McCaskill Back in CARS Tour Victory Lane at Motor Mile

It's the first victory for the 2016 champion in over a year.

Late Models

by Brandon White on Aug 28, 2022

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hero image for McCaskill Back in CARS Tour Victory Lane at Motor Mile

Deac McCaskill fulfilled his role as the elder statesmen of the CARS Late Model Stock Tour on Saturday evening at Motor Mile.

Having supported the series since its inception, the 2016 champion put together a vintage performance by dominating the Fluid Logic 225, which is something McCaskill did not think was possible when he first unloaded his car on Friday.

"We were terrible yesterday," McCaskill said. "We went back to the hotel room, and we all came together on the setup. It drove really good off the trailer this morning, but I didn’t know we had a winning car. This thing was so dominant, and we had to do some things to it that I never thought we’d have to at Motor Mile. What a night."

McCaskill credited his victory on Saturday to everyone that has continued to help him throughout his career but made sure to dedicate it to his wife Sandy.

When Sandy suffered a series of strokes in 2018, McCaskill immediately shifted his focus away from auto racing and made sure he was alongside his wife through the recovery process. McCaskill admitted there were plenty of stressful nights, but knew Sandy was strong enough to overcome the odds against her.

During the past four years, McCaskill has also worked tirelessly to maintain consistency with his own Late Model Stock operation. He said that Saturday’s victory at Motor Mile is a culmination of the hard work he and everyone on his crew puts in each week.

Having Sandy be the first to greet him in victory lane made the occasion all the more special for McCaskill.

"[Sandy] has come a long ways," McCaskill said. "No wheelchair, no walkers, no canes, she’s back on flip flops. This is truly a living miracle here. She pushes me so hard on this race car along with both of my daughters. I’m 45 years old next month and I’m still digging. Kevin Harvick did it the other week and that lit a fire under me, so it’s really cool to still run with these young kids."

The most notable incident occurred on the final lap between Kaden Honeycutt and Conner Jones resulting in a confrontation after the race.

"It doesn’t make any sense," Honeycutt said about the accident. "I pointed at the crew and told them they have to understand how things work around here. Now I have to put this car back together with [Nelson Motorsports]. We had an awesome car tonight, and we’re just going to move on to North Wilkesboro on Wednesday."

Motor Mile was not the first time Honeycutt and Jones have come together this year, as Honeycutt voiced his frustration over Jones after believing he held him up while racing Carson Kvapil for the win in the Old North State Nationals at Caraway Speedway.

Jones said that he did everything to race Honeycutt cleanly for the sixth position on Saturday night but did not believe Honeycutt reciprocated that notion.

Jones added that it was not his intention to make contact Honeycutt on the frontstretch but feels that Honeycutt shares an equal amount of responsibility for what transpired.

"It’s really hard to say what happened," Jones said. "Once [Honeycutt] and I got together, it grabbed the wheel out of my hand. That turned us both into the wall, but he drove me down into [Turn] 1 four times and I don’t think that’s right. I passed him clean the first time and I expected him to pass me clean the second time, but instead I came down in front of him and he just punted me."

Honeycutt did not share Jones’ viewpoint on what happened during the final lap and is convinced that Jones put him into the wall intentionally on the last lap. He does not intend to linger on the accident for long and is ready to showcase Nelson Motorsports’ improved speed moving forward.

"It’s really not that hard to figure out," Honeycutt said. "I’ll let the spectators have their own point of view on it, but they should know the answer. We’ve still got our backup for North Wilkesboro like we planned, so we’ll probably use that car for a while. Now we’ll just go [for the win] at Wilkesboro."

Arguably the biggest race in series history, the Late Model Stock division will take to historic North Wilkesboro Speedway for a Tuesday and Wednesday show headlined by Dale Earnhardt Jr’s CARS Tour debut.

CARS LMSC Tour Fluid Logic 225
Motor Mile Speedway
August 27 2022