen Nasse, #54 Matt Craig, #54G Clayton Green, #55 George Phillips, #72 Cody Coughlin, #77 Logan Jones, #81 Carson Brown, #89 Dylan Fetcho, #96 T.J. DeCaire, #97 Dylan Garner
