CARS Tour Returns to North Wilkesboro with Big Stars, More Than 80 Cars

Following a successful first outing that helped revitalize North Wilkesboro Speedway, the Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour is now set for its second visit to the historic track as part of week-long festivities heading into the NASCAR All-Star Race.

A lot has changed for the series since 30 cars took the green flag in front of a sold-out North Wilkesboro crowd on Aug. 31. Along with new ownership, both divisions will have an opportunity to race at the facility, with the CARS Pro Late Model Tour and Late Model Stock Car Tour running the Crossroads Harley-Davidson 75 and Window World 125 respectively.

Since a surplus of entries were expected for the Window World 125, the CARS Tour elected to put a cap on the car count for the feature while simultaneously expanding the field to 38 cars from 30. The current top 26 in LMSC Tour owner points automatically earned bids for the Window World 125, with the remaining 13 positions being determined by series and promoter’s provisionals.

No limit was placed on entries for the Crossroads Harley-Davidson 75, as nearly 50 cars in the PLM Tour are seeking the chance to race at North Wilkesboro. Only 39 cars will take the green flag in that race, with the top 36 being determined by qualifying speed and the final two spots going to provisional starters.

With a star-studded cast featuring short track legends, promising young stars, and NASCAR veterans like Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Ross Chastain, the CARS Tour’s return to North Wilkesboro is expected to exceed the series’ first race at the facility in regard to anticipation, notoriety and intensity.

Event Notes:

Track: North Wilkesboro Speedway
Location: North Wilkesboro, North Carolina
Length: .625 mile
Laps: 125 (LMSC) / 75 (PLM)
CARS LMSC Tour races: 1
North Wilkesboro LMSC winners: Carson Kvapil (1)

LMSC Entry List (38 cars): #03 Brenden Queen, #04 Ronnie Bassett Jr., #08 Deac McCaskill, #0 Landon Pembelton, #1 Andrew Grady, #2 Brandon Pierce, #3 Dale Earnhardt Jr., #4 Dylon Wilson, #5 Chase Briscoe, #5B Bryant Barnhill, #6 Bobby McCarty, #6K Brad Keselowski, #8 Carson Kvapil, #8B Chase Burrow, #10 Kaden Honeycutt, #14 Jared Fryar, #15 Ryan Millington, #16 Chad McCumbee, #20 Josh Dickens, #21 Harrison Burton, #22 Landon Huffman, #24 Mason Diaz, #28 Ross Chastain, #32 Zack Miracle, #42 Carson Brown, #43 William Sawalich, #44 Conner Jones, #57 Connor Zilisch, #62 Kevin Harvick, #67 Cameron Bolin, #77 Connor Hall, #81 Mini Tyrrell, #87 Tate Fogleman, #95 Jacob Heafner, #97A Jason Kitzmiller, #98 Tyler Ankrum, #99 Layne Riggs, #99S Daniel Suarez

PLM Entry List (50 cars): #03 Kyle Campbell, #1 Rodney Sandstorm, #2 John Bolen, #4 Garrett Smithley, #4H Holt Halder, #5 Zac Fowler, #5D Chuck Dills, #6 George Phillips, #7 Tristan McKee, #7CT Cory Casagrande, #7G Tyler Gregory, #7T Tyler Church, #8 Rusty Skewes, #8C Terri Crider, #9 Ashton Higgins, #9H Bret Holmes, #11 Dylan Cappello, #13 Austin MacDonald, #13E Nick Egan, #14 Carson Hocevar, #15 Brett Suggs, #15B Luke Baldwin, #15H Mike Hopkins, #19 Bryan Kruczek, #24 Brent Crews, #24D Clint King, #25 Connor Zilisch, #26 Dawson Sutton, #27 Lee Tissot, #28 Corey Heim, #35 Seth Christensen, #37 Chris Phipps, #40 Preston Miller, #43 Nick Loden, #43G Augie Grill, #43H Joshua Horniman, #44 Justin Whitaker, #44L Michael Lichtfeld, #44S Trevor Sanborn, #49 Luke Morey, #53 Jarrett Butcher, #54 Matt Craig, #58 Johnny Aramendia, #63 Josh Lowder, #69 Michael Hinde, #77 Logan Jones, #81 Katie Hettinger, #88 T.J. DeCaire, #88L Carson Lucas, #96 Caden Kvapil

Layne Riggs eager to make his first North Wilkesboro start

Commitments to the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series championship prevented Layne Riggs from attempting the CARS LMSC Tour’s first visit to North Wilkesboro Speedway in 2022.

There was no way Riggs was planning on missing the series’ return to the historic facility. Although he had to use a provisional to make the North Wilkesboro field with only two starts on the 2023 season, Riggs believes he can excel on such a big stage for the LMSC Tour.

“It’s going to be even bigger than last year,” Riggs said. “There was so much hype with Dale Jr. racing and it being the first race back at North Wilkesboro, but because of the All-Star Race, there’s going to be so much attention drawn to the Late Models. I’m very thankful for the opportunity to race and I’m looking forward to it.”

Riggs admitted he and his team are entering North Wilkesboro slightly behind since most of their competition have full notebooks from the event last August.

From what he was able to observe in 2022, Riggs anticipates a tire conservation race on Wednesday like those seen at Hickory Motor Speedway and Florence Motor Speedway. While Riggs has never been an expert at saving tires, he does believe his team is making progress on creating a setup that will thrive at North Wilkesboro.

Track position is expected to be imperative in a field consisting of nearly 40 cars, which is why Riggs intends to keep his car at the front of the pack with the goal of adding his name to the prestigious list of drivers who have a North Wilkesboro win on their resume.

“[A win at North Wilkesboro] would be my biggest victory so far,” Riggs said. “Everybody loves to win Martinsville, but I haven’t had a chance to do that. North Wilkesboro would be right up there for me. It isn’t a big money race, but it will have more attention than any Late Model Stock race has had in over 30 years.”

Runner-up finish from 2022 has Mason Diaz motivated for Wednesday

Mason Diaz was one spot away from earning the distinction of being the first Late Model Stock winner at North Wilkesboro Speedway since 1996.

Diaz’ path from the middle of the pack to second place required a tremendous amount of patience, but the veteran short track racer is confident he can finish one spot better on Wednesday evening and build momentum with Chad Bryant Racing.

“It was a long night [in 2022], but it meant a lot to get up there to the front at the finish,” Diaz said. “No one really had me circled as someone who could finish up front, but we qualified 20^th and slowly made our way through the field.”

Despite setting up the car tight for qualifying, Diaz admitted there was more he could have done to position himself better for last year’s 125-lap Late Model Stock feature.

Qualifying has remained an issue for Diaz through the first four races in 2023, as his best starting position so far was seventh in the season-opener at Southern National Motorsports Park. Diaz knows starting outside of the Top 10 creates more pressure on him to use up his equipment and hopes North Wilkesboro serves as the first step towards rectifying that problem.

With more notes and more competitors to deal with in 2023, Diaz anticipates drivers to get aggressive in Wednesday’s Window World 125. Diaz feels more comfortable racing at North Wilkesboro compared to 2022 and wants nothing more than to defeat the best in short track and NASCAR for a win at the iconic facility.

“We were close last year, and I want that elevator ride as much as the next person,” Diaz said. “It would also mean a lot to get my first CARS Tour win, but doing so at North Wilkesboro would be even more cool.”

Jarrett Butcher making PLM Tour debut at North Wilkesboro

Both Butcher brothers will be contending for victories during the two-day festivities at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

While Cole pursues a checkered flag in the ASA STARS National Tour, his younger brother Jarrett plans to make his CARS PLM Tour debut in the family-owned No. 53. Jarrett considers North Wilkesboro to be a perfect venue for his first PLM Tour race and hopes to be one of the 38 starters to take the green flag on Wednesday.

“I’m pretty excited,” Jarrett said. “This is going to be a pretty cool event to go to and it’ll be a packed house. The field is going to be very tough, so I’m a little nervous about that, but there’s a lot I’m looking forward to as well.”

Jarrett credits Cole for being the main influence behind his team bringing both a Super Late Model and Pro Late Model to North Wilkesboro for All-Star week.

Although he is from Porters Lake, Nova Scotia, Jarrett is familiar with the history surrounding North Wilkesboro as one of NASCAR’s original tracks. He was thrilled to see the facility host racing once again in 2022 and hopes to add his own history to North Wilkesboro in the Crossroads Harley-Davidson 75.

Despite having made three starts in the prestigious Snowflake 100, Jarrett believes the 100-lap PLM Tour race will be the toughest he has ever qualified for in his brief career, which is why he plans to explicitly focus on developing a setup that will get him solid track position for the main event.

“This isn’t going to be a high momentum track with the [Pro Late Model],” Jarrett said. “The corners are pretty tight, so you’ll have to rely a lot on practice and make sure you get a good baseline setup for time trials. This track suits my style since its flatter compared to Pensacola, so it would mean a lot to get a win here.”

——

Qualifying for the CARS LMSC and PLM Tour will take place on the same day as their respective races. The Crossroads Harley-Davidson 75 is set to go green at 8 p.m. ET immediately followed by the Window World 125, with both races being broadcasted live on FloRacing.

For more information on the CARS Late Model Stock Tour and the 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 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.

-CARS Tour Press Release
-Photo credit: Will Bellamy/Racing America