Only three races remain on the 2024 schedule to decide two incredibly close championship battles in the zMAX CARS Tour.
After leading the CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour standings for most of the year, Connor Hall now finds himself on defense against Brenden Queen, who erased a significant deficit with a consistent summer stretch. In the CARS Pro Late Model Tour, Spencer Davis leads Kaden Honeycutt by four points following his win at Florence Motor Speedway.
The two title bouts are set to continue at South Boston Speedway for the AutosByNelson.com 280 on Saturday evening. A staple of short track racing in Virginia for nearly seven decades, South Boston has been a part of the CARS Tour nearly every year since 2017, either as the finale or a crucial, late-season tilt.
A small margin of error exists for the title contenders as they prepare for South Boston’s fast, high-grip surface. How Saturday night unfolds could be the difference in deciding which driver in the LMSC and PLM Tour hoists the championship trophy at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
Track Facts:
Track: South Boston Speedway
Location: South Boston, Virginia
Length: .4 mile
Laps: 125 (LMSC), 100 (PLM)
CARS LMSC Tour races: 6
CARS PLM Tour races: 2
South Boston LMSC winners: Deac McCaskill (2), Craig Moore (1), Josh Berry (1), Bobby McCarty (1), Carson Kvapil (1)
South Boston PLM winners: William Sawalich (1), Nick Loden (1)
AutosByNelson.com 280 schedule
LMSC Entry List (24 cars): #00 Chase Burrow, #00R Layne Riggs, #03 Brenden Queen, #04 Ronnie Bassett Jr., #08H Carson Haislip, #1 Andrew Grady, #2 Brandon Pierce, #6 Bobby McCarty, #8 Carson Kvapil, #11 Buddy Isles Jr., #15 Ryan Millington, #22 Connor Hall, #23 Kade Brown, #24 Cody Dempster, #26 Peyton Sellers, #28 Landon S. Huffman, #29 Brent Crews, #44 Conner Jones, #45 Parker Eatmon, #55 Isabella Robusto, #62 Landen Lewis, #71 Aaron Donnelly, #77 Treyten Lapcevich, #81 Mini Tyrrell
PLM Entry List (16 cars): #00 Jimmy Renfrew Jr., #03 Kyle Campbell, #2 Amber Lynn, #6 Tristan McKee, #6B Brandon Lopez, #15 T.J. DeCaire, #24 Jake Bollman, #29 Spencer Davis, #35 Caden Kvapil, #43 Nick Loden, #43H Joshua Horniman, #47 Kaden Honeycutt, #51 Travis Braden, #67 Cameron Bolin, #77 TBA, #97 Dylan Garner
LMSC Point Standings:
- Connor Hall
- Brenden Queen -3
- Mini Tyrrell -30
- Brent Crews -36
- Ryan Millington -39
- Treyten Lapcevich -58
- Carson Kvapil -110
- Bobby McCarty -118
- Kade Brown -153
- Ronnie Bassett Jr. -160
PLM Point Standings:
- Spencer Davis
- Kaden Honeycutt -4
- Caden Kvapil -24
- Jimmy Renfrew Jr. -28
- Jake Bollman -34
- Tristan McKee -42
- T.J. DeCaire -66
- Conner Jones -112
- Dylan Garner -127
- Kyle Campbell -128
- Brandon Lopez -128
With Brenden Queen closing, Connor Hall prepares to dig in
Connor Hall has been forced to watch a sizable advantage over Brenden Queen in the CARS LMSC Tour standings evaporate over the past several races.
Although momentum has gradually shifted in Queen’s favor, Hall is keeping himself composed heading into the final three events on the 2024 schedule. He is proud of the chemistry built with Nelson Motorsports in his first year with the program, adding expects everyone to hold strong and successfully fend off Queen’s charge.
“This has definitely been a bit of a building process,” Hall said. “[Nelson Motorsports] is coming off some success with Landon Huffman last year and we’re having some success this year. We have to make good decisions, execute well and [not] beat ourselves. Let’s win or lose it on the racetrack.”
Immediate cohesion with Nelson Motorsports is why Hall managed to establish control of the LMSC Tour standings early. He did not record a single finish outside the top five in his first four starts before finally earning his lone victory in a three-wide photo finish at Langley Speedway with Brent Crews and Carson Kvapil.
South Boston Speedway presents a perfect opportunity for Hall to build a cushion between himself and Queen. During the facility’s prestigious Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 in July, an issue in practice forced Hall to start from the rear of the 38-car field, but he methodically climbed his way forward to secure the victory.
Hall anticipates plenty of similarities and differences between the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 and Saturday’s AutosByNelson.com 280. No matter how the race unfolds, Hall knows maximizing points will be the optimal strategy to make Queen and Lee Pulliam Performance work extra hard during the last two races.
“[Queen] and Lee [Pulliam] definitely have North Wilkesboro and [the next to last track] Tri-County figured out,” Hall said. “We were pretty good at Tri-County the last time we were there and we’re good at South Boston, so I think we’ve grown a lot since Tri-County. It’s going to come down to the wire for sure.”
Kade Brown hopes to build off Bobby Isaac Memorial victory
One day after finishing 13th in the Cook Out 225 at Florence Motor Speedway, Kade Brown got a much-needed jolt with his second consecutive Bobby Isaac Memorial victory at Hickory Motor Speedway.
The defending Hickory Late Model Stock track champion has endured mixed success in his maiden CARS LMSC Tour campaign, especially with learning how to race on two different types of tires. Being able to rely on his 2023 notes with the F45 tire is something Brown believes will help him finish out the season strong.
“I feel like we learned a lot over the year,” Brown said. “At Hickory, we went right back to what we were doing last year and it seemed to work. We’re ready to go into South Boston with the same mindset and try to get us another win. We actually weren’t planning on running South Boston. It was a last-minute decision, but we’re really looking forward to it.”
Poor track position is what Brown believes has been the primary factor behind his struggles in 2024. He said the cars prepared by Matt Piercy have plenty of race speed, but stressed improvements in qualifying are necessary to avoid trouble and put together results indicative of the team’s strenuous work.
For Brown, The Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston served as a perfect encapsulation of his season. He had to start the grueling evening from the 18th position, but properly utilized the strength of his No. 23 ValAlsta Chevrolet to work his way up to fifth by the time the checkered flag waved.
If he can start qualifying inside the top five more consistently, Brown feels he can contend for victories on a regular basis. With South Boston Speedway known for having races dependent on track position, Brown hopes to resolve his qualifying issues and finally showcase the efficiency that followed him during his championship run at Hickory.
“It’s hard to have a real dead set plan,” Brown said. “Obviously, if you can qualify inside the top six or seven, I think you will have a really good shot. We’ll shoot to qualify in that range and follow some of the guys who are notorious for being good there like Connor Hall. We’ll plan as we go, but I want to qualify well to give us a good chance.”
Kyle Campbell returns to PLM Tour after four-race absence
After winning the first two races of the 2024 CARS PLM Tour season, Kyle Campbell appeared poised to contend for the championship.
A crash in practice at Hickory Motor Speedway in July ended Campbell’s full-time campaign and forced him to start from scratch with his small program. Now that his No. 03 Chevrolet has been rebuilt, Campbell is eager to hit the track again at South Boston Speedway with the goal of returning to victory lane.
“Honestly, I’m looking forward to getting back on the racetrack,” Campbell said. “Hopefully we can keep the car in one piece and use [South Boston] as a good, solid test to get better for future races.”
The strong start to 2024 came as a pleasant surprise for Campbell, who uses a chassis he obtained from the Kvapil family. Although he was not able to maintain the efficiency from his victories prior to the Hickory crash, Campbell was proud of the progress made over the offseason and believes his car will be stronger over the last three events.
Being able to defeat talented drivers like the two PLM Tour championship contenders in Spencer Davis and Kaden Honeycutt carried plenty of significance for Campbell. Since it is primarily him and his dad working on the car, Campbell has endured plenty of long evenings to ensure his program can hang with the best in the Pro Late Model discipline.
Despite this, Campbell does not expect an easy outing at South Boston in his first race back, especially since he only has limited track time around the facility. The goal for Campbell on Saturday is to gain valuable experience, find his comfort zone and re-establish the competitive edge he possessed across his first two victories.
“[South Boston] is a high-grip place, but the painted lines on the track can really sway the car one way or another,” Campbell said. “One time I might hit the paint and get tight, another time I might get loose. It’s very line dependent, but [our goal] is to finish the best we can and not tear up the car.”
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Accompanying the zMAX CARS Tour at South Boston Speedway for Saturday’s AutosByNelson.com 250 are the Virginia Mini Cup and U.S Legends classes, which will have their features interspersed with the LMSC and PLM races. FloRacing begins their live coverage at 3:45 p.m. ET with CARS LMSC Tour qualifying.
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.
Additional series information can be obtained by calling the CARS Tour series office, located in Mooresville, NC, at 704-662-9212.
